So this is a different kind of post for me, but one I really wanted to add in because my testimony has been strengthened today. As a small background, I, like probably all mothers at different times, have felt an extreme lack of motivation to do anything beyond surviving each day--mainly keeping diapers changed and the kids fed and bathed. Beyond that, there has been little exercise, planned and prepared dinners, and no more than just the basic house cleaning and laundry. I make all kinds of excuses for myself but my main one has been that I just can't seem to get myself motivated--it has been strange for me because I used to be much more of a goal setter and dedicated to improving myself in atleast one area of life or another. I've been struggling with this and other negative feelings for the past year and today I fasted about it. Fasting is one of those things I have not been very good at--mainly because I have been either pregnant or nursing for the past 2 and 1/2 years, but I have been past that point for about 4 months now and have failed to fast with a purpose until today. My testimony grew today about fasting with a purpose. I began with a prayer that I would somehow hear or learn something today that would help me get past these negative and depressing feelings.
My answer began in Refief Society when the lesson was on goal setting and the different programs that are out there in the church to help us with this. There actually is a Relief Society goal setting program out there just like the YW, YM, and primary have. It is called, Pursuit of Excellence. It was a great lesson and gave me time to think about the changes I needed to make as a wife, mother, daughter, and sister.
The rest of my answer came when I came home and decided to read an ensign article rather than turn on the tv or eat. The article I read was by Elder Kent D. Watson of the seventy and was from this past general conference. It is entitled "Being Temperate in All Things". The main thought in it that struck me was this, "Tempered glass, like tempered steel, undergoes a well-controlled heating process which increases strength. Thus, when tempered glass is under stress, it will not easily break into jagged shards that can injure." The whole article was inspiring to me. It talked alot about self-mastery. I have been pondering on this for the last couple hours and have come up with my New Year's resolution that I am not going to wait for the New Year to begin working on.
Like Elder Watson stated the heat that tempered glass undergoes is well-controlled. The process would not work if the heat was sudden and given all at once, just like the process of self mastery and temperance cannot be expected to happen all at once, which I believe has been one of my downfalls of the past year. I have allowed negativity and feelings of failure to rule my life because I was unable to do it all at once, and therefore, in a sense, I just gave up. The process, must be well-controlled.
The other part of his quote that I liked was that the heating process is what increases the strength of the glass. Without that heating process the glass would not become tempered, and therefore when shattered, would break into jagged shards that injure rather than small pieces that leave no serious injuries. I have to be willing to go through that "heating process" whether I feel like it or not if I want to become the person God wants me to be.
Anyway, this is getting quite long, but I have come to the conclusion that I am only setting ONE main goal for the coming year and will have little monthly and weekly goals that will help me attain that one goal. When I look at it like this it does not seem so overwhelming and impossible to attain. My goal is just the title of Elder Watson's talk. To become more temperate in all things. Now I know that I will not become a perfect master of self and that is why I use the word MORE temperate. Each month I will set 4 goals total that work towards gaining self mastery in 4 different areas--spiritual, intellectual, physical, and emotional(which for me will mostly be improving relationships). Hopefully this will help me keep my priorities in line and not feel so overwhelming since it is broken down into smaller segments to help me work towards that overall goal in life, which is self-mastery.
Again, my experiences today have been such a testimony builder and a reminder to me that God does hear and answer our prayers and when fasting, we can be more in tune to hear Him and feel his love.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Friday, October 9, 2009
The past 5 months!
Okay, okay, I know how terrible I have been. I can't believe I let a whole 5 months go by with nothing. Time has gone so fast. I knew it had been a while, but 5 months?! That even surprised me. Anyway, some of you may get bored in reading my long entry and I don't blame you, but atleast you can see a few pictures of the boys and how much they have grown up.
Since my last post a lot of things have happened, first of which was Tel's 2nd birthday. We had some friends over to help us celebrate (James and Camille Whiting and family). It was a small and simple birthday but I think he enjoyed it. Although I think he would have rather just been allowed to play with the other kids the entire time and not be stopped for birthday cake.
