Little tasks add up

I am beginning a mentoring/training class.  Our first meeting together was last night.  We came away with assignments and insights.  We were able to choose 2 buddies so that as a threesome we would daily be accountable for action steps towards goals.

We also learned that negative thoughts or negative emotions will stop progress.  We will be recognizing those negative thoughts and feelings, writing them down and shredding them.  It has to do with make the unseen (thoughts and emotions) seen so that we can recognize the lies and get them out of our head.  I am anxious to clean up my head.

We are to  daily plan action steps, to keep our buddies accountable through daily phone calls.  We each have our own main goal that we are seeking to accomplish.  My goal is to accept responsibilities, create a plan, and finish the job.  For me this is an area that I find scary.  I don't like to make formal (out loud where people can hear me) goals.  I also get overwhelmed with figuring out the steps.  I can do hard things once I get through this planning stage so I am hoping to find success.

It is a matter of creating order.  In my reading this morning I was reminded that it is the little steps, easy and simple steps that make us who we are.  I found this article on facebook and even the simple, yet very necessary step of nicely making my bed sets a tone for the day, for my ability to succeed.

"If you want to change the world, start by making your bed"  William H. McRaven



There are little things I can do to get in alignment.  As I seek to be obedient I will be blessed with divine power.  I can be obedient to my goals.  I can get up with the alarm goes off.  I can choose to exercise.  I can stick to my eating plan.

This video talks about how we can learn to change the world.  I do want to change my world.  I know that there is great room for improvement.  Really we are all on a similar course of working to make things better.  We are working to bring order, discipline, joyful relationships.  We can help each other and bring each other hope.

Moments away starting to change the world—for the better.

It will not be easy.

But, YOU are the class of 2014—the class that can affect the lives of 800 million people in the next century.

Start each day with a task completed.

Find someone to help you through life.

Respect everyone.

Know that life is not fair and that you will fail often, but if take you take some risks, step up when the times are toughest, face down the bullies, lift up the downtrodden and never, ever give up—if you do these things, then next generation and the generations that follow will live in a world far better than the one we have today and—what started here will indeed have changed the world—for the better.

Grateful:

636 Making my bed DOES make a difference and is worth the effort

637 I can celebrate each step of the way and wisely choose the direction those steps take me.

638 Kneader's cheesecake and Thai yellow curry

639 My children listening to the Chronicles of Narnia

640 Isaac has begun a lawn mowing business and business is booming.  He is handling it all really well and pleasing his customers.

641 making time to blog and share my feelings.

some candid shots of our wedding this weekend

We had such a wonderful time.  We had our home town open house on Friday night and then the temple sealing the next morning followed by a wedding luncheon and reception that night in Rachel's home town.  We had so much family support and love.  I couldn't ask for a better way to celebrate the coming together of town wonderful young people creating another family.

 Peter and Rachel chose to do their pictures together the day before their wedding.  The bride got to get ready at my house. Such a tender moment to see Rachel and her mom preparing for such a special day.  Liz, her sister in law was the photographer.  We will share her pictures later when we get them.

 All my girls together!  Each so beautiful and loved.

 Watching Peter see Rachel for the first time in her gown was sweet.  Even as beautiful as she looked, he gazed into her eyes.

 We had some fun decorating the church cultural hall.  Her colors were orange and mint and we did lots with burlap, dots, pictures, paper flowers, lights, and gold fish on every table.

We had a fruit pizza bar where each person collected a cookie (plain sugar cookie from the local bakery) with cream cheese frosting and then added their own fruit (grapes, pineapple, banana, and strawberries) or not.  We served ice water with orange slices floating in it.

 Some thought the frosting the very best part of the evening.

Sweet grandpa O. is slowing down but we were so glad he felt well enough to join in our celebrating and even made it to the temple thanks to sweet aunt Kristen.

 Emily was sure  pleasing the guys with her great smile.  (Josh and Emily)

 We ended up with plenty of time to taste the goodies and play around a bit.

 Some just really needed a chance to spend time outside with the rocks and their Poppi.

Elise and John catching a dip.

