A fantastic trip

This past weekend I was able to travel to Utah with my friends and two of my kids to support my lovely and talented friend Elizabeth. Elizabeth arranged "The Lord is my light" in a new way last year for our Young Women's in Excellence. She submitted it to the Church's music contest and it won special recognition. This was so COMPLETELY AWESOME and it has been so fun to see her light up as she was recognized for her amazing talents. This is the same person that wrote the music for Daughter Divine last year and we just completed writing a new song "Born to be a Queen" for this years Young Women's in Excellence. You can read and see more about these songs here elizabethgiuliaccimusic.com I encourage you to take a look at her site, check out her music, download some and enjoy!!
Here are a few pix of our trip

Top: Caitlyn, Cheryl, Dean Wendel, Elizabeth Giulliaci, Sadie Bergstrom, Meghan Goodfellow and Shannon Nightengale

Middle and Bottom: Dinner at the Blue Lemon at City Creek. Super Good!!

A few lovely pix of the Assembly Hall and the Salt Lake Temple

Inside the Assembly Hall

Our last night in town we met up with our dear friends, the Szymanski's...we went to the Syracuse City Pumpkin Walk. Of course Caitlyn found Sherlock Holmes. It was so great to see our friends and to reconnect! We love them and had a blast listening to their kids talk about all the pumpkins.

It was a wonderful trip with chilly weather, a bit of snow and lots of friends, shopping and great memories!

Halloween Party

Every year Caitlyn has a Halloween/birthday party. She LOVES it. It is the highlight of her year.
This year was no exception. Her party was lovingly hosted by Meghan Goodfellow. Meghan is amazing at planning a party and not only super gracious to do so, but she is just super sweet and talented!

This years theme was ZOMBIES

It was a fantastic night of friends and fright. Watching movies in the dark and killing each other with a game of Murder in the dark :D

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

General Conference October 2012

It is always amazing to me what we glean from conference if we choose to LISTEN. How many times have we had conference on and gone about our routines without REALLY listening? I think the same could be said of going to CHURCH or reading...really READING our Scriptures. I was just listening to Elder Holland and the inflections in his voice as he talked about the Savior talking to Peter... "Peter, do you LOVE ME?"  And how do we take this to our life? We cannot merely listen with mortal ears, we cannot casually partake of the gospel. I want to participate in the gospel the way Elder Holland does. He is a giant, a spiritual giant and WHY? Because he sees the picture. He has a deep relationship with the Savior and with his Heavenly Father. He loves them with all his heart and his convictions and actions show that in all that he does. Elder Holland does not debate whether to do something else over serving the Savior.
I love his words and his testimony.
After President Eyrings talk I know that I can petition the Lord in a different way to have blessing and answers come into my life. Sometimes we need to be reminded that if we ask differently, if we submit to the Lord's will for us, great blessings than we can ever imagine will be bestowed upon us.
We have to step it up. The Call is to Come unto Christ, to stay true, to love God. Be loyal to Heavenly Father in every stage of your life.

Some ways to do this are to have daily meditation, daily quiet time to ponder the things in our lives, and to write them down. Next take time from that meditation to be prayerful. THINK before we PRAY....We know that the Lord holds blessings for us that are conditional to being given on our asking. THINK about what you are going through and what you need help with. And then practice LISTENING and FEELING the HOLY GHOST. If you don't identify it in your life then how do you know when you are feeling it? Figure out how that feels for you. I feel the Spirit in different ways. Sometimes I am washed over in a peaceful blanket. Sometimes I hear a still small voice in my mind and I feel peace in my heart. Sometimes the spirit speaks in a voice of warning. UNDERSTAND how it feels and works for you.

