Tryin' to Walk With Wisdom, STILL

 Howdy! It's been a while since I have been on this blog! I am surprised it is still here!

I was looking through pictures and this picture was taken in October 2013, which I believe that 2013 was the last time I blogged an entry here.  I'm not sure exactly what this mountain is, but I think it could be Mount Charleston in Nevada.  I believe we were still in Henderson, Nevada at this year.  Let me calculate.  Yes, I believe we were there until about 2016.  

A lot has happened since then.  My husband was in and out of work.  We moved to California for about five years total.  It took me back to my hometown, a small town in California called Lake Los Angeles.  From California, we came back to where we started, in Utah (the state we were married in).  

I am no longer into trying to be a Vegan, a Nutritarian, or into a raw diet.  Respect to those that are, but I have learned that it is not right for my family.  I once touted that it was the only way to go and the world needed to get on with the acceptance of that truth!  But life, learning, even paying hundreds of dollars to get education in nutrition and such has led me to that proper nutrition is about balance, portion control, and regular exercise.  Welp, that is the same thing I was taught from the beginning.  I just have to actually do it! 😄  So, that is what I am after at this point, and I have lots of work and effort to put in as my fault is not being consistent.  However, I have an injury.

About a week ago I was...wait for it...walking down my driveway to the.....MAILBOX! (I know, so anti-climatic, right?😁  It had snowed (I know, I know, this is my backyard).  It was more like slush because it was a thin layer of snow over wet cement.  I was walking just fine and I suddenly slipped, and CRACK! I was down! My legs split and I was sitting like a hurdler, only less impressive!😓  I fiddled to call my husband as my neighbor across the street heard my crying like a little kid.  They soon had me in the house.  "No! I'm not going to the doctor!" I repeated in my head over and over.  You see, we had just finished with another ankle injury in the family that was quite extensive and I was tired of the whole thing.  I wanted no part of it!  This was going to heal and I could do it on my own! No doctor!

Well, a week passed.  I started searching out the healing process on my phone at night because the thing wasn't getting very much better, very much faster.  I finally decided that I was going to go to the doctor about it.  I'm glad I did!

I was told that I had an aversion injury due to a sprained ankle.  After x-rays, they told me that I had a small break under one bone, and a detached ligament off the other bone.

  (There's a pic of it).  So, now I have a walking boot and will be seeing the specialist to find out the rest of my story.  Hopefully it'll be less involved than the previous family member's story.

This is now what I am dealing with.  Well, that and the pandemic, and pandemic parenting, and..... Life.

The thing about me is that I never quit.  Oh yeah, I get discouraged.  I can cry.  I can feel angry and disadvantaged, but in the end, I get up, dust myself off, and get back on my horse!  I learned that in my youth as I went on bike treks and long horseback rides.  If I got tired and just wanted to go home but was far from it, if the horse threw me and knocked the wind out of me, I would put myself in check.  I would get back on whatever I was riding and keep going.  I didn't have much of a choice.  I didn't have a cell phone then.  There was only one way home.  Today, I am so glad I had those lessons.  I may not "get after it" like some people do, but I don't stop.  I may crawl, but I keep going.  Why? Because why not? What else is there?  Anything else will make me a virtual P.O.W.  I have seen "dissenters."  I don't want to do that and slap the face of those that know I have grit in me.  So I keep going.

Lately life's terrain has been hard.  Many have had difficult trials, too.  I don't mean to make myself out to be worse off, but my story is the only one I can tell.  In the words of someone wise, "My trials may not be your trials, but mine cause me to need my Lord desperately."  

It's kind of like when you are flying over the earth.  You see the beauty of it and the wondrous creation.  But it is the result of much chaos, the chaos of creation.  It creates all these cracks and crevices, earth and sea, creepy-crawlies, and beautiful, breath-taking views.  Without the natural creation it would not be the earth it is today in all its glory.  I try not to forget that in all that life can throw at you today.  It can seem like you are being tossed in waves that will swallow you up.  