The very last week of May, the Saturday after Casey's last day of school in Riverton we loaded up our U-haul with some help from friends in Lander and my dad and brother, Tyson--thank you all. Tyson and my dad took our subaru for us that evening and were going to bring it back to Cokeville for us. Anyway, at the top of South Pass, the engine blew on the Subaru. Luckily they were able to get cell service and give us a call, and thanks to a good friend, Tawn Gopp, from Riverton, we were able to get it towed to his house in Riverton that night and knew it was in good, honest hands, in getting fixed. We were blessed in that way. On Sunday, Casey and I, with the boys, headed out and got as far as Cokeville. That Monday we were able to move our things into the duplex we were renting here in Afton. We worked on that, Mon.-Tues. and then were back in Cokeville because I had Volleyball camp in Cokeville Wed.-Sat. Well, Thursday night, Tel got a pretty high fever. He had been acting a little funny for a few days, but we thought it was because of the move because he always wanted to go "home". Well, we kept him at our duplex that night and watched him close and kept Tylenol in him, but even with that his fever never went under 101 and he was pretty listless by morning. We took him in to the clinic here in Afton and had to wait well over an hour for someone to get to us. Anyway, once they did they immediately put him in the hospital with pneumonia. We spent the next 3 days in the hospital with him. My mom came to help that first night so Casey and I could take shifts during the night without having to wake up Kimball and drag him along during the switch. Ramona, Casey's mom, also came up to help out when we found out Tel was going to be in the hospital for a few days. It was so nice to have her visit. We enjoyed her company and were grateful for her concern and love. We did take a drive the first day Tel was back home and took Ramona up to see the Tetons. They were clouded over a bit, but still beautiful. Needless to say, our first week was very eventful.
Since then, our summer has gone very well and we have done a lot of fun things. We spent a few days up in Oregon with Casey's sister Kamala and her family. I was able to experience clamming and crabbing for the first time and guess with quite a bit of success. We caught a ton of crabs off some docks, but only 14 of them were big enough to keep. I am told that is pretty good. We also got to go berry picking, which may have been Tel's favorite part of the whole trip, other than the balloon-monkey hat he got at the farmer's market.
We spent the 4th of July with Casey's family in Mt. Pleasant and had a great time there, as always. It is always so fun to see everyone and watch Cameron's amazing fireworks show, which Tel loved this year!
After that trip we did a little less traveling. We visited with friends, Dave and Liza, in Pocatello and they came to visit us, which is alway fun. Kathy and Ramona(Casey's sister and mom) also came to visit for a few days. We always enjoy company. Casey had a football camp and I had a volleyball camp but other than that we were okay to stay home, go fishing, and try out our new boats on Cottonwood Lake. Tel is still all about going fishing. He will pretend that just about anything is a fishing pole and dangle it over any sort of edge and say he is going fishing. At one of the vball games in Cokeville this fall, eh was doing this little game with his blanked on the bleachers. In the middle of fishing he looked over at my mom (Granny) and headed over to her. When he got to her he looked closely at the earrings she was wearing and took one out and said, "hook?" We took him to a fishing store with us to get some supplies the 2nd time we headed out with him. When we went into the store he spied the little kid fishing poles before we ever did and when I caught up to him he was standing in front of them saying, "Oh man! Oh gosh!" over and over again. We just had to get him one after that! It was pretty funny.
At the beginning of August I was feeling a rejuvenated and headed out to Indiana with Taffy to visit Violet and Austin. Taffy and I took Mariah and Kimball with us and left our husbands with the other kids. We spent a week out there with Violet and had a lot of fun. I don't know that we have ever spent that much time together all in one week. We talked about everything and went and saw some neat things. It was a great week!
