So I have this special relationship with onions.
When the kids were little and I was married to Bob I used tons of onions. I would buy them in the little mesh bags because I used them so often.
Now, I still love onions, but we don't use them as much.
I don't cook as much and when I do I seldom use a whole onion.
Lately I have been buying them in the 'onesies'...
but have you seen the size of those onions?
You can't find a small one in the 'onesies', you have to buy a great big one..
and I will never use all of a great big one.
So, I usually cut it up and put it in the refrigerator...
one of two things happen...
...it stinks up the fridge so bad that I can't stand it so I throw it out...
or..
...it stays in the fridge so long that by the time I get it out to use it it is covered with mold.
So, a couple of weeks ago I decided to just buy a mess bag. The small, little onions that are just the right size for Terry and I...
So, GUESS WHAT I HAVE GROWING ON MY KITCHEN COUNTER?
Yup, green onions..
I give up..
:)
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
Marshaling
Last weekend Terry and I went to the Simplot games.
Those of you that don't know, it is a track meet, for high school athletes.
It has been held for the last 34 years, every February in Pocatello Idaho.
There are kids that come to the meet from all over the US and from Canada.
Terry and I sit in almost the same seats every year and watch as the games unfold. We love getting away in the middle of the winter and we have so much fun!!
This year I was watching for that special something, the thing that I take home from the games that has inspired me.
I love to look for inspiring things! I think they are all around us, but most of the time we are too busy or maybe too stupid to notice them.
Yes, I said stupid...
This year I was inspired by the marshaling area.
This is the place where all the athletes go to check in and prepare themselves for their race. They take off all their extra sweatsuits, ipods, jewelry, etc...
They put all of their things in a crate that is taken to the meeting place after the race so they can reclaim them.
They receive all of their instructions and make their final preparations for the race.
When they step on the track all they have with them is what they have chosen to wear.
I was impressed as I watched all of those kids.
Some of them took the warm-up time seriously, while others just kinda wandered around and visited.
Can you just imagine what was going on inside their heads? All the preparation, all the advice of coaches, friends, and parents. But when they step on that track it is just them.
No one can run that race for them.
So, this makes me think about life. All the time we spent studying, preparing for this life. And when we get here....
No one can run that race for us.
I am grateful for the ones who came before me. Who can teach me because they understand what it is like to run the race. They know what it feels like to fall down, to be completely out of breath. To sometimes give a shoulder to lean on or to cry on.
Most importantly I am grateful for my Savior, who understands everything completely, perfectly. I am grateful that He prepared Himself for His race and then He ran it with perfect integrity. Never a better example, teacher or friend.
Each day we choose to get on that track, to run that race. Let's not be bogged down by the things we don't need, the things we can leave in the marshaling area.
Make it a good week, a good race. I love you all!
Those of you that don't know, it is a track meet, for high school athletes.
It has been held for the last 34 years, every February in Pocatello Idaho.
There are kids that come to the meet from all over the US and from Canada.
Terry and I sit in almost the same seats every year and watch as the games unfold. We love getting away in the middle of the winter and we have so much fun!!
This year I was watching for that special something, the thing that I take home from the games that has inspired me.
I love to look for inspiring things! I think they are all around us, but most of the time we are too busy or maybe too stupid to notice them.
Yes, I said stupid...
This year I was inspired by the marshaling area.
This is the place where all the athletes go to check in and prepare themselves for their race. They take off all their extra sweatsuits, ipods, jewelry, etc...
They put all of their things in a crate that is taken to the meeting place after the race so they can reclaim them.
They receive all of their instructions and make their final preparations for the race.
When they step on the track all they have with them is what they have chosen to wear.
I was impressed as I watched all of those kids.
Some of them took the warm-up time seriously, while others just kinda wandered around and visited.
Can you just imagine what was going on inside their heads? All the preparation, all the advice of coaches, friends, and parents. But when they step on that track it is just them.
No one can run that race for them.
So, this makes me think about life. All the time we spent studying, preparing for this life. And when we get here....
No one can run that race for us.
I am grateful for the ones who came before me. Who can teach me because they understand what it is like to run the race. They know what it feels like to fall down, to be completely out of breath. To sometimes give a shoulder to lean on or to cry on.
Most importantly I am grateful for my Savior, who understands everything completely, perfectly. I am grateful that He prepared Himself for His race and then He ran it with perfect integrity. Never a better example, teacher or friend.
Each day we choose to get on that track, to run that race. Let's not be bogged down by the things we don't need, the things we can leave in the marshaling area.
Make it a good week, a good race. I love you all!