As a matter of fact, as we were taking off on our flight for home there was a storm.  It caused turbulence at lift-off.  It took a little bit, but as the pilot ascended above the clouds there was calm.  The storm subsided.  Thank goodness we had an experienced pilot.  The flight smoothed out and we had a great flight the rest of the way home.  If we hang tight long enough in the storms of life, calm will come.  We will be able to navigate the trials and get to our destination.  We have a great pilot that is plenty experienced.  We have Jesus Christ.  He has calmed the storm for me on many occasion.

Anyway, much has happened in eight years.  There is no time to get into it all, nor is it necessary.  It sure has taught me a lot.  I am a lot more calm than my insecure past self has been.  I am grateful for that.  I hope that I can continue to trust in God.  He really is the only true wisdom that I have found.  I pray all the time to be able to put on that symbolic flight seatbelt during turbulence.  I try to remember that a good pilot takes it slow through the turbulence.  He patiently works through it until it passes.  Then he gently sets us back on solid ground.

I plan on blogging on here about what I have learned.  Maybe it will help you through your trials as well.  I also have a genealogy blog (as I am a student of family history) and a new blog on my adventures with Utah gardening.  Let's enjoy some adventures together!  Otherwise, just sit back and enjoy the ride! Thank you for supporting my blog!

If At First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try, Again!

Today ends the month of September and tomorrow a new month begins.  For me this is exciting because I always love it when the seasons change.  My two most favorite seasons are Spring and Autumn.  Both are more temperate seasons.  The fall exits the heat and excitement of summer, and makes us all want to be warm and cozy in sweaters.  The spring asks the cold winter to pass and the days start to warm.  In spring there is new life and it's exciting to see all the colors.  Now that I think about it, fall is pretty colorful too.  Besides, I love pumpkin treats of all sorts!  Two of my children have birthdays and they like the festivities for Halloween that I don't get into.  Oh, I loved the candy of Halloween as a child for sure!  I never was the haunted house - get scared sort.  I would have always passed.  I don't like to dress up my home in scariness either.  It can be cutesy decorations but nothing gory and scary.  More power to those of you that do!

As a matter of fact, my oldest daughter asked me about if she could go with a friend to Fright Dome, I think it's called.  I told her that she was old enough to make that decision on her own since she is in high school.  I told her she didn't seem to have my don't-scare-me gene.  So she is old enough to decide if she likes those things or not.  Either way, I hope she and her friend have a blast!

As I go through this journey of life, in trying to be my best self, I find myself picking away at similar interests and goals over and over.  In the past I would have an idea and I'd go forward until it seemed undo-able or more work than I expected to have.  Sometimes the timing didn't seem as right as I had thought.  Other times I didn't feel qualified though I wished deep down inside that I could do that.  I would look at others in envy and wondered why they got certain opportunities.  As time passed I realized that I had every chance as another.  I wasn't an odd person out.

When I was twelve years old I started to adopt a friend's interest.  This friend was into horses and so I became interested too.  I thought, "Why not! Horses are beautiful animals, and they are all around us."  So I started to listen and learn and I began to read.  We would talk about what ranch we wanted and what horses were our favorites.  I started to want to horseback ride and talked my parents into letting me find some jobs to earn money.  I would watch my friend take care of horses and set out to do the same.  Between that and babysitting I made a good penny!  With that money I would pay for horseback riding lessons.  It was an English woman that would instruct us with a mouth as foul as a construction worker! Man, I couldn't believe my ears!  Yet she was fun and knew her stuff.  She loved the horses and the kids.  If I couldn't pay for a lesson we'd work it off with horse care.  Other than the value of hard work, horseback riding taught me something that has benefited me throughout life.  That lesson is, "If you fall off the horse, get back on."  This is like the title of this entry, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try, again."

You see, when you fall off a horse and don't get back on the horse thinks that it has won and that it is the boss.  So you need to get back on so that the human remains dominant and teaches the horse that we are the bigger horse and are to be minded.  Sometimes I hurt when I fell.  I would have to gather myself, breathe, grab the reins and jump back on.  Most of the time it wasn't a problem.  I think only once there was a fall so hard it knocked the wind out of me and I could've cared less if I taught that horse a lesson.  I think I just walked it back to the barn after that.

