Today starts the first Sweet-16 challenge.  This month we will be focusing on our health.  I don't know about you, but 2015 was a doozy for me, health wise.  I was in and out of Dr.s offices, I tried a dozen different treatments and medications, and then ended up having two major surgeries within just a few months of each other.  I spent TOO much time, in bed watching Netflix.  (Pretty Little Liars, Gilmore Girls, Parenthood and The Originals were my past time.)  I missed a lot of life and doing what I liked doing.

This year I want to be in control of my body, not the other way around.  I know that there are some things I can't help, and I'm still figuring out all that ails me, but for the most part, I am feeling much better and stronger, and I want to keep it that way!

So January's focus will be to get/be/stay healthy.  We will start a habit that we can continue all year long that will help us feeling our best, so that we can be our best.

SLEEP
Commit to going to bed at the same time each night, and waking up at the same time each morning. By keeping a regular sleep schedule, it will help dramatically with the quality of your sleep.  Your brain will be trained when to shut off, so less laying in bed at night trying to fall asleep AND by waking up at the same time, your body will become used to it, and you will no longer struggle with the snooze button.

WATER
Drinking enough water during the day is vital to our health.  We all know we need to drink more, but we still struggle to do it.  This month commit to drinking more water each day.  This one thing will help you FEEL better more than any other thing you could do.

REST
Research shows that mental breaks increase productivity and encourage creativity.  Moments of rest also allow you to keep a sense of self and helps in motivating you to stay focused on your goals.
Taking time each day to rest and reset will actually help you to accomplish more than if you try to just plow through.  This month make a goal to have a deliberate resting period each day.

MOVE
Get up and do something.  You will sleep better, you will have more energy and will be able to focus that energy better by being active.  You can decide to work out at the gym or train for a marathon.
Moving can be something as simple as deciding to go on a bike ride with your kids or taking a walk in the morning.  It really doesn't matter how you move, just do it.  This month make a habit out of moving and focus on how this helps your sleep, your attitude and how your body embraces it.

FOOD
We all know that you are what you eat.  This month commit to being aware of what is going into your body, and how it makes you feel.   Commit to eating a breakfast full of protein, this one habit will set the stage for more energy in your day.  Cut out sodas, add more fruits or vegetables.  The key to this challenge is to be in tune with how food effects you, and make the necessary changes to get more out of your day.  By using food as fuel instead of a friend, activity, or an emotional crutch you will start to feel like you can do anything.

I will be posting tips and motivation on instagram and facebook, so make sure you follow me.  And join the challenge.  Be a supportive member and let me know what you are doing.  We can do this together!

Let's start off our year feeling good, so that we can tackle our dreams!

Here's to a Sweet-16!

I have chosen a word to focus on throughout the year since 2012.  I love this idea from Ali Edwards and I encourage you to try it to too.

This year I had a few words picked out that I was trying to pick through.  And then I finally picked my word.   I had picked the word COURAGE.  I was set to that.  I made up a printable, I was picking quotes.  I was excited.

Then, BAM!  New Years morning I woke up and I could not get the word "START" out of my mind.  I tried, I already had my word picked out,............but my word picked me.

So my year for 2016 is START!!!

I love Thanksgiving Decorations.  They are so warm and cozy.

This year I added a gold accent to all my Thanksgiving Decorating.  It gives it that touch of whimsy and class at the same time.  I painted my dollar store pumpkins gold with spray paint and just placed them in random places to add "fall" to my home.

One of my favorite things to say to the kids, ALL year long is "There is ALWAYS something to be THANKFUL for."  I truly feel like if I can teach them that, they can conquer the world.  I want them to know that they are loved, and have been given so much by our kind Heavenly Father.

I also love this quote, "The spirit of gratitude brings true joy and great happiness!"  By Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf.   I want my children to know that the only true way to feel happiness is to be thankful for what they have.  What a comforting blessing.

This Thanksgiving Printable is an 8x10 and it's yours to download for free.  If you download it, please leave me a comment and tell me one of your favorite Thanksgiving quotes.  I love collecting quotes, and maybe I'll make a printable of your favorite.


Thanks!

I was at a conference a week back and was reminded of this Abraham Lincoln quote:




It stuck with me all weekend.

It's really so simple.

When I do GOOD, I feel GOOD.

When I do bad, I feel bad.

So why do so many of us feel bad?  Why are we constantly feeling like we aren't good enough?  Why do we allow ourselves to feel bad about all the good we are doing?
 
I think another question to ask ourselves is, why are we not recognizing all the good we are doing?

We tend to overlook the kindness we have shown, the love that we've shared, the service that we have performed, and instead focus on what still needs to be accomplished.  We don't let ourselves feel rested or satisfied with our day, because we keep a running tally of what else we could have done.

We have to start realizing the GOOD we are doing!  Every day!!!  We need to acknowledge our worth and to feel at peace with who we are and what we do.  Start small if this is difficult for you.

