Oops....Sometimes my Brain is Off Track

So here I am....alone....at Applebee's.....wondering why?  I had it on my calendar that I was taking Denise to lunch today for her birthday.  I get a table and wait....and wait.....and wait.  Where is Denise?  after about 10 minutes I call her home phone (I left her a message)...this is not like her to be late.  No answer...good that must mean she is on her way....so I wait a little longer....then a little longer.  I am confused and wonder what happened?  I hope Denise is okay and that something hasn't happened to her suddenly.

I enjoy watching the storm outside my window as I wait.  I saw a black streak surrounded by blue sky and clouds...then suddenly the sky turned to gray and then black.  The restaurant darkened quickly.  My cute waitress kept checking on me.....we had big plans for Denise.  My waitress about jumped out of her skin when the sky burst with a BOOM....I couldn't help but laugh!  I couldn't help but laugh at this whole situation.  Something was wrong and I wasn't sure exactly what?

I finally ordered take out and went home.  A while later Denise called.  Whew....she was okay!  So what happened?  It was me....in my head we had confirmed our lunch date.  Denise even had it on her calendar.  Problem is I had mentioned that I might invite Tammy G to join us since it was her birthday.  That thought never crossed my mind again after talking to Denise.  So......really.... we had never set a place or time for our lunch.  Hmmmm.....I thought Applebee's at 12:30 ☺ not exactly sure why I thought that.  None the less.....it's funny!  I sat alone and waited for someone to join me....I'm so glad there wasn't a rose sitting on my table!

Celebrating Lorraine

Lorraine and Tammy (Garner) share the same birthday...and so today we celebrated Lorraine.  I thought we'd better get this one planned early so that more of our little group would be able to make it.  Even though this luncheon was planned almost a month ago we still missed a few of the gals.

We had a great time!  Lorraine is such a good sport and even bought the rest of us dessert.  None of us really wanted anything but I guess she didn't want to eat her birthday dessert alone and so she told us that Lance was buying. haha...I hope Lance likes surprises!

Kelli