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Through His eyes
I have been reading a book by Virginia H. Pearce.
(President Hinckley's daughter), the title of the book is, "Through His Eyes, Rethinking What You Believe about Yourself".
On the cover is a picture of an oyster shell, and in the shell is the most beautiful pearl. That reminds me of a poem that I love...
Author: Unknown
There once was an oyster
Whose story I tell,
Who found that some sand
Had got into his shell.
It was only a grain,
But it gave him great pain.
For oysters have feelings
Although they’re so plain.
Now, did he berate
The harsh working of fate
That had brought him
To such a deplorable state?
Did he curse at the government,
Cry for election,
And claim that the sea should
Have given him protection?
No – he sad to himself
As he lay on a shell,
Since I cannot remove it,
I shall try to improve it.
Now the years have rolled around,
As the years always do,
And he came to his ultimate
Destiny – stew.
And the small grain of sand
That had bothered him so
Was a beautiful pearl
All richly aglow.
Now the tale has a moral;
For isn’t it grand
What an oyster can do
With a morsel of sand?
What couldn’t we do
If we’d only begin
With some of the things
That get under our skin.
So the book isn't really about oysters, or pearls, it is about how we perceive ourselves. She starts with writing about cleaning out her closet. Pulling everything out and then sifting through it all and deciding what to keep and what to throw away. She uses the closet as a metaphor for our minds, or our belief systems. We clean it all out, separate the truth from the lies and then only put the valuable stuff back in. So I did the cleaning, I found I had a lot of lies in my closet that I chose to believe about myself that just aren't true. I don't know why we hold on to the lies, it really doesn't make much sense when you think about it.
There are several things that I highlighted in the book...
I am going to share them with YOU!!!
It's like it happens in steps or line upon line...
First we evaluate our lives and really decide what we KNOW or THINK about ourselves.
"All of us carry around troublesome little pockets of small truths or lies that cause us pain. Some of them can be easily dismissed once we recognize them. However, sometimes they are so deeply embedded that we need professional support to identify and change them. There is no shame in that. In our modern society we have doctors and lawyers to help us through illnesses or problems that we lack the skills to negotiate on our own. It is the same with therapists. If your emotions are chronically debilitating, you will want to consider getting good professional help."
Second, we LEARN truths....
President Boyd K. Packer said, "True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior. The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior."
Then third we TEACH truths...
S. Michael Wilcox describes his experience with teaching truth: "Sometimes I start a class or a talk feeling my soul is as empty as a dry lake bed and I have nothing to offer, but when I rise and begin to speak, the water of truth seeps in and fills me, and I know that I know. I am strengthened by my own voice. The memory of hearing the water flowing into me stays and sustains me even in the driest periods."
"As we persevere in our efforts to find and feed Truth, over time we will become the people we were meant to be."
AND THEN MY VERY FAVORITE!!!
"We may not be completely successful in throwing away erroneous beliefs gained during childhood. But the experiences that created them can be consecrated for the welfare of our souls as we turn to the Savior and His atoning sacrifice. They will no longer hold our emotions hostage; they can actually lead us to compassion and understanding."
I love books that help me evolve. Are we ever done evolving? I don't believe we are. I think it would be a fool who would say..."Aren't you done yet?" or "Shouldn't you be over it by now?" I think there is wisdom in fixing what we can, when we can. I believe if we are becoming the best version of ourselves we must constantly search for ways to improve.
Don't ever settle with mediocre...
Be REMARKABLE!!!
I love you all.....Make it a REMARKABLE week!
(President Hinckley's daughter), the title of the book is, "Through His Eyes, Rethinking What You Believe about Yourself".
On the cover is a picture of an oyster shell, and in the shell is the most beautiful pearl. That reminds me of a poem that I love...
Author: Unknown
There once was an oyster
Whose story I tell,
Who found that some sand
Had got into his shell.
It was only a grain,
But it gave him great pain.
For oysters have feelings
Although they’re so plain.
Now, did he berate
The harsh working of fate
That had brought him
To such a deplorable state?
Did he curse at the government,
Cry for election,
And claim that the sea should
Have given him protection?
No – he sad to himself
As he lay on a shell,
Since I cannot remove it,
I shall try to improve it.
Now the years have rolled around,
As the years always do,
And he came to his ultimate
Destiny – stew.
And the small grain of sand
That had bothered him so
Was a beautiful pearl
All richly aglow.
Now the tale has a moral;
For isn’t it grand
What an oyster can do
With a morsel of sand?
What couldn’t we do
If we’d only begin
With some of the things
That get under our skin.