Feel good about the good you are doing.  Feel confident that your efforts to make your day, your family, your community, your world better are being realized!  Small efforts, big efforts, ANY effort you made today to make it a brighter day, is a good thing.  A wonderful thing!  Kind words, kind acts, they are contagious.

Feel good about the good you are doing, because it is fueling someone else to do good too!

What if we all just focused on the things we didn't accomplish today? What if every one felt bad about the good they did, because it wasn't enough?  Wouldn't that be contagious too?   Wouldn't that burden be so heavy that eventually we would be crippled to even begin to do something good, for fear that we still weren't good enough?

STOP feeling bad about what you are NOT doing.   If you didn't do something BAD, do not feel bad!!!

Feel good about the good your are doing!  Focus on that!  Let THAT fuel you to do better tomorrow, instead of guilt that you weren't quite good enough today.

** It's silly to feel bad about a good thing you did not do, and ignore all the good things you DID do! ** (Now I kind of sound like Dr. Seuss!)

Feel good about the good you are doing!!

Here is Novembers Photo Challenge.  Sorry it's late!  Remember, this isn't so much as a "challenge" but a prompting to remind you to live in the moment.  There is so much to be grateful for, and my purpose is to remind us to celebrate November!  Have a great month!  Don't forget to tag #sweetmephotochallenge

It's that time of year again.  Back to School.

I always have mixed feelings about my children going back to school.  On the one hand, I love having them home with me.  We love staying up late, playing games, going on bike rides and hanging out.  We spend our summers at water parks, soccer tournaments and family activities.  I hate to see our fun come to an end.

On the other hand, I crave order and routine.  I enjoy letting go of it during the summer, but I do get a little excited about the thought of schedules again.

Every year I like to plan a little Back to School dinner.  I make it a special occasion, one that we look forward to and each of the kids can participate in.  I use it as a night of planning and goal setting for the upcoming school year.   I pick a theme I want to focus on and then go from there.

This year my sister, Hollie, and I were talking and we really liked THIS TALK by President Gordon B. Hinckley.   It's the B's talk.  We were trying to find a way to focus on the the "Be Smart" part of his talk.  After all, it's Back to School.

Then we found a follow up talk he gave,  and I really liked this part.

"For you, my dear friends, the sky is the limit. You can be excellent in every way. You can be first class. There is no need for you to be a scrub. Respect yourself. Do not feel sorry for yourself. Do not dwell on unkind things others may say about you. ........... Polish and refine whatever talents the Lord has given you. Go forward in life with a twinkle in your eye and a smile on your face, but with great and strong purpose in your heart. Love life and look for its opportunities." 

I knew that this was what I wanted our focus to be on.   I want my children to know that they need to not just go through life.   They can't just let life happen, and go with whatever way the wind blows.  They can not become idle in their dreams, and they can do and be anything that they work to be.  They must live their life with PURPOSE!  Anything can be accomplished when they go forward with a positive attitude.

So I put together these bookmarks for each one of my children with excerpts from that talk.









Once everything was set I made a yummy dinner, (post to come) and my Husband I talked to our kids about our Back To School theme.  Then my Husband gave our kids their annual Back to School Blessings.   I always look so forward to this tradition.  I am a bit of a nervous Nelly, and hearing him give each child a blessing always eases my mama bear heart.  He even gives me one, so that I can embrace the new School year, instead of being anxious and feeling sad about the kids leaving.

We then had each child write down 3 goals in their journal that they wanted to focus on for this upcoming school year.  We encourage them to think about this before our dinner, that way they are inspired and can take this process seriously.  We encourage them to think beyond passing tests, and reading a set number of books.   We want them to remember that back to school is about relationships with friends, choosing the right paths, and making the right decisions with their time as well as good grades. They need to seek out knowledge and truth, and to build on their relationship with their Heavenly Father.

I am now looking forward to this upcoming School year with so much excitement!!  I am excited to see what my kids can accomplish now that they have a clear understanding of our expectations and with their goals they set for themselves.   We are ready to Go Forward with Purpose!!!

I admit that "living" life has always been a bit scary to me.  I have been comfortable with just going with the flow.  I even convinced myself that I am not settling, but instead I'm being content with my life.  I believed that since I was happy and my life was going well, that I was doing okay.

It wasn't until a few months ago that I realized that I wasn't doing myself any favors with this plan of action.
Because in reality, I wasn't TAKING action.  I was just letting life happen.  I would rejoice in the good, and work through the bad, but I wasn't embracing life! I wasn't learning, progressing, experiencing!

I made a deliberate choice to take a plan of action this year!  To try new things, to challenge myself.  I was not going to talk myself out of living just because I am already content with my life.  I need my kids to see that they can do and be whatever they want.  I have not been a good example of that.  True, I want them to be content and not have to always have something new and exciting going on in life to make them happy.  But I don't want that complacency to keep them from experiencing all that life has to offer, like I have done.

So one day I was talking with my sister, discussing my upcoming birthday, and I expressed to her how I really wanted to do something different for my day this year.  She told me about a  Women's only 5k race she heard of, The Skirt in the Dirt race put on by the GOAL Foundation.  It was perfect!!!  I have never done a race, and it was on my Birthday weekend.  And beyond that, GOAL stands for "GET OUT AND LIVE!"  If this race wasn't designed for me, then no other race would be!!  It was meant to be.