Our last little adventure before the school year started was doing the El Vaquero Loco race here in Afton. You can choose to do the 25K or the 50K. We did the 25K. It was about 15 miles back in the mountains. It was a lot of up and down hill and we hiked quite a bit of it. It was a ton of fun and absolutely beautiful! I would recommend that race to anyone who loves to trail run and hike. I haven't done a lot of it before, but Casey and I think we may have found we like it better than a marathon.
After that race 2-a-days started for f-ball and v-ball and Casey's meetings started. That week fo 2-a-days was rough on the boys and me, because they were spending so much time and the babysitter's and we were missing eachother, but we survived and now they are usually excited to go play with the other kids for a couple hours during practice. Tel has picked up on a lot more words too, which I credit some of that to being around other kids that are talking to him and expecting him to respond. We really like the family that is taking the boys and are so grateful they agreed to do it.
At the end of August we ended up buying a home just west of Afton, which we are very happy about. We have a great view of the upper valley from our upstairs and downstairs windows.
Overall, we are really enjoying Star Valley and are beginning to make some great friends. We miss Lander and our friends and ward there, as you always do after a move, but things are going well and we have been extremely blessed.
Okay, so I am trying to add some pictures to this post but I am not finding most of my pictures from this summer--hope I can. I have the ones from May and from September and I downloaded all of those at the same time so I have no idea where all the ones in between have gone. Anyway, here are a few pictures.
Saying goodbye to our house in Lander.
Up the Sinks after loading the U-haul.
First meal at the hospital.
First night at the hospital.
The Tetons with Grandma Parry.
Little Buddies
Pictures of Tel and Kimball from this past week.
Since my last post a lot of things have happened, first of which was Tel's 2nd birthday. We had some friends over to help us celebrate (James and Camille Whiting and family). It was a small and simple birthday but I think he enjoyed it. Although I think he would have rather just been allowed to play with the other kids the entire time and not be stopped for birthday cake.
The very last week of May, the Saturday after Casey's last day of school in Riverton we loaded up our U-haul with some help from friends in Lander and my dad and brother, Tyson--thank you all. Tyson and my dad took our subaru for us that evening and were going to bring it back to Cokeville for us. Anyway, at the top of South Pass, the engine blew on the Subaru. Luckily they were able to get cell service and give us a call, and thanks to a good friend, Tawn Gopp, from Riverton, we were able to get it towed to his house in Riverton that night and knew it was in good, honest hands, in getting fixed. We were blessed in that way. On Sunday, Casey and I, with the boys, headed out and got as far as Cokeville. That Monday we were able to move our things into the duplex we were renting here in Afton. We worked on that, Mon.-Tues. and then were back in Cokeville because I had Volleyball camp in Cokeville Wed.-Sat. Well, Thursday night, Tel got a pretty high fever. He had been acting a little funny for a few days, but we thought it was because of the move because he always wanted to go "home". Well, we kept him at our duplex that night and watched him close and kept Tylenol in him, but even with that his fever never went under 101 and he was pretty listless by morning. We took him in to the clinic here in Afton and had to wait well over an hour for someone to get to us. Anyway, once they did they immediately put him in the hospital with pneumonia. We spent the next 3 days in the hospital with him. My mom came to help that first night so Casey and I could take shifts during the night without having to wake up Kimball and drag him along during the switch. Ramona, Casey's mom, also came up to help out when we found out Tel was going to be in the hospital for a few days. It was so nice to have her visit. We enjoyed her company and were grateful for her concern and love. We did take a drive the first day Tel was back home and took Ramona up to see the Tetons. They were clouded over a bit, but still beautiful. Needless to say, our first week was very eventful.
Since then, our summer has gone very well and we have done a lot of fun things. We spent a few days up in Oregon with Casey's sister Kamala and her family. I was able to experience clamming and crabbing for the first time and guess with quite a bit of success. We caught a ton of crabs off some docks, but only 14 of them were big enough to keep. I am told that is pretty good. We also got to go berry picking, which may have been Tel's favorite part of the whole trip, other than the balloon-monkey hat he got at the farmer's market.