So the book isn't really about oysters, or pearls, it is about how we perceive ourselves. She starts with writing about cleaning out her closet. Pulling everything out and then sifting through it all and deciding what to keep and what to throw away. She uses the closet as a metaphor for our minds, or our belief systems. We clean it all out, separate the truth from the lies and then only put the valuable stuff back in. So I did the cleaning, I found I had a lot of lies in my closet that I chose to believe about myself that just aren't true. I don't know why we hold on to the lies, it really doesn't make much sense when you think about it.
There are several things that I highlighted in the book...
I am going to share them with YOU!!!
It's like it happens in steps or line upon line...
First we evaluate our lives and really decide what we KNOW or THINK about ourselves.
"All of us carry around troublesome little pockets of small truths or lies that cause us pain. Some of them can be easily dismissed once we recognize them. However, sometimes they are so deeply embedded that we need professional support to identify and change them. There is no shame in that. In our modern society we have doctors and lawyers to help us through illnesses or problems that we lack the skills to negotiate on our own. It is the same with therapists. If your emotions are chronically debilitating, you will want to consider getting good professional help."
Second, we LEARN truths....
President Boyd K. Packer said, "True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior. The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior."
Then third we TEACH truths...
S. Michael Wilcox describes his experience with teaching truth: "Sometimes I start a class or a talk feeling my soul is as empty as a dry lake bed and I have nothing to offer, but when I rise and begin to speak, the water of truth seeps in and fills me, and I know that I know. I am strengthened by my own voice. The memory of hearing the water flowing into me stays and sustains me even in the driest periods."
"As we persevere in our efforts to find and feed Truth, over time we will become the people we were meant to be."
AND THEN MY VERY FAVORITE!!!
"We may not be completely successful in throwing away erroneous beliefs gained during childhood. But the experiences that created them can be consecrated for the welfare of our souls as we turn to the Savior and His atoning sacrifice. They will no longer hold our emotions hostage; they can actually lead us to compassion and understanding."
I love books that help me evolve. Are we ever done evolving? I don't believe we are. I think it would be a fool who would say..."Aren't you done yet?" or "Shouldn't you be over it by now?" I think there is wisdom in fixing what we can, when we can. I believe if we are becoming the best version of ourselves we must constantly search for ways to improve.
Don't ever settle with mediocre...
Be REMARKABLE!!!
I love you all.....Make it a REMARKABLE week!
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
I will go, I will do!
I have been thinking a lot about obedience lately.
Sometimes the things we are asked to do just don't make sense.
Have you ever had days like that when you just say to yourself...
...out loud...
when there is no one even around to hear you..
"Really?"
I have moments like that.
There are some days when I say, "Really?....Really?"
And when I am really frustrated I even say it 3 (THREE) times!!
Usually by the time I get to 3 reallys it is almost funny and I end up smiling and laughing at myself.
Life is really funny huh? (I think I just wrote REALLY about 10 times!) :)
I was thinking about the story of the man that was asked to push on a huge boulder every day for eight hours a day.
Every day he valiantly pushed on that rock. He got more and more frustrated everyday because he could not move the boulder.
One day his master came to see how he was doing. The man said, "I am so mad...I have been pushing and pushing this boulder just like you asked me to, everyday, for eight hours a day and I can't get the rock to budge!!!"
The master then said, "You are doing exactly what I asked, I asked you to push on the boulder, I never asked you to move it."
I do not know the reasons for all things...heck, I don't know the reasons for MOST things. But one thing I do know, and that is...
...sometimes we are just aren't meant to know.
We are just meant to DO.
Let us all press forward with faith. Doing the right thing just because it is the right thing to do.
I love you all!
Sometimes the things we are asked to do just don't make sense.
Have you ever had days like that when you just say to yourself...
...out loud...
when there is no one even around to hear you..
"Really?"
I have moments like that.
There are some days when I say, "Really?....Really?"
And when I am really frustrated I even say it 3 (THREE) times!!
Usually by the time I get to 3 reallys it is almost funny and I end up smiling and laughing at myself.
Life is really funny huh? (I think I just wrote REALLY about 10 times!) :)
I was thinking about the story of the man that was asked to push on a huge boulder every day for eight hours a day.
Every day he valiantly pushed on that rock. He got more and more frustrated everyday because he could not move the boulder.
One day his master came to see how he was doing. The man said, "I am so mad...I have been pushing and pushing this boulder just like you asked me to, everyday, for eight hours a day and I can't get the rock to budge!!!"
The master then said, "You are doing exactly what I asked, I asked you to push on the boulder, I never asked you to move it."
I do not know the reasons for all things...heck, I don't know the reasons for MOST things. But one thing I do know, and that is...