Read from the scriptures, read and STUDY them. Ask yourself, "what does this mean?" "If this were being taught to me today, how would I receive it, how would it impact me" And know that the scriptures are also found in the words of the prophets today. Study the Ensign, the New Era, the Friend magazine. Listen to BYU devotionals and read the Church News. Go to the Church website www.lds.org and to mormon.org. Ponder and read and pray.
The ONLY way to know if this, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is the ONLY true church on the earth, is to get down on your knees and ASK God for your self. and then LISTEN.... Listen ... It may take days, weeks or months to get an answer. But do not stop trying until you have an answer, one way or another.

God lives and he loves each of us. He knows of our needs, He is waiting for us to talk to him. As President Monson said (Prophet of the Church) " God is in the details of our lives". Yes he is.

I am grateful for my membership in the True Church. I am grateful to see miracles daily and to see prayers answered. I am grateful for opportunities to share this with my friends. Please ask, please ask members of our church and please STOP those awesome Young Men out on their bikes serving missions. They will answer you and so will we. :D

Summer...Oh where did you go?

Can school really be starting next week? Can my youngest really be entering her LAST year of High School?? This will be a crazy year, that I think may fly by quicker than we are ready for. With Caitlyn in her Senior year, Nick preparing for a mission and Nate finally ready to start school....boy..its going to go by fast. But...I am getting ahead of myself. Summer consisted of some fun staycations and a trip to Utah. We went to Utah in June and only had a week to spend there.

We ended up bringing up my friend Meghan's trailer with us. We stayed with Diane and hardly saw any of our favorite peeps, but we thought about you all while we were there. We loaded the trailer with ALL the things we were bringing back from my mom's house. It was bittersweet. But not a day goes by with out sweet tender reminders of the things I now have in my home everyday that remind me of my parents. Driving home from Utah took a VERY long time, pulling the trailer....but we made it. After arriving home, we "had" to buy some furniture to house all the things from moms house (bummer, right?) I found two wonderful pieces from a local furniture store here in Tracy. A tall bookshelf that is beautiful

and a beautiful China Hutch

Which ALSO meant painting the dining room (which really needed it)...it was a lovely fry sauce color.
We also bought six flag passes and have gone 3 times...more to come...
Some of our favorite things to do is go to the animal shows up there, Giraffes, Elephants, dolphins, whales..oh my

And then Caitlyn and I had Young Women's camp. We go to Clarks Fork in Dardanelle, CA at Camp Liahona. It is beautiful and well organized. It is run by the Stake and we love it. I was able to serve in the Humanitarian Hut and Caitlyn was a YCL2 (they plan and run most of the camp)
Below are a few of the great pix from camp

So all in all it has been a wonderful summer full of lazy days, swimming, ocean, beach, boating, And oh yeah....the 1200.00 dog....
Zoe has had quite the summer too, a blood test, x ray, ultra sound, shaved belly, urine tests and more blood test and eye tests later...we have an old girl dog with a gall stone, bladder infection, and cushings disease...who now has more medication than anyone else in the family. Good thing we love her...
Now... LET THE SCHOOL YEAR begin...

another reason I love them ....

Yesterday was Memorial Day. It is a beautiful day with the opportunity to remember all of those who have and continue to fight for our freedoms. We are so blessed to be able to worship how we wish, study what we wish, say what we want to say and do what we want to do. I am so grateful to my own father who was a navigator in the Air Force. I remember at his funeral, having the military there. Watching the precision and detail with which they folded the american flag in his honor was breathtaking. If you have never witnessed this, it is quite sacred and special. You definitely have a more somber and reverent attitude for our country

We, Kris, Nick, Caitlyn and I decided to take a day and enjoy each other and go to Six Flags Discovery

We bought season passes and figured this would be a good kick off to summer before the kids had finals this week. It was really fun. We just had an easy day, went to lots of the show, dolphins, Shooka the whale, the tigers etc. This park started as Marine World and then later became Discovery Kingdom with more animals and then it became Six Flags with the theme park rides. It is a fun park though. We went to the dolphin show and I got picked as a volunteer. I got to go sing to a dolphin and then it proceeded to splash me and I was SOAKED!! Front and back!! (mind you, it wasn't super warm yesterday) But it was awesome. I even got to pet the dolphins tail. Awesome!! After we went and watched Shooka the whale. Amazing! I do like that this park has adequate space for their marine and wild life.  You can even ride an elephant here. Pretty cool. So we had a nice day, got a little bit of sunshine and then came home. On the way home Caitlyn was singing some of her choral pieces and then we started singing hymns. For the rest of the ride home, we sang hymns and it was amazing...for good 40 minutes. 

