Happy Administrative Professionals Day!

Yesterday was Administrative Professionals Day (one of those made-up-by-Hallmark holidays) and my boss wrote out this really heartfelt card that made my day, got me a 4-pack of Monster Lo-Carb (haha, does he know me well or what!?), and had delivered a boquet of Peruvian Lilies. I love it! AND he was the only one in our office to do anything for his/her associate rep! Actually, it didn't just make my day; it made my week!

Next day: Here's a pic of them after they opened up fully!

Co-Pilot

Doug's co-pilot who just learned how to sit in the passenger seat all by himself.....

Easter

Doug and I spent actual Easter Sunday at his parents' in IL, but my family had a post-Easter Easter celebration on April 6th. We all got together at my brother Adam's new house in Rockton, IL. Yummy pineapple ham and all the fixin's! And of course the Easter egg hunt! My brothers hid the plastic eggs in the backyard, then we let the kids loose in age brackets- Brock is the youngest so he got a 1 minute head start, then the little kids Alaina, Carter, and Logan were let loose, and then a minute later the oldest kids Britney, AJ, and Breanna were let loose. Tricky 6'7" tall Uncle Adam hiding the eggs 7 feet up in the tree branches.....

My sister Laura, my brother Brian, our nephew Brock (Brian's son), and me. Brock had thrown up in the car on the way there so he was forced to wear his sister's sweatshirt while his was in the washer!

Frank and his cousin Kyra, tounges flapping, wishing they could hunt the Easter eggs, too!

My nephew Logan (Laura's son) trying to reach some tricky eggs!

My nieces & nephews: Brock, Logan, Breanna, Alaina, and AJ----on the hunt!

My niece Britney, a.k.a. Stretch Armstrong perhaps....jk!

My niece Breanna

My brothers Adam and Brian

65 Years and Still Holding Hands!

In December 2007 my grandparents (Sarah's Dad's parents in Humboldt, KS) celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary! Whoa! Unfortunately I couldn't make it down to the celebration, but my parents luckily did. I can't even imagine being married for 65 years! Wow!

Baller

Our son, such a little baller!

Ask him what kind of fur that is on the hood of his stylish jacket and he'll tell you Persian Cat fur. Always a hit with the ladies, he is......

Thanksgiving 2007

Ok, I know I'm five months late on posting these pics, but I finally got around to getting the digital pics from my dad's camera this week and make them all ready to scrapbook. Doug, Frank, and I spent the lazy triptopan holiday at my parents house in IL. We stuffed ourselves, napped, watched movies, and of course played board games- Boggle is kind of a love-hate ritual between me and my sister. We are very competitive and serious about kicking butt, but have fun and tease each other. This picture is (L to R) my brother Adam, his dog Tux, my sister Laura, me, Frank, my sister's dog Kyra, Doug, and my sister-in-law Bethany.

Evolve

So, a hippie friend of mine shared this song with me yesterday and I can't get it out of my head. It goes along with a lot of things I've been trying to work through lately, and although I don't particularly care for her voice, I think her lyrics are really beautiful. Here are a couple of exerpts:

Evolve by Ani DiFranco

i walk in stride with people
much taller than me
and partly it's the boots but
mostly it's my chi

and there's this moth outside my kitchen door
she's bonkers for that bare bulb
flying round in circles
bashing in her exoskull
and out in the woods she navigates fine by the moon
but get her around a light bulb and she's doomed

she is trying to evolve
she's just trying to evolve

gunnin for high score in the land of dreams
morbid bluish-white consumers ogling luminous screens
on the trail of forgetting
cruising without a care
the jet set won't abide by that pesky jet lag
and our lives boil down to an hour or two
when someone pulls a camera out of a bag

and i am trying to evolve
i'm just trying to evolve
so i walk like i'm on a mission
cuz that's the way i groove
i got more and more to do
i got less and less to prove
it took me too long to realize
that i don't take good pictures
cuz i have the kind of beauty
that moves

I am trying to not make my life boiled down to the moments when we pull out a camera. I'm trying to take the extra time to savor every moment of my life and bring out my inner beauty more. This is to all my beautuful friends whose beauty moves! ;)

Tips for Better Life - 2008

I hope you all enjoy this little mid-week refresher like I did! Some are cheesy, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE #s 8, 9, 17, 23, 24, & 39. May you all avoid "energy vampires!" Have a great day and I love you!