I am making a lot of changes.  Some are bigger than others but the fact that I am going at them all at once makes me feel like it is one huge battle.  Not only am I going to do some changing for me but the family gets some of it.  I am changing my eating and at dinnertime I don't want to make two meals so I make my food for everyone.  Needlesstosay, not everyone likes it.  The foods are a bit different and so good for you!  I am more open because I want the change and the health that naturally stems from it.  At times it is exasperating to hear the moans and groans, but I have to allow for it.  Some days I do real great with everything and other days I am just glad I made it through.  Knowing the progress I've made and how good it must be to get to the next round helps to keep me going.

I am the only one that has lived my life.  Times, like many, I have wondered why certain things were but the older I get I realize that there's no use in it.  It is what it is and I can realize that I am who I am because of those things.  The current challenges will only bless me and my family.

Since I have written last, not only have my goals been about my spirituality and my health, but I have talked to the CSN counselor about becoming an RD (Registered Dietitian) so I can help others use the best foods for them to be well and live life to the fullest.  I have also begun a job search for a part-time job.  So there is a lot going on in my life.  I don't plan on quitting.  I will just have to do my best to plan each day and climb back on the horse when I fall off.

I am grateful that we can try again each day.  I am grateful that we learn from our experiences.  May we all press on in our endeavors.

Onward & Upward, my friend!

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

I am grateful for writing and how it clears the mind and helps to redirect your course.  As a busy Mom of six I have had a lot going on the last few days.  The more I live my life the more I realize there is to do.  Also, the more I live the more I realize there is to learn.  I just want to DO IT ALL!!!!  I wish I could.

Through my years of unwise youth I got myself to where I am now which is less than healthy.  Thank goodness I am at a point now that I can reverse that! (The atonement really works!)  I am grateful that I have the tools in place to reverse my health and increase my capacity to do.

In my great ambition I would like to be a student, a teacher, an advocate, a Mother, a wife, a missionary, an outdoors-man, a nutritionist, a raw food chef, and whatever else I find worthy of my time and attention.  On top of that I currently have six children and all their goals and ambitions too.  Then there's my husband and what he needs, etc.  I wish I was serving more at church and in the kids' schools.  All the while I want to continue my efforts toward Vegan eating and increasing activity in my life.   This is quite a full plate.

I'm going to throw another Dave Ramsey story in here.  The other day he was talking about something on the CD's about how when he was a millionaire for the second time that he began to hang out with the billionaires to learn how they got there.  Once while lunching with one gentleman and discussing books the guy read, Dave got all excited as the guy was about to reveal his one great book that helps him on his way and that he reads even to his grandchildren.  Dave thought he was going to reveal some really great title that would be incredibly life changing.  As he listened and leaned in the man revealed the book's title, "The Tortoise and the Hare!"  Dave gasped in disbelief and said, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME???" The man was very serious.  He said, "Yeah, because the tortoise wins every time!"  They had a chuckle.

The man's point was that everyone in life today thinks they have to have things now.  No one wants to wait.  But the wait for the better thing always turns out to be the best thing.  The man went so far as to say that the society today is A.D.D.  I, personally, believe it!  I see it in me.  I see it with all my ambitions.  I want to do it all now and can't.  Just like everyone else.  Yet I think I should be special!

We are told how great things come to pass through small means.  We start out with a goal in sight.  We have our plan.  The momentum seems slow and tedious at first but then the momentum builds.  We get into a rhythm and as each small task in succession happens we begin to see the bigger picture unfold.  If we're lucky we can see it become something better than we have ever imagined!!

I am like any other Mother.  I have grandiose ideas for myself and my family.  Then as I get to it, the task becomes ominous, looming over me like a taunting, cackling witch, "I'll get you yet, my pretty!!!"  But I'll not be defeated.  I will throw water on her and make her melt and see who has the last laugh! lol

I am blessed with people who inspire and encourage.  I am blessed with people who have been down my path and beaten the trail ahead for me and many others who'll go that way.  I know as I keep my eye on the Lord and continue to do my best each day that I will see my efforts come to fruition.  My life will come together for the benefit of others but only if I focus on one little thing at a time.  Slow and steady WILL win the race.  How sweet the victory will be.  This is just cause to smile.