It just was wonderful to sing hymns and feel the spirit and enjoy each others company on the way home. 

Just another reason I love them ......

Happiness is..............

It is interesting how we rate happiness. To some happiness is what they buy next, to others happiness is taking time to stop and notice life around them. For me, this week, happiness has shown its self in many forms. Happiness was last night as I watched my beautiful daughter sing in the last concert of this High School year. She had a small solo part and it was really beautiful. She held her composure, she didn't show her nerves ( I commend her for this because I so often do) And as I watched, I saw this mature, beautiful young woman. I shed a few tears because I knew that my constant day to day time with her was going to be much less frequent in the next years. Then I looked at Nick, sitting next to his dad, being so proud of his sister. And I felt happiness in my heart for this amazing young man...man child...grown man person...He is remarkable and so cool. Happiness is seeing your children support one another, seeing them get along. Its really the reason we are parents. We ultimately want them to grow up to be respectable citizens who contribute in a positive way and who can get along with each other and support each other.
Happiness is also getting a text from your 20 year old saying "we made it to our destination" or "I'm on my way home mom"....He won't understand how important that is until he is a parent, but it is happiness in my book.
Happiness is also bringing home 3 new squeaky toys for your dogs and seeing them get so excited as they chase the Beaver, the Duck and the Opposum around the living room in a blaze of happy puppy fury!!
Happiness is having your husband call you at 1 pm on a Friday saying he is off work...FOR AN ENTIRE WEEK! And to start off that time off, he agrees to go to Costco with you so you didn't have to lift all the heavy bulk stuff by yourself.
Happiness comes in many forms, it is just a matter of taking the time to recognize it. In an attitude of gratitude we find happiness all around us.

A little heart break

So where did the past 18 years go? I was watching the final episode of Glee today and cried (yes, I know, I'm a baby) I was watching the kids graduate and thinking about my own sweet Nick. Nicholas Andrew Polson, soon to be High School Graduate, soon to be made an Elder in the Melchizedek priesthood, soon to enter the temple, soon to go on a mission, soon to have his whole life in front of him....
I find my self a bit weepy, sad in my heart, but joyful as well, as I realized that I am not holding his hand guiding him so much any more. One day it will be him, who holds my hand and guides me. Life has a funny way of slipping by quickly and changing. In the next several months we will be buying suits and white shirts and ties and socks and shoes and luggage. We will be going to doctor appts and dental appts and submitting paperwork and then he will go.
I am so very excited for him but as I said...its a bit of a little heart break. I love you Nick!

projects

Today I am grateful to be able to take time to work on projects. I have 4 currently going. One was finished today...well mostly. Nick's Graduation Announcement!! YAY! I find right now in my life, that I need projects. If not, I end up sitting and not getting much accomplished. So I am grateful for beautiful spring days, the weather is not to hot, not too cool, just perfect. It is great. Now if I could just find my motivation...I think it got packed up in a box somewhere.
So on to bigger projects and accomplishing goals. I am super excited to see 2 of my projects come to light. I will post pix when they are done.

take time...

