Faith Promoting Stories?

Last night Eric went to the Stake Dance to chaperon for our ward. So, I helped myself to some time at my mom's house for a visit with her and an aunt that is in from Utah. About an hour or so after the dance started, I decided that since it was at our local chapel I would run over and hang out with Eric for a little bit. When I got there Eric proceeded to tell me about an assignment he was given for a "mini" youth conference that the stake is having in March. Being the organizer that I am, I found a member or the Stake YW pres. to get more details. After I got my details, I was content to leave the room and continue my hanging out process, when I got stopped! No big deal, President Newton (the stake pres.) just wants to say hi. WRONG! He wanted to help me out with my calendering. He started to tell me about stake conference which happens to be on the 6th, and 7th of Feb. Thanks for the reminder Pres. I am planning on attending and I am even gonna sing in the choir on Sunday.:) Nope, not what he wanted. What he really wanted was to give me an early b-day present. One that requires me to speak for 10 minutes at the adult session of conference. FOR REAL!? You sure? Well, I guess he was sure. So, here is the question I have for you. What stories in church history are faith promoting to you? I have to speak on a faith promoting story from church history. Seriously? There are a million in one faith promoting stories....how do you just choose one? So, if you have a good one please leave me a clue to it in the comments section, because I am really freaked out about having to pick a story and then talk on it.

The Bacon Monster

This morning Taft had already eaten a waffle, some blueberries and had a little orange juice. When Eric sat down to eat his eggs, waffles, and bacon Taft snuck his way into his Daddy's lap and helped himself to some bacon. But he didn't stop with half a piece. When he was done he helped himself to a little more...and a little more until it was gone. Eric didn't really mind though, because it meant a little snuggle time with his little man. So, we made Eric a little more bacon, and guess who helped him eat that, too...none other than the bacon monster! Guess the little guy is just going through a spurt.

GQ or Nerd?

Taft loves cell phones, shoes, and glasses. He will wear any kind of glasses, and today the glasses of choice were his Grandma Simpson's (aka Pa).

Making Music

The cabinet door with the pots and pans got let open, and Taft decided to do nothing else, but make music. I am convinced that some things come naturally to kids, like making lots of noise,because we have never taught him to do this. Not that Taft is the 1st one to think of using the lids to the pots and pans as cymbals, but kids are so creative. They never provide a dull moment.

Future Fireman?

Before today I never seen Taft have enough attention span to play with something for more than 3 minutes at a time. Today he played with his fire station that his Aunt Kim & Uncle Spencer gave him for Christmas. He played with it for about 10 minutes, so I was able to get some pictures, so we hope you enjoy them Spencer and Kim. He loves it.

2010 Resolutions

I am going to make my resolutions public for 2 reasons. #1 if forces me to think about them before I actually commit to them and then also they are written down and therefore must be accounted for. So, if you are not interested in reading about my personal goals for the next few days, weeks, months and years then please feel free to read at a later time when I post something else. Resolutions are an interesting concept to me. I know it isn't likely that I will achieve all of them, or maybe not any of them, but I love what they stand for....CHANGE! They are an effort to realize where we are, a self-check if you may, and then an opportunity to decide what to do to change what we are or to decide if we are accepting where we are at in our lives. For me, I am not unhappy with my life, but I definitely long for MORE...peace, happiness, and improvement. So, today I am writing down some goals that I think will ultimately bring me more peace, happiness, and improve my life.

DAILY:
1. Compliment Eric and Taft. These two are the greatest joys and frustration in my life, but definitely bring me more joy in my life than anything I could imagine. I am not very good at complimenting them on the joy they bring me, so here is to a sharing of positive feedback!

2. Sincerely talk with My Heavenly Father. I am always in need of something. I think I must start a thousand prayers a day, but this year I want to learn to really talk to God. He is the reason I exist, He is the reason I am so blessed and even the reason I experience trials, but ultimately His approval is what I want at the end of the day, so I guess I am going to have to learn to talk to him sincerely and then learn to listen for His response.

WEEKLY:
1. Journal the experiences of our lives. Family history is not one of my loves, but I do think it valuable for people to understand the experiences that mold and shape the lives of their ancestors.

2. Learn something new. I want to learn something new in three different categories...Spiritual, Historical, and Professional. This is probably going to be a little challenging for me because it is going to force me to have to read more. I am not very good at reading for the purpose of gathering information. So here is to getting more informed on things that might actually help improve myself.

Monthly:
1. Increase my temple attendance. Since I am horrible at this, I am pretty sure that I can only get better at this. I am looking forward to scheduled trips with my husband that will give us time to spend together and remind us the promises we made at marriage to ourselves and to God.

2. Family Fun Night. I want to start planning evenings with our little one that helps enrich his life as much as he does ours. We are really good at playing with Taft individually, but as a family we don't do much to create fun times and memories. Some of that has to do with the previous inability of Taft to really follow instructions and do anything structured. He is getting to an age where he can cooperate to a degree with activities that are fun and attention getters for him. I am hoping that once a month we can find the energy, time and creativity to give our son the love, attention and opportunity to make fond memories with his immediate family, extended family and even friends that we consider family!:)

YEARLY:
1. Work towards a healthier me. To me this includes physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. So, of course this means exercise, better eating, a better sleeping schedule and less stress. So, here is to picking the battles, enjoying the moment, and and capitalizing on moments that will allow me to learn to laugh, smile, sing and love more!

If you have any ideas on how to help me reach my goals, or want to share yours with me, feel free to do so in the comments section! Happy New Year and hopefully IMPROVED year!