Much love,

Onward & Upward!

Patience Is A Virtue

And Boy, is it ever!

In my 41 years I have finally begun to realize the importance of patience.  It is a blessing to know.  Like many say, I wish had known it years ago and used it more in my life.  As true as that is I am blessed to know it now.  I look forward to seeing how it can bring blessings.

I am one who has had to learn patience.  It has been hard for me to be patient.  At Christmas as a child I was always shaking and rattling presents before the fun day arrived and trying to figure them out.  Sometimes I even found tricks to seemingly open them beforehand and reseal the package as best I could.  It wasn't long before I was found out! lol  I just couldn't wait.

You know, even though I still find it hard to be patient with myself and with others, (even the automated message on the phone can be annoying), I find it also to be easier knowing what I know now.  If we aren't sure of a better way the best thing is to wait patiently on the Lord and the better thing always comes.  Dave Ramsey said that someone wrote a book about the top qualities of American millionaires.  They weren't just any millionaire but ones that had a minimum of 10 million dollars in their care.  The top few weren't having the qualification of a high college GPA but they first had integrity, and either the second or third quality was patience.  These people waited for the better thing.  I thought, "How interesting!  Character literally gets you the farthest!"

I don't know how many times in the scriptures we have been told how the Lord will prosper us when we are obedient.  I find people still don't really believe it, not even some of us that are pretty sharp.  They tend to say things like, "Well, that was then and this is now," or "No one does that."  I don't think those are pertinent to the situation.  I think it's about faith.  Faith in the only capable atonement that is all-encompassing.  To me, that leaves no one out, it includes all situations.  Just, "Do we believe?"

I have many great goals I am out to accomplish.  I have to be patient with me and with others.  I get exasperated with myself if I feel I am not doing enough when my body says, "Sorry, this is it for today! Please try again tomorrow."  I get upset if others say things to me that indicate they are trying to micromanage me.  But through my trials I realize that we don't see things how they really are.  I think this is why we are to look to the good in others and pray for all.

Well, this day is done and I need to wrap this up.  I hope I can be patient enough that I can see me turn into a great blogger.  I hope I can be patient enough to not snap at another.  I hope that I can be patient to see me drop all my extra, unhealthy weight.  I hope I can be patient enough to pull my home and family together and recover from those strenuous trials we've been through.  I hope I can accumulate the knowledge I want about nutrition and cooking and pass it on to others.  I hope I can see some good that I've contributed to.  I hope I raise righteous people in a troubled world.  Mostly, I hope I can overcome self and fully partake of the atonement of Christ.  I am so grateful for Him.

May we all strive to be more patient and kind.  May we realize our potential.  Onward and Upward!

If You Fail to Plan, You Plan to Fail

Since my husband has been back from working on the San Francisco Bay Bridge I have noticed how off-schedule I've become.  It's easy when you are alone to keep your own schedule.  I mean, you can go to bed when you want and get up when you want.  But when your VIP is in town you tend to want to do everything together by default.  I don't think there is anything wrong with that but if you aren't on the same page the results can be disastrous.

Every marriage is different.  Every set of people has different personalities.  However, most challenges in marriage are the same.  We do good on being on the same page in general but our approaches are different.  Does that sound familiar?  Well, it's fine to be different but couples do need to pull together enough to accomplish life goals.  This is what we intend to accomplish.  My approach is, let's-get-this-on-paper-and-get-to-it and it seems my husband's is, We-know-what-we-want-and-we'll-do-it-just-wait-until-after-I-finish-this-game.  (I hope that didn't seem terrible of me to say.) 

We all have our ups and downs and my downs has sure wasted enough of my "ups" time.  I've had enough of that robbing my quality-life time.  It's time to get it together or bail! As a matter of fact, I have had a hard time not giving myself a hard time for giving into those blahs.  What a waste!  I'm sure Satan was happy.  At least I have seen the light, at last!