We had an amazing lesson in Young Womens on Sunday. First, back up....I must say that my Laurel Adviser is one of the sweetest, coolest, most creative women I have met. She has so many talents I wish I had. So many things that seem to just come so easy to her. Sometimes she shares with me her insecurities of teaching or the struggles she faces in life and I am always a bit shocked because she is just so together all the time! I love her. She exemplifies Christ in her life at all times. If you ever need anything done, she and her husband do it. They just do...no questions asked, they just do it.
So on Sunday, we had a lesson on Writing it down...keeping our records, our personal histories, our stories. About half way through the lesson, Meghan ( my Laurel Adviser) got very quiet and then told the girls she was going to shift gears, take a left turn in the lesson and then she proceeded to tell a really cool, very amazing story about a time in her life when she needed an answer to prayer, an answer to something she was struggling with and the answer came in a really cool way for her. But she realized she had never written the story down, something very powerful happened in her life, but she had yet to record it. How often does this happen? What stories are we writing down for our posterity? For those future generations to come? How often have you read the scriptures and thought "Wow, that is so applicable to me today" ? Did those who lived so long ago know that their words would have such a powerful effect in a world so completely different than theirs? And are we really that different? Sure, the set has changed, more things are going on, but really the story is very similar between our day and those days of our forefathers in the scriptures. Where would we be without their stories? Without their words and their conversion stories? Did they ever know that their experiences would touch generations?
Our stories will touch generations. The things I go through and write down will no doubt, help someone in my posterity. So, knowing that, It is time to TAKE TIME to record my story more thoroughly and to write down the details of what is going on in my life. The spiritual ah ha moments, the things I am trying to work though as a mom and the wonders of our family life.
Today, today was an interesting day. Just a normal Monday. Get up, take the kids to seminary, start  the laundry, take Kris to work, come home, shower, get ready to go Visiting Teaching. Thats where I will start today. Visiting teaching. I have really come to love it. I have loved my partner these past 9 months? Wow..that long. She is amazing. Always willing to go, to schedule to teach. She comes with a positive outlook, a kind heart and a sweet smile. There family has been here less than a year and now they are moving. (sounds familiar) We have one more sister to visit this month and that is the last of our time together.
I will miss her. Good visiting teaching partners are sometimes a rare thing. At least in my experience. And speaking of visiting teaching... I LONG to have a visiting teacher who wants to come and visit me and talk. Someone who will bring my a lesson and want to know what is going on in my life. Im in a really good place, but there are times when my cup is low and it would be so nice to have someone around who wanted to visit me.
Ok, back to my day. Our first stop was a lady in our ward who has such a big heart. She wants to be loved, understood and appreciated (don't we all) It is so nice to visit her and listen to her. She does good work and does good with her family. Our lesson was great, Elder Cooks talk from conference. We listened to that and then left. We met up at 1 to visit teach a younger sister who has 2 younger kids. She is creative and kind. Her kids are adorable!! It is fun to go there!
Then I got home. Nick was home from school. He had a huge persuasive essay due today in English and he thinks he nailed it. Good topic too. The use of genetic seeds to grow plants with vaccines already in them...good or bad? He seemed really happy until it was time to fix dinner. Each of my kids is taking a day each week to cook dinner. Tonight Nick picked Salmon and artichokes. He got it all ready and it wasn't quite done when he called everyone to eat. I checked it and told him it wasn't quite ready and he just got so mad. Nick has a really hard time when things don't go his way. He worries that everyone will be mad, or laugh, or make fun of him. I don't know how to convey that we love him and that we want to support him and help him. I have learned however, over the past 2 years, when to shut my mouth and let things be. I so desperately want to FIX my kids, but I just need to let them learn and grow and that is tough as the parent. Heavenly Father is teaching me to let my kids grow. They have to go through these experiences and figure their way through them. After dinner Nick came back down and is doing better. Sometimes it is like that in life, we have to muddle through the muck, figure it out. Get to higher ground, keep breathing and trust in the Lord.
Lately, I have been wondering what it is going to take for Nate to be humbled and to figure out that God is real. It worries me as the mom that he is going to have to have some humbling in his life. That is what happens when the Lord needs you back on his team. I have read to other blogs today, both of families that have lost children and I sat and cried. One, my friend Brittney had linked back to her mom. A young man named Tyler who died this week from a battle with liver cancer and another of a family whos little girl, Preslee drowned in a canal in 2010. But what I took from these stories was the great love each of these families had in the Savior and in the gospel They had learned to turn their will over, to allow God to be in charge and even though that meant a painful loss in their families, they learned something about giving back to God the only thing we can give and that is our free will. I remember when Nate stopped breathing in 2002 and ended up in the hospital. That night I told Heavenly Father I did not want to have my son die, but that I was willing to submit and leave it in his hands. If it was time for Nate to return to his Heavenly home then I would be OK with that. It was not Nates time, Nate still has much to learn and a great work to do and I know that and so does Heavenly Father.
I am hoping my blogs will become much more personal and that you will share with me in my struggles and in my joys and in my growth. Perhaps my story can have an impact on yours. I am grateful for all the stories that impact mine!