 I was so super excited about it the day we planned it.  I knew this was just what I needed.  It was over the river and through the woods, and mud, and sand, and climbing trees, and it sounded AWESOME!  I told my family about it and they all agreed I HAD to do it.  Even when I started to talk myself out of it, they were there to remind me of how excited I first was about it!


Hollie and I ran the race.  Well, I ran as much as I could, but it didn't even matter.  We did it.  The course was so fun, the women were amazing, and they had cupcakes at the end!  It wasn't a "win the race" sort of thing, it was just a bunch of women, motivating each other, helping each other, and out living and loving life!


I can honestly say I loved every second of it.  I feel proud of myself!  How often do we really feel a deep sense of pride in something that we did?   My family was there at the end to see Hollie and I finish and it was just what I needed.  I needed to see them support me, so that I wouldn't be afraid to keep trying new things, and they needed to see me living!  I know to some, running a 5K may be no big deal, but to me, this race was pivotal for my progression in proving to myself that I can and will LIVE my life!


We decided it's a new Birthday tradition.  Who's with me next year?

It's that time of year!  Time to set new goals, get excited about the future, and for me, pick a focus word!

I have been participating in One Little Word for a few years.  One year, delight was my word.  One year, simplify.  It's always a fun process coming up with my word.  And I've realized that I never pick my words,......they pick me.

This year my word is








I've been thinking for the past week or two on what my word would be.  I had a few that I liked, but I just couldn't commit to one.  Then the other day I saw the word "complete" and I KNEW that was it.  Complete was my word!

I looked it up in the dictionary and this is what it said:

My kids LOVE to be creative.  In fact, we are known to turn off the tv, the computer, the xbox and the phones and just sit around the table and have drawing contests.  When my kids were younger, and the Hubby was working much longer hours, sometimes the only moments of sanity I could get was when I would sit down with the kids and color.  They seriously would do it for hours.  And of course, each piece was a masterpiece!


I used to try to keep as many of the papers of color and imagination as I could, but seriously, we had millions!  I tried keeping just my favorites.  We tried displaying them in frames in the playroom, I even caved and put some on the fridge.  ( I have issues with cluttered fridges!)  My oldest drew an amazing picture of The Salt Lake Temple that I had framed in my house for a long time.  He was only 8 when he drew this.

I feel it very important to instill in my children that desire to be creative.  To use their minds, and their hands.  To learn to think outside the box, and to think for themselves.  Nothing makes me happier than when I am making dinner, and one of my kids is sitting at the counter, coloring, painting, play-dohing or writing a story as we chat and create.

We are all creative souls.  Some of us can draw, some of us can bake or cook, some of us dance, some of us make furniture.   I don't want my children to forget how to use their imagination.  I want them to indulge in the fun of play.  When they are older and have to pick a career, I hope they have the courage to pick something they love to do, and have the confidence to know they can do anything.  I really think that helping them now with their creative learning, will help them to always dream and strive for the best as they get older.

As important as I think this is, I realized that I want to show them how important it is.  So I went to Hobby Lobby and bought a big canvas, I used a 40% off coupon, so it was really affordable.  I picked a dozen or so colors of paint that the kids could choose from, that would coordinate with my decor.  I also bought half a dozen different sized paint brushes.




I gave the kids free reign.  No directions, no suggestions, the only rule was they had to create something TOGETHER.


I LOVE what they came up with.  They named it OUTSIDE FUN.

We hung it right up, and they love when people notice it and talk about it.  I believe that a home should have pictures of your life's journey, not just your portraits of your Sunday best.  I love family pictures of a family being a family,......... of a soccer game, a 5th birthday, a family vacay.  I also believe the home should have a piece of every member representing themselves.  Not just a perfectly put together living room that Mom doesn't want anyone messing up!  What could be a better way to show your children how important they are, than to have them feel and SEE it!

How do you showcase your family in your home?

We go from orange and black to green and red. From ghosts and goblins to Santa and his elves. From handing out candy, to handing out presents.

Unfortunately, I think some of us forget about the in-between. Sometimes the "in-between" is the best part - Twinkies, sandwiches, books, and Thanksgiving!! We need to remember to hand out thanks in between candy and gifts.

It's easy to be grateful for the big things, Family, Gospel, Home, Health, but sometimes we overlook the little things that make the big things that much better.

Like today. Avery and I went for a walk and collected leaves. I was so grateful for our time together. She told me something that was bothering her at school, and we were able to have a nice heart to heart about it. It was warm outside, but not too warm. A perfect November day in Utah. The mountain is beautiful and alive with bright colors.

Today I am thankful for leaves. For walks around the neighborhood. For my family.
I am thankful that I can see the beauty in an ordinary day. There was a time that I didn't know if I would be able to ever see that again. I am thankful for time. I am thankful that time can heal and strengthen.

I am grateful that I can remember to be thankful.