 With the open house the night before, the bride and groom said good-night and we took down one party and prepared for the luncheon the next day.  We simply turned up the wedding playlist with lots of fun dancing music and had our own little dance.

 My chance to do a little swing dancing with my son, the groom.

 Cousins catching a few moves that resulted in a split pair of trousers, oops.

Jaiden and Emily

Dane and Elise

 And finally wedding morning as we head off to the temple.

Elise, Julie, and Natalie

 Rachel's favorite color happens to be orange and there is the peak at her beautiful shoes.

 We had an extremely efficient photographer who zipped us through the group pictures and sent us to lunch.

 We served barbeque turkey, creamy potatoes, tossed green salad, hard rolls with butter and razmataz cake.  It was perfect and well received. Mr. O and sons did the bbq-ing early Saturday morning.  Dear friends Michelle, Shelly, Linda, Melody and Lannette took care of all the food and kitchen duties.  Because we didn't have a lot of people show for the open house we had some delicious leftovers that disappeared with all the family we had around.  It all worked out beautifully.

The best part was definitely celebrating with family and family support.  I am really wondering if receptions/open houses are fading away in our culture.  I am not sure how I feel about this.  I remember so much support from my ward, my friends.  Really it is about family but I love helping a new family get established and sharing the good hopes and dreams that we have for each other.  I don't know that I have much influence on how our community supports receptions but I also don't know if it is something we should continue to put in the time, effort and expense in hopes that people will come.  I have 3 married and 5 to go. Still lots of time to figure out what works best for each couple.  So glad we did celebrate big for this sweet couple.  I love Peter and Rachel so much and have so much confidence in their future and the love they share.

An amazing woman.

 My mother, Marilyn, is an inspiration to me and my life.

Always beautiful in pictures, elegant and sweet.

our 4 generations of women

My mother married at 21.  I was her first child.  She had 6 more children, each loved and welcomed into our family.  Her third child came as an angel.  Debbie was born with only a brain stem.  There was no brain to develop so she was for 8 years as if she were a 2-3 month old.  Because of mom's positive attitude through this challenging time Debbie has always been a cherished and remembered member of our family.  She is the one in heaven waiting for the rest of us to work our way there.

My mom loves reaching out to people.  When I was in high school I suspected some of my friends liked my mom even more than me.  They still love to visit with my parents and feel a special connection.  She has so many ideas.  She loves to be learning new things and technology has been a great way to do that.  You will find her often at the apple store figuring out more ways to use her ipad to create family memories.  

Mom and my Debbie named after her Debbie

She is one of the most open people to new ideas and products.  She loves finding ways to make life easier, better, healthier, more fun.  Then she shares these great ideas with her family and friends.  As green smoothies became an important part of her diet she worked out deals to make sure each of her children had a way to improve there diets with a good vitamix.  Though it is hard at times for dad to keep up with, she would gladly give everything she has to help her children raise their children.  She loves each of her grandchildren and often is seeking to figure out another way to create traditions and fun for cousins to know each other.

Here as I remember my mom and her mom with pictures of my last daughter I am touched by the legacy of faith, vision, love and joy that they both lived and shared with me.  Because of their example I cherish family. I work willingly and long to create those moments that build relationships and my heart breaks when I see the strain or disappointment in those relationships.  I think family is the hardest and most rewarding charge we have been given as mothers.  We are to nurture children.  We love them through thick and thin, through good and bad.  We love them always and it just doesn't stop if they change their minds.

This plan of happiness given to us by our loving Heavenly Father is truly the schooling we each need to become more like him.  We get to love, serve, hope, dream, teach, work, and grow. I am so grateful that as I continue on this same path, seeking to be a good mother, that I have an amazing woman as my mother. She continues to be there for me. She loves me.  She loves my children and together we move forward in the sacred role of wife and mother.

grateful:
633 for my mom, and both of my mother in laws.  They each teach me so much, are so different and love me anyway.
634 to watch my own daughters and now a daughter in love become amazing mothers loving their children and teaching me
635 my youngest daughter is already practicing being a mom as she mothers her nieces and nephews and brings a bit of tenderness and femininity to a house full of older brothers.