could it be this???

So the older I get, the more tired I am...all the time...
I keep trying to figure out if it is just age, or if it is lack of exercise in my life (but even when I was exercising everyday, I was still TIRED)
Could it be some weird non diagnosed health challenge yet to be determined? Is my thyroid out? Do I have diabetes? Are my heart palpitations the cause?
I need a body "do over". As soon as Annie is over, it is back to the gym and just maybe it will mean cutting something else out in my life.
In the meantime, Kris and I need physicals so we can both rule out anything bizarre.
And so, for today, I am going to just cuddle on the couch and work on some Young Women's stuff and perhaps...squeeze in a nap, or two...or three....

How can you doubt that God lives?

I would like to share a blog address with you. If you can, please go and visit it. This is the blog of a sweet couple. I knew Ashley just for a brief time when she was in primary. Her family is amazing and wonderful and the things she has been taught in her home and at church have prepared her, no doubt, for the huge trial and miracle that happened to her husband 6 weeks ago. Her husband, a 3rd year med student, tri athelet and probably all around amazing man, was in a bike/car accident. He was riding his bike around a blind corner when he struck a car. He is very lucky to be alive, but his recovery is nothing short of miraculous. It is a testimony of the power of prayer, Priesthood authority and understanding God's plan for each of us. As you read, you will see real miracles happening. I have cried as I have read their story and I have been humbled and had many things put into perspective in life. Some of those things we get so worked up about just do not matter. It really is nice to have life unfold in the perfect way but life is not in a perfected state yet and it is a time for us to grow, be tested and to LEARN from that testing and to move forward to a place where we are becoming more celestial in our thinking and getting away from the world and all the muck that weighs us down. This blog reminds me daily of what is most important. Family, the gospel, my children, my dogs, my Young Women, my testimony, scriptures, the temple, keeping commandments etc.
This is the blog address:
http://scott-recovery.blogspot.com/
let me know what you think.
Miracles do happen, every day!
much love!!

2 months later...

Sometimes I read the blogs of my super creative friends and I feel a bit guilty I am not putting in more effort...but every 2 months may have to do until Annie is over...
In the past 2 months:
1) I have had to STOP P90X which TOTALLY bummed me out. I was loving it until I locked up my SI joint in my lower back and couldn't move. It has been 2 months of Chiropractor appts but I am doing SO much better now. My upper back still gets out of alignment but lower back is doing MUCH better. So much so that Kris and I joined the gym. I was hesitant because my knees have been bad for so long, but the other night I rode 5 miles on the recumbent bike and did 2 miles on the treadmill. I am building cardio endurance and am slowly adding weights back in.
2) Kris, Caitlyn and I are in Annie and we open the first weekend in May. I am 98% memorized which is SO nice right now. Caitlyn is totally memorized and has all her stuff down really well. Kris is almost memorized and has considerable more lines than all of us. He is a great Daddy Warbucks and has now shaved his head all the way down. (not that it was a far stretch to go totally bald) I am really liking his shaved head!! :D
3) Nick is down to the last 6 weeks of Senior year. He had a 4.0 for 3rd term which is fantastic!! He has senioritis big time. Today they had Senior Breakfast. They had french toast, sausage, eggs, bacon etc. They did a raffle and dancing...Nick...sat by himself, which is was perfectly ok with.
I can't believe we will have 2 graduated children.
4) Nate just finished up his seasonal job. He was the top chat agent for the whole time he was employed. Which is super fantastic!! I am hoping he will be able to find another job but he has been invited back for their other support center for next tax season. His letter of recommendation is really wonderful!
We are super proud of all our kids and all their accomplishments.
I am still YW Pres...love it!! And Kris is still High Priest Group second counselor (counselor, assistant?? Not sure what it is)
And the blessed doggies...still doing good!