We spent the 4th of July with Casey's family in Mt. Pleasant and had a great time there, as always. It is always so fun to see everyone and watch Cameron's amazing fireworks show, which Tel loved this year!
After that trip we did a little less traveling. We visited with friends, Dave and Liza, in Pocatello and they came to visit us, which is alway fun. Kathy and Ramona(Casey's sister and mom) also came to visit for a few days. We always enjoy company. Casey had a football camp and I had a volleyball camp but other than that we were okay to stay home, go fishing, and try out our new boats on Cottonwood Lake. Tel is still all about going fishing. He will pretend that just about anything is a fishing pole and dangle it over any sort of edge and say he is going fishing. At one of the vball games in Cokeville this fall, eh was doing this little game with his blanked on the bleachers. In the middle of fishing he looked over at my mom (Granny) and headed over to her. When he got to her he looked closely at the earrings she was wearing and took one out and said, "hook?" We took him to a fishing store with us to get some supplies the 2nd time we headed out with him. When we went into the store he spied the little kid fishing poles before we ever did and when I caught up to him he was standing in front of them saying, "Oh man! Oh gosh!" over and over again. We just had to get him one after that! It was pretty funny.
At the beginning of August I was feeling a rejuvenated and headed out to Indiana with Taffy to visit Violet and Austin. Taffy and I took Mariah and Kimball with us and left our husbands with the other kids. We spent a week out there with Violet and had a lot of fun. I don't know that we have ever spent that much time together all in one week. We talked about everything and went and saw some neat things. It was a great week!
Our last little adventure before the school year started was doing the El Vaquero Loco race here in Afton. You can choose to do the 25K or the 50K. We did the 25K. It was about 15 miles back in the mountains. It was a lot of up and down hill and we hiked quite a bit of it. It was a ton of fun and absolutely beautiful! I would recommend that race to anyone who loves to trail run and hike. I haven't done a lot of it before, but Casey and I think we may have found we like it better than a marathon.
After that race 2-a-days started for f-ball and v-ball and Casey's meetings started. That week fo 2-a-days was rough on the boys and me, because they were spending so much time and the babysitter's and we were missing eachother, but we survived and now they are usually excited to go play with the other kids for a couple hours during practice. Tel has picked up on a lot more words too, which I credit some of that to being around other kids that are talking to him and expecting him to respond. We really like the family that is taking the boys and are so grateful they agreed to do it.
At the end of August we ended up buying a home just west of Afton, which we are very happy about. We have a great view of the upper valley from our upstairs and downstairs windows.
Overall, we are really enjoying Star Valley and are beginning to make some great friends. We miss Lander and our friends and ward there, as you always do after a move, but things are going well and we have been extremely blessed.
Okay, so I am trying to add some pictures to this post but I am not finding most of my pictures from this summer--hope I can. I have the ones from May and from September and I downloaded all of those at the same time so I have no idea where all the ones in between have gone. Anyway, here are a few pictures.
Saying goodbye to our house in Lander.
Up the Sinks after loading the U-haul.
First meal at the hospital.
First night at the hospital.
The Tetons with Grandma Parry.
Little Buddies
Pictures of Tel and Kimball from this past week.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Tel's Birthday!
Tel turned 2 years old this past Sunday (May 24th). I can't believe it! Time goes so fast. For his birthday party we invited the Whiting's over (a family in our ward) with 8 kids. Tel loves them (as do Casey and I) so we thought he'd enjoy having them over. He was pretty oblivious to what was going on but he did blow out his candle and has enjoyed his gifts. It was a bit of a fight to get him into the house to have birthday cake. He just wanted to keep playing outside with all the other kids. He got a new tricycle for his birthday from his mom and dad which he loves and pretty much wants to be on all day long, a spiderman soap dispenser from the Whiting's, and a new shirt and pants, book and backpack from his Grandma and Grandpa Parry. It was a great day!
Friday, May 1, 2009
The boys!
Tel always gets a ride in the laundry basket on laundry days and on this particular day he thought Kimball needed to get in with him. Kimball is not looking too sure about this idea.