1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is theultimate anti-depressant.

2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Buy a lock if you have to.

3. Buy a DVR and tape your late night shows and get more sleep.

4. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement, 'Mypurpose is to __________ today.'

5. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.

6. Play more games and read more books than you did in 2007

7. Make time to practice meditation, yoga, tai chi, and prayer. They provide us with daily fuel for our busy lives.

8. Spend time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of 6.

9. Dream more while you are awake.

10. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that ismanufactured in plants.

11. Drink plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli, almonds & walnuts.

12. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

13. Clear clutter from your house, your car, your desk and let new andflowing energy into your life.

14. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues ofthe past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

15. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra classbut the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.

16. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.

17. Smile and laugh more. It will keep the energy vampires away.

18. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

20. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

21. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

22. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

23. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

24. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

25. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'

26. Forgive everyone for everything.

27. What other people think of you is none of your business.

28. GOD heals almost everything.

29. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

30. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

31. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

32 Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

33. The best is yet to come.

34. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

35. Do the right thing!

36. Call your family often. (Or email them to death!!!)

37. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: I amthankful for __________. Today I accomplished _________.

38. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.

39. Enjoy the ride. Remember this is not Disney World and you certainly don't want a fast pass. You only have one ride through life so make themost of it and enjoy the ride.

Exhausted!

So Frank and I are exhausted! Jk, well, mostly me...Anyways, about a month ago my mom hired me to paint the interior of their home in Huntley, IL. They live in a one-level house that's a couple of years old in a huge retirement community. Of course it's white walls, white trim work, white carpeting, white tile, white fixtures---pretty much everything my mom and I both can't stand ;) We're both decorating junkies and she watches HGTV 24/7. She's spent the last 2 years convincing my dad the house needs color and he finally caved- yay! The agreement was to drive down every Saturday and finish one room. So far, I've gone 3/15/2008 and painted the guest bedroom and 3/22/2008 and painted the guest bathroom. I'm a very good painter if I do say so myself and my meticulous detail and trim work is second to none, BUT, I miss my Saturday sleep-ins! I was luckily (or unluckily in my dad's case) saved from going down 3/29 because my dad had the flu and they didn't want to infect me. Gracias al pobrecito! So, the way I figure it, I have 3-4 more Saturdays of painting ahead of me. Frank LOVES going to visit his Grandma and Grandpa because he gets walked about 5 times in one Saturday and gets WAY more treats than an already-chubby puppy should get. This picture is taken on my cell phone about 3 minutes after we left our house one Saturday morning on our way down to IL. Frank just sleeps on my lap the whole way there and the whole way back. Kind of like kids in the way they sleep the whole way and are totally hyped up and full of energy when they get to their destination!

To make Saturdays more energy-expending and to jump start weight loss, I joined a running group that a woman in our ward put together. She runs double-marathons= crazy! There's a group of us that she's coaching every Saturday morning at 7:30 am with runs in preparation for a half-marathon in October. Here's the link to the Aldo Leopold Half-Marathon: Think I can do it? Our first run was last Saturday and was just 3 miles, but it was a good workout!

Beat Box

"Yo, yo, yo, this is DJ Frankerz in the hizouse breakin down the beatz fo all youz kool kats and kittens..."

(Frank loves to get his rap on early in the morning.... this is his latest beat box...wish you could have heard it....it's hot)