Feeling Great

So a month into the P90X, I am down 7 lbs., Not a huge amount of weight lost HOWEVER....my love handles/muffin top are diminishing and I am feeling STRONG! I love feeling strong. I love seeing the little changes and am just continuing on my path! :D
Now, this months goal is to add MORE cardio!!!! Yahoo!
More to come...........

Superstar

Kris and I are very proud of Nate. He is working very hard at his job and Kris had to go over to the support dept last Friday. Nate's boss, Thomas, told Kris that Nate is the top tech for the month of January. He went on and on about what a hard worker he is and how great he is doing, even mentioning that  if they are able to hire someone full time this year that Nate is at the top of the list,even over the seasoned tech people that come back every year. That is TOTALLY COOL!!
Nate is really a hard worker (when he wants to be) and we are grateful for him. I have to say, as the mom, I am grateful for his willingness to do the little things around the house, laundry, dishes, taking garbage out etc. It makes my job so much easier!!
Thanks NATE for being amazing!

It just occured to me that this is our family blog

You know....I am one of those people that just blurts out whats on MY mind when I blog. I have lost sight of the fact that this is a blog for our FAMILY..not just me. So I am going to try to do more family blogging...starting today
KRIS: Kris is knee deep in tax season at work which means longer hours, more stress, more tired. But it is not forever and usually by February they are starting to see a bit of a reprieve. Kris is also writing a musical which just amazes me. He has had some really cool spiritual experiences while working on this project and I have a feeling it may grow into something pretty amazing! We all auditioned for the musical "Annie" and Kris will be "Daddy Warbucks" which he has played before, so that is kindof fun. I am hoping for him, that our Annie this time is just as adorable as our Annie was last time.
NATE: Nate is working doing tech support for Petz Ent (where Kris works) He seems to be enjoying it and is definitely enjoying the paycheck. He is saving up for a car and that will ease stress on just about everyone!! He is also thinking that he wants to go to school to get his teaching degree in Math. More power to him!! I commend him for following something he loves. Nate has a real talent for teaching and I would love to see him fulfill that!
NICK: Finishing up Senior year. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? His schedule is fairly easy this year and that is nice as a Senior. Although it seems that most around him are doing all the IB classes and are completely stressed out...not Nick..lol. He had to have another fine arts credit so he is doing art and let me tell you...HE IS AMAZING!! Some of the work he has done is just remarkable!!
CAITLYN: Busy being a junior. She has auditions for Madrigals again next week. She is singing an Italian Aria to audition with. Her voice has really developed a lot this year. I think the opportunity to sing Alto has really added a richness to her voice that is beautiful.
So thats life in a nutshell. Now I can go forward and blog about the comings and goings of our gang!