...sometimes we are just aren't meant to know.
We are just meant to DO.
Let us all press forward with faith. Doing the right thing just because it is the right thing to do.
I love you all!
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
2012 Family Focus
Hello family, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
We hope you are all well and that you are excited about this new year, I know we are.
As you all know we had a family project last year building our ark. The year seemed to fly by, and now it is time for a NEW project...I know, you are all on the edge of your seats in anxious anticipation of our new project. Before I go into the new plan I need to tell you how last year went.
We set goals and asked for participation. We had some of you reply, but not all...and that made us kinda sad...but, it is all about free will and choice so that’s ok.
For the most part our goals were reached and I don’t know about any of you but for me personally...I changed, I grew, I learned, and that is what I wanted to happen for me. But I did want all of you to experience that as well, but again, I can’t force you so it will just be what it is, and that has to be ok too.
One of the things I learned last year is that it takes longer than a year to build an ark. I think I just thought that all the struggles would wait for us to get finished, and they didn’t. The storms came and went all while the work was slowly going on. So, with what began as a year project has become a LIFE project. We will just change our focus every year according to the needs of our family.
So this year...2012 we are building an UMBRELLA, to go over our ark. The work has to go on and the storms of life are not going to stop coming so....we are building an umbrella. So no matter when you choose to help build our ark you will be sheltered from the storm.
Our umbrella will consist of 4 sections. Each of those four sections will contribute to the strength of our umbrella. These four things are constants that have to be maintained while all around us is going crazy. These four things will help us weather the storm. These four things are...
1. Prayer. Everyday take the time to pray. I won’t tell you where to do it or for how long. Just Pray.
2. Scriptures. Everyday take the time to read the scriptures. I won’t tell you what particular scriptures to read or for how long. Just Read.
3. Attend the Temple monthly.
4. Do home and visiting teaching monthly.
I don’t need to tell any of you that life is hard. I don’t need to tell you that sometimes things just aren’t fair. Sometimes we are our own worst enemy. But I do need to remind you that we have each other. Not one of us need to face our struggles alone.
Life is about making choices. Everyday we make hundreds of them. The hard part sometimes is to make good choices...or BETTER choices. We need to use our Agency to become better. To breathe fresh air into the lives of others instead of sucking it all out. We all have what it takes to succeed. We just need to DO IT!
The other thing that we are focusing on is FOOD. We can't just get on our ark without any food. We all need to work on getting the extra food we need, each of you in your own homes.
So, I am excited about 2012! I am thrilled about the possibilities.
Lets make it a good year!
I love you all!
We hope you are all well and that you are excited about this new year, I know we are.
As you all know we had a family project last year building our ark. The year seemed to fly by, and now it is time for a NEW project...I know, you are all on the edge of your seats in anxious anticipation of our new project. Before I go into the new plan I need to tell you how last year went.
We set goals and asked for participation. We had some of you reply, but not all...and that made us kinda sad...but, it is all about free will and choice so that’s ok.
For the most part our goals were reached and I don’t know about any of you but for me personally...I changed, I grew, I learned, and that is what I wanted to happen for me. But I did want all of you to experience that as well, but again, I can’t force you so it will just be what it is, and that has to be ok too.
One of the things I learned last year is that it takes longer than a year to build an ark. I think I just thought that all the struggles would wait for us to get finished, and they didn’t. The storms came and went all while the work was slowly going on. So, with what began as a year project has become a LIFE project. We will just change our focus every year according to the needs of our family.
So this year...2012 we are building an UMBRELLA, to go over our ark. The work has to go on and the storms of life are not going to stop coming so....we are building an umbrella. So no matter when you choose to help build our ark you will be sheltered from the storm.
Our umbrella will consist of 4 sections. Each of those four sections will contribute to the strength of our umbrella. These four things are constants that have to be maintained while all around us is going crazy. These four things will help us weather the storm. These four things are...
1. Prayer. Everyday take the time to pray. I won’t tell you where to do it or for how long. Just Pray.
2. Scriptures. Everyday take the time to read the scriptures. I won’t tell you what particular scriptures to read or for how long. Just Read.
3. Attend the Temple monthly.
4. Do home and visiting teaching monthly.
I don’t need to tell any of you that life is hard. I don’t need to tell you that sometimes things just aren’t fair. Sometimes we are our own worst enemy. But I do need to remind you that we have each other. Not one of us need to face our struggles alone.
Life is about making choices. Everyday we make hundreds of them. The hard part sometimes is to make good choices...or BETTER choices. We need to use our Agency to become better. To breathe fresh air into the lives of others instead of sucking it all out. We all have what it takes to succeed. We just need to DO IT!