Time Out

So, it's been a long time coming, I know, I'm very behind in blogging and updating people on what's going on in our lives! I had the chance to attend Time Out for Women, a conference set up by Deseret Book, in Chicago February 29th & March 1st. I went with my mother and two of her friends. Perhaps it was geriatric-baby-sitting or escorting, but that's ok, I enjoyed going. It was so much fun to see friends there from each of the 3 wards that are close to my heart!- Madison 4th, Geneva, and Valparaiso. Talk about a blast from the past ;) So the conference itself was amazing. It was exactly what I needed to help feed the hunger I've been feeling this past year. Never before in my teenage years or newlywed years have I had this intense hunger for the Gospel, the Spirit, and learning everything I can get my hands on. Within the last 6 months or so I've been feasting and can't get enough of it! I know, it's weird, and it probably won't be able to last my whole life, so I'm cherishing this desire I have in this particular season of my life. Of particular emphasis in the last 6 months or so of my life has been searching for balance while simultaneously improving myself. I get on "kicks" and am not consistent in the things in my life I'm trying to do. It isn't so much a "recovering perfectionist" type thing, although that's maybe part of it, but it's more of prioritizing search for peace, calm, tranquility, and balance in my daily life. I'm racing through life and I don't want to skid on the brakes in 5 years and be like, "Oh my gosh, where did my young 20's go? I barely remember them! Did I accomplish anything worthwhile?" So much was said and performed during this conference all about WOMEN, but I'm including here just some of the highlights from my journal that spoke out to me the strongest and applied to me right where I'm at in life:

• Chieko Okasaki- Patiently listen to the less patient. Being right is less important than doing right. Our purpose here is to learn to love enough to be able to accept the Savior's love and all that He hath.

• Michael McLean- We know just enough about the Gospel to feel the guilt but not to feel the joy. His song: "Hope is hiding because it's saving all its power for your most desperate moment. Around every corner, though you're unaware, protected by grace, in the face of despair, there's hope hiding there. Hold on, the light will come, the answers never come without a fight." Kneel then take a stand.
  

• Elia Gourgouris- Communication is adjusting your expectations so they are on the same level. Would you rather be right or be happy? Being right is about pride and getting an egofix. Being happy is about humility. Read the book The Five Love Languages by Dr. Chapman and love your partner the way they want to be loved first, not what kind of love you give the easiest and most naturally (Quality time, service, words of affirmation, physical touch, and gifts).
  

• Merrilee Boyack- President Hinckley said "It's not enough to be good-you have to be good for something." CPR: Caring Plus Response can save lives, not caring alone. Christ didn't ask us to serve because he couldn't. Give away 5 split seconds a day. Listen to the Spirit and not your ward culture when figuring out what's best for you. If you put first things first, you'll get first and second things (Neal A. Maxwell paraphrasing C.S. Lewis).
  

• Hillary Weeks- New song coming out on her new CD this fall that really really really spoke to my heart, "If I Only Had Today." Snuggle more, relax more, savor each moment more, leave the dishes sit in the sink. We will all answer to heaven how we spent our priceless liberty. Loving children awakens them to a remembrance of the love they felt in the preexistence from Heavenly Father.

• Cherie Call- I liked her song about how God sees the strength and potential in us when we don't see it ourselves. It's called "The Ocean in Me." "But if I feel just like a teardrop in the rain when I meant to be a river, God sees the ocean in me. And in the depths of all my sorrow and my pain, when I asked to be delivered, He shows the ocean to me. He sees the ocean in me."
  

• Camille Fronk Olson- The trampoline effect: the lower down you go the higher up you'll be able to go and soar to new heights. We came to a fallen earth, went down so we could go higher than ever before. Our daily trials will strengthen us and help us achieve more. Chastening means being purified. Nowhere in the scriptures does it say Adam and Eve were cursed. It says they were blessed.
  

• Carolyn Rasmus- You did not come to this earth to get self-worth; you brought it with you. Too many times we confuse the culture of the ward with gospel truth- there is a big difference. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not insurance against pain; It is a resource in the event of pain.
  



• Dean Hughes- Tell yourself over and over that God isn't conducting a contest. The more we can turn people into people [instead of problems], the more patient, meek, humble, and kind we can be.
  

• Jane Clayson- In the preexistence, it was like Heavenly Father had said we're going to ask you to do things here that you never thought you'd be able to do. Today there is a full-blown blitz on women- to make them so distracted and distraught that they would lose sight of the calm and strong serenity that is in their nature. Trust in Him and know that His plan is better for you than the one you've mapped out for yourself.

If you are interested in any of the books I've been reading lately and want little quotes or synopses from them, check out my GoodReads website. I've been reading a lot of personal and professional development books lately. Well, and some books just for fun ;) Love you all- take care!