This is just a picture of Kimball before church wearing a onesie that Casey once wore.
Tel wearing a sweater that was once Casey's as well. This is Tel's idea of cooperating for a picture. I really tried to get one of the two of them together in their dad's old clothes but Tel obviously wasn't in the mood.
Outside at Grandma and Grandpa Parry's house.
Swinging in the hammock swing at Grandma and Grandpa Parry's.
Change
Life is full of changes and Casey and I always seem to thrive on that for some odd reason. I don't always enjoy every part of every change, but looking back on all the changes we have gone through since we've been married I can't say I regret any of those that we chose to make.
We are making some more big changes in our lives right now by moving to Star Valley, WY at the end of this month. We have LOVED our time here in Lander, and most of all we love our ward and the friends we have made. We are sad to leave them and our house that we bought last year and have put an addition on and completely renovated. We have only lived in our new home for 10 months (will be 11 when we move). The past year has been crazy with house projects that I won't miss terribly since I feel like they have taken over my life. I am ready to focus on simply being a mother to two beautiful little boys. But as crazy as the year has been, living in a constant construction zone, it has paid off in the way that we have already got our home under contract and should be closing on it June 3rd or sooner. It is a crazy story but we got an offer for over our asking price without ever even having a 'for sale' sign in our yard or listing with a realtor. What a blessing in these economic times! We only hope that things continue to go smoothly through the closing.
Casey will be teaching Spanish at SVHS and I will be the freshmen volleyball coach. Both of these roles will also bring change. Casey is not hired on to coach any sports right now and I will be taking on that role for the fall season. This will be a BIG change for Casey since he coaches year-round here. I think it will be good for our family though. Casey will get to spend some more time with just him and our boys and I will get a couple hours away from the house each day during that time of year, which I hear can be a good thing for a full-time mom.
We are excited for the upcoming changes and are thankful for all that we have been blessed with.
We are making some more big changes in our lives right now by moving to Star Valley, WY at the end of this month. We have LOVED our time here in Lander, and most of all we love our ward and the friends we have made. We are sad to leave them and our house that we bought last year and have put an addition on and completely renovated. We have only lived in our new home for 10 months (will be 11 when we move). The past year has been crazy with house projects that I won't miss terribly since I feel like they have taken over my life. I am ready to focus on simply being a mother to two beautiful little boys. But as crazy as the year has been, living in a constant construction zone, it has paid off in the way that we have already got our home under contract and should be closing on it June 3rd or sooner. It is a crazy story but we got an offer for over our asking price without ever even having a 'for sale' sign in our yard or listing with a realtor. What a blessing in these economic times! We only hope that things continue to go smoothly through the closing.
Casey will be teaching Spanish at SVHS and I will be the freshmen volleyball coach. Both of these roles will also bring change. Casey is not hired on to coach any sports right now and I will be taking on that role for the fall season. This will be a BIG change for Casey since he coaches year-round here. I think it will be good for our family though. Casey will get to spend some more time with just him and our boys and I will get a couple hours away from the house each day during that time of year, which I hear can be a good thing for a full-time mom.
We are excited for the upcoming changes and are thankful for all that we have been blessed with.
Monday, March 9, 2009
We have been blessed!
Well, today we were reminded just how quickly life can change. On his way to work this morning, Casey was in a wreck. The roads were slick because of the new snow on the roads and just south of Hudson (between Lander and Riverton)a truck fish tailed out of control and ended up broad-siding Casey right on the driver's side. It knocked him off the road and into the barrow pit. The car was totaled but it could have been so much worse. Casey walked away with some minor scrapes and a sore shoulder and back, but nothing serious. The driver of the truck was okay as well. What a blessing! It really got me thinking though. Every morning Casey goes to work it could be the last time I see him. Granted, we can't allow things like this to keep us from living life. In fact, it's these types of things that remind me we must live each day to it's fullest, because it could be our last. I am just so grateful the Lord was watching over us today and hope He will continue to do so.
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