Happiness

Christmas in Pictures. We visited Victorville, California, Joshua Tree, Paso Robles and Glendora. We were all over the place! It was SO wonderful seeing family after moving in July. We also went to Church in Paso and it was lovely to see all of our old friends.  Rachel, the kids and Grandma Joanie & Grandpa John Hazard Canyon, CA  tide pools Asher- King of the Hill It was a marvelous, wonderful, happy Christmas for us! Hope yours was too!

Things have been busy around here with Christmas Break going on. More on that later! I learned a concept from The Life Coach School that I wanted to share with you. Why are we afraid to reach for the things that we want? We already don't have them. We are afraid that we won't get them- that we will be rejected. That we will fail. We are afraid of failure. Fear is just a feeling- caused by a thought. We are not good enough. Who are we to make $15,000 extra? To run a marathon? We are already rejecting ourselves by not going for it. For this year- 2019- I have some BIG, SCARY goals that I am reaching for. I am running a Marathon. I am paying off our credit cards. It will take run after run to get me to where I want to go. It will take an extra job to pay off our bills. I can only go up from here. In my mind I have already done it. If something happens to make it not possible, I will have made some progress. Life is good. It is too short t...

When we blame our feelings on other people, we are being in a state of Emotional Childhood. I have realized that I do this a lot. I state that I am feeling a certain way because someone else treated me a certain way. We are letting someone else take control of our own emotions and giving them the power. That's not how it is. We are in control of our own thoughts. They make us feel how we feel. If we change our thoughts, we change our feelings. Some things that help with this are: 1. Taking deep breaths in. When we are anxious or nervous, we tend to hold our breath which doesn't help the situation. Take 10 deep breaths and see how you feel afterwards. 2. Recognizing your emotion. Name it. Sit with it and feel it. 3. Take claim of your own power. You own your thoughts. You are the one who decides whether you will be happy or sad. You got this!

We babysat a dog for a week and I cried when she left. I decided that I would not handle foster care very well. And so, if we are to grow our family- or I can have a baby once again- we are to adopt or maybe IVF? We are waiting until it backyard could pass home inspection (our above ground pool broke) and to save up money. And I am waiting. Not really being impatient. Just living life moment by moment. Until a baby is placed in our arms. And then I will live moment to moment Because that’s how life should be led.

This post was written around 6 months before I became pregnant with Declan. I wish that Infertility wasn't such a taboo topic. That people could talk about it easily, and carelessly, free of judgement or pain. But, since the decision to have children/more children is such a personal thing and it is so connected with such an important part of life and such sensitive feelings it's not talked abou:t discussed/enough. I wish that there were lessons in Relief Society on Infertility. What to say when you don't know what to say. What to never say (So, when are you going to have kids? or When are you going to have more kids?). I wish there was some innate, intuitive feeling that people would have so they would be able to reach out in love and support, instead of judgement or worry. I wish Drs. would never, ever say: "You have (blank) amount of kids. You don't need any more." **Note- don't expect that patient to come back! I wish that I could state on fac...

My Sister-in-Law and her current family of five have been staying with us for three weeks. It’s been very fun to have them over! Her four year old girl plays really well with my four year old boy- most of the time! Their 9 year old boy is energetic and fun and their 15 yr old keeps my teenagers occupied. It’s been great! She is a life coach (certified through The Life Coach School) and I’ve loved how she has made me reevaluate my thoughts and thinking patterns. I didn’t know I was dealing with certain issues. They have been ingrained in my thinking patterns for so long (thoughts that we don’t make enough money even though my husband is making more than we ever have before), thoughts about myself, etc. I’m excited to change those thought patterns- this thought train that seems to keep running around the same track in my head- entrenching it more and more into my subconscious. It will take some work and some humility but I am willing to do it. What are some thought that you di...

Declan & his cousin Kate We have family in town and are taking them to all the hot spots around here- Joe's BBQ and grill, Winco. the Temple and Bahama Bucks!  These icy sensations single handedly saved me when I had migraines. I would never get a brain freeze- no matter how fast I ate (isn't that weird? I knew I was returning to normalcy when I started getting them. A brain freeze never felt so good). They cut my pain level down from 8 to 5 and I loved them for it! Mango and Peach all the way! The kids loved it and the birthday cake flavor was a hit as usual! There are locations in Draper, Utah and Texas besides Arizona if you want to hit one! -The Bahama Mama Rama is a large shave ice with ice cream on the bottom.