I found some free printable planners that are pretty cute through Pinterest.  Here's the link to the real site: http://www.getbuttonedup.com .  On one of the printable pages was a saying that made a good point about the purpose of planning.  I can't seem to find it now but it was about how planning helps you be more productive.  While listening to "Financial Peace University," by Dave Ramsey ( www.daveramsey.com ) in the car one day, he made a comment about it too.   He said something about it being less important about whether or not you actually follow a plan.  He said it is more about utilization of time.  He said that when you have a plan you save yourself time from thinking, "Well, what do I do now?"  You already know what you want to do from moment to moment.  Always be flexible and allow for life to happen and go to bed satisfied in knowing you did your best and then work your plan the next day.

I also saw something today, it was either a Tweet or an email that said something about planning being a stress relief.  I have never considered that, have you?  It makes total sense!  Having a plan A, B, C, etc, does take the stress out.  Even just one plan can get you far.  You don't have to improvise so much because you have already thought it out.  What a great point!  I'm glad I could see that so I could share it.

I am grateful for plans.  We believe in the Plan of Salvation that God, the Father created for us to ensure our success.  Now that I think about it, that DOES relieve stress.  It's all taken care of.  I just need to enjoy the journey in gratitude.  Even the worst of situations can give us empathy toward things that can help another through a hard time.  There is joy in the journey.  I totally can see it now.  Thank you for plans!

May we all take a few minutes each night to plan for tomorrow.  Then we don't have to waste time wondering what we'll do tomorrow.  Good night.

The Ant and the Rubber Tree

http://inspiredrd.com/2012/11/recipe-redo-stuffed-acorn-squash.html

The above was a recipe I tried tonight.  Pretty good and super filling!! Honestly, I think half a serving may have been enough for me!! lol  Anyway, check it out.

Have you heard of that song about the ant and the rubber tree?  The one that talks about the ant wanting the rubber tree and he tries and is said that he has, "High hopes."  Well, I was thinking about all my ambitions today.  Everything that I'd like to accomplish.  I'd like to get my health together, serve a mission, do a great job raising my kids, and be the best Christian I know how to be.  In addition to all this, I would love to become an R.D. and also learn to be a raw chef.  I'd like to study being a raw chef not because I think everyone should eat raw all the time but because it teaches about how to get maximum nutrients out of food.  Eating raw can be quite a treat!

I think that I am like most Mothers who has grand ideas about what my family should be.  Needlesstosay, it isn't all going as planned.  It isn't all smooth as silk.  I believe Amy Grant said it best in a song, "It's going to take a little time sometimes - to turn the Titanic around."  I feel I have a very loved but quite ominous Titanic to turn around.  We've had our fair share of trials but I am grateful to put things into perspective and work hard.  I believe that if I just cling to the Lord long enough that we will be victors with the lot we've been given.  What's that poem? It isn't coming to mind but it talks about how we are each given a little box full of trials just for us and how what we do with them is our special gift to God.  I can't remember.

Anyhow, some don't understand why we are how we are or the reasons of why we do what we do.  I am learning that it isn't for us to figure out or understand.  We just need to have faith in the Lord and the person or people going through the trial.  Maybe we don't know now but we will soon see.  As I practiced yoga today, the first time in quite a while, the instructor on the DVD said something that was quite appropriate.  He said that yoga helps us master challenges.  It gives us challenges to face and we overcome them.  I surely loved that likeness of life!  How true! After all, if something really needs to be done, and not just because we think so, it will become clear as crystal that we need to act.

Truth is my trials and current challenges still seem very encumbering to me.  There are days I feel quite ambitious that I will move mountains today!  And other times I feel like, "Wow.  Will there ever be an end to this?"  One thing I do know is that I have been promised, as we all have, that our weak things will be made strong, that if we have but the faith of a mustard seed, that we can move mountains.  All I can do it let that happen.  Through small and simple means are great things come to pass.  I must try.  I must believe.  I must hope.  I must pray.  I must never give up!  The Lord is my Shepherd and I know I shall not want if only I keep the faith, believe, and show Him I want all He has to give me.