The other thing that we are focusing on is FOOD. We can't just get on our ark without any food. We all need to work on getting the extra food we need, each of you in your own homes.
So, I am excited about 2012! I am thrilled about the possibilities.
Lets make it a good year!
I love you all!
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Oh give me a home...
Hello family,
I am sorry I haven't blogged in so long.
My life has been so busy, I started a new job in November. I work for State Farm Insurance. I am learning so much and for the most part my brain is fried!!!
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a quiet, peaceful, (if not lonely) Christmas.
I have been studying for my state exam to get my license to sell insurance so all of my spare time has been dedicated to that.
I take my test on the 19th of January, I can't wait for it to be over!
It is hard to learn how to study again after so many years of NOT studying. I think my saving grace is that I have been studying Isaiah....if that doesn't fry the brain I don't know what will!! :)
I do love Isaiah, I can't wait to meet him some day...
So, since my life has been crazy I haven't taken the time to be 'inspired'.
But today I did. Today I couldn't wait to come home and share the feelings that I have felt.
Today I attended a funeral. I went because the deceased was the Father-in-Law to one of my sweet friends. I went there to show my support for her. But, today....
today,
I WAS INSPIRED...
What an amazing man. What a sweet, kind, loving, wonderful man. I could feel his spirit as his family shared stories of his quiet yet meaningful life.
He is a man I wish I would have known.
In many ways he reminded me of my dad...and of my brother Ben, all mixed up in one person.
The tears really came when his grandchildren with a fiddle, a cello, and a guitar played and sang, "You are my sunshine".
And then the medley of his favorite songs...
I can't tell you the last time I heard,
"Oh give me a home, where the buffalo roam, where the deer and the antelope play,
where seldom is heard a discouraging word, and the skies are not cloudy all day."
Even now it brings tears to my eyes. It takes me back to my childhood, to those peaceful, chilly nights around a campfire, with the people I loved most.
Then there was, "This land is my land this land is your land..."
"Take me home country roads..."
I learned so much today from the Booth family as they shared their father with me. I learned that funerals are to celebrate life and to say good-bye. It is not for the one that passed on, but for the loved ones he left behind.
I was uplifted and humbled by the pure love of Christ that this stranger taught, even after his earthly life was over.
Like Isaiah, I hope I get to meet Everett Booth one day.
I love you all, my dear family and friends.
Life is good,
I am blessed beyond my mortal understanding.
I am sorry I haven't blogged in so long.
My life has been so busy, I started a new job in November. I work for State Farm Insurance. I am learning so much and for the most part my brain is fried!!!
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a quiet, peaceful, (if not lonely) Christmas.
I have been studying for my state exam to get my license to sell insurance so all of my spare time has been dedicated to that.
I take my test on the 19th of January, I can't wait for it to be over!
It is hard to learn how to study again after so many years of NOT studying. I think my saving grace is that I have been studying Isaiah....if that doesn't fry the brain I don't know what will!! :)
I do love Isaiah, I can't wait to meet him some day...
So, since my life has been crazy I haven't taken the time to be 'inspired'.
But today I did. Today I couldn't wait to come home and share the feelings that I have felt.
Today I attended a funeral. I went because the deceased was the Father-in-Law to one of my sweet friends. I went there to show my support for her. But, today....
today,
I WAS INSPIRED...
What an amazing man. What a sweet, kind, loving, wonderful man. I could feel his spirit as his family shared stories of his quiet yet meaningful life.
He is a man I wish I would have known.
In many ways he reminded me of my dad...and of my brother Ben, all mixed up in one person.
The tears really came when his grandchildren with a fiddle, a cello, and a guitar played and sang, "You are my sunshine".
And then the medley of his favorite songs...
I can't tell you the last time I heard,
"Oh give me a home, where the buffalo roam, where the deer and the antelope play,
where seldom is heard a discouraging word, and the skies are not cloudy all day."
Even now it brings tears to my eyes. It takes me back to my childhood, to those peaceful, chilly nights around a campfire, with the people I loved most.
Then there was, "This land is my land this land is your land..."
"Take me home country roads..."
I learned so much today from the Booth family as they shared their father with me. I learned that funerals are to celebrate life and to say good-bye. It is not for the one that passed on, but for the loved ones he left behind.
I was uplifted and humbled by the pure love of Christ that this stranger taught, even after his earthly life was over.
Like Isaiah, I hope I get to meet Everett Booth one day.
I love you all, my dear family and friends.
Life is good,
I am blessed beyond my mortal understanding.
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