Strength Training

I have to say I am really loving Strength Training. It is one of those really cool things where you get started and don't realize the impact that it will have. I have been working on the P90X dvds and I love it. I feel strong, I feel my core muscles, I am noticing a difference already!! It even helped me on the treadmill today. I was able to do more running today and went a mile without dying or totally dreading it. It was fantastic. I can see why people love marathons (not that I am pushing to that...Yet) There is something so empowering about becoming strong. I love it.
My favorite things is the looks and comments when people here I am doing P90X. It is a TOUGH work out...especially the plyometrics and the stretch and yoga. Tough for me, mainly because my knees are toast and there is a greater amount of high impact exercise going on in these, so I just modify, wrap my knees and go for it.
So am I going to continue..YES! I think the other thing I have learned is that it is Ok to NOT do the P90X if I don't want to that day, I just doing something else.
I have been doing push ups and can't wait to start on pull ups..(they are going to kick my butt) But I started at about `12 girl style push ups and I am up to 25 girl style this week. I am trying to increase each time. It is cool. I am using resistant bands instead of free weights for now. I am going to purchase those soon. I think I also want to get a free standing punching bag. I think it sounds invigorating. I think I also want to get Zumba dance dvd and have that too. It is just fun to try so many different things.
Ok, more power to us that are trying to increase strength and fitness. I am grateful to find something in my life right now to really focus on that is making me feel so great!!!

Goodbye 2011........... HELLO 2012

Goodbye 2011

Highlights of 2011

Kris being made a High Priest

Nate turned 19

Nick turned 18

Caitlyn turned 16

Kris called to serve in the High Priest Group

Cheryl called to serve as YW Pres

Many productive trips to Utah

Going into Muir Woods to see the Giant Redwoods

The Ocean

Having James come down and stay a while

Many opportunities to serve my mom and family

The love of two big adorable dogs

Reading the Book of Mormon

Young Women's Camp

Successful Thanksgivinng and Christmas

Writing an original song complete with lyrics and music

Medical technology and amazing health care professionals

Lowlights of 2011

My Mom diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer 

My mom passing away in September

Does anything else even compare to that?

It has been interesting this week to be back in Utah, back in moms house, handling her things, talking as siblings about what means something to each of us, what we could benefit from and use. It borders trivial and emotional with a very fine, thin line. I find myself looking around at the really beautiful things that my mother and father had from all around the world, things they purchased that may have worldly value but hold no comparison to finding very sentimental things like my parents scriptures or a worn and tattered pair of little baby shoes or my dads old leather wallet or their drivers licensees. Things that would have no worth to an outside but that invoke deep emotions in their children. 

I think 2011 was very much a year of breaking through, breaking through the emotions of talking to a parent who knows their time on earth is very limited, breaking through into new eternal growth experiences, breaking through emotions of learning to love through dissapointments.

I hope and desire 2012 to be a year of new beginnings. Of new understandings within the gospel, within family relationships, within personally growth. To understand that making a New Beginning and establishing or strengthening relationships and seeing people in a new light, a new understanding and with an eternal perspective will cause greater joy and progression. 

I hope that in 2012 I will discover some new things about myself . Something I have already discovered is that I REALLY like strength training, it totally rocks. I am a cardio wimp, but give me strength training...I am all over that. It is like a huge high! Something else I discovered, but I think I already knew this, it is just hard to get back there, is that I need to treat myself better and if that means buying the more expensive hair care product and make up, then so be it. I can treat myself the way my Father in Heaven would. Its ok! :D

Perhaps even an opportunity to blog monthly about a new discovery. I think that is called goal setting. Hmmm, maybe that can be tied into my personal progress somehow. 

I always LOVE starting a new year and pondering about the passing of of the old year. How did I improve from the year before.

In 2011 I improved on my site reading skills on the piano (just a bit, thanks to Caitlyn and her difficult choir music) I improved on personal prayer and personal listening and I improved on inviting people to hear the missionaries. I had 5 invites last year. And guess what? I have already had one really awesome invite in 2012

(I mean, what good is improving if you don't carry that into the new year with you)

Some goals for this year? 

1. improve body strength

2. Rely on the spirit in all things

3. continue to learn about loving my husband and children in a capacity like my Father in Heaven

4. delegate *sometimes I think I have to do it all

So HELLO 2012....WELCOME to my life!