Of course, what I have to give varies each day.  Sometimes I feel like the widow's mite in the scriptures.  Well, MOST of the time I do! lol  But I have to believe every day, that no matter who or what tries to convey Satan's message of, "Give up! You can't do it! You are nuts! Who do you think you are!" that I must not pay attention and go forward with faith and courage in my self that I can overcome.  I am the person the Lord sees me to be.  I can only do so if I keep going and that is why I won't quit, regardless of adversity.  I must remember that it is already overcome in the moment the Savior died for me and rose again.

May we all conquer our Goliaths.  May we all come to know and believe ourselves to be the same son or daughter that God knows we are.  Don't give up! Never give up!  All is well.  The Lord God has taken care of all.  Let us give up our false ways.  Let us trust in Jesus.  Let us see His mighty and capable hands at work on our behalf.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

For Health and Strength and Daily Bread, We Praise Thy Name, Oh, Lord!

To jump start this blog I thought I'd start it off with gratitude.  We are told throughout church that gratitude is the foundation of happiness.  In the book, "True to the Faith", gratitude is described as, " a feeling of appreciation and thankfulness for blessings or benefits we have received. As we cultivate a grateful attitude, we are more likely to be happy and spiritually strong. We should regularly express our gratitude to God for the blessings He gives us and to others for the kind acts they do for us." 

I am grateful that it says to be spiritually strong.  We so need that today in a decaying society.  I want to be the best me and that entails all my roles in life.  I am grateful I have the scriptures (The Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price).  The keep me spiritually strong as well.

Gratitude hasn't been my strength.  It requires faith and the atonement of Jesus Christ for me to have it.  You would think it'd be easy to have something so wonderful be a part of you, but like many I have had my share of opposition in life.  In those times it has clouded my vision, perhaps at times you could say it was like Nephi described in the Book of Mormon ( See http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/1-ne/8.24?lang=eng#23 ) when he was shown his Father's vision of the iron rod and the Tree of Life.  At times the mists of darkness was all around them.  The people clung to the iron rod to guide them to the magnificent tree whose fruit was sweet and desirable.  Then they desired to share it with all. This is like me.  I know that as I try real hard to look for the good in my journey that I will get stronger and stronger at it as the Lord has promised.  (See  https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/ether/12.27?lang=eng#36 )

I am grateful for gaining a vision of my life.  I know I will be blessed and bless others.  Most of all, I desire to bless others.  I am grateful for prayer and how it changes things.  I am grateful for Christ's atonement and how it effectuates goodness in all.  I am grateful that negative things are conquered because of Him and I don't have to keep buying into Satan's lies.  I am grateful that Satan is a liar because I don't have to pay attention to him.  I am grateful that God empowers us and magnifies us into the people that we have forgotten we are.  I am grateful for truth and perspective.  They help me grow and progress.  They inspire and uplift not just be but all around me.

I am grateful for what I am learning about the Word of Wisdom. (See https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/89?lang=eng )  I know the Lord seeks to bless me as I adhere to it and follow personal revelation given to me through the Holy Ghost.  I hope I can share with you what I learn and pass it on.  Take what you like and let go of the rest.  I want to say that I do not mean my words to dictate your course, but if I can serve to bless you I'd like to.

In closing, I hope to post daily.  Due to having a large family, I may not always be able to do that.  It will be fun to see how growth occurs.  Feel free to comment and ask questions.  If I don't have an answer I hope to do what I can to help along the way.  Like I said in my introduction of me in my profile, I hope to address spiritual and physical matters here.  I believe in doing so will help us all result in our best self aka full potential.  Ultimately I hope to result in better acquiring and conveying of Christlike love to all.  As the Primary song says, "Kindness begins with me."  May we all do so in our own small way and see great things come to pass.  I believe the world CAN change, one person at a time.  And so I continue with me and invite you to ride along on my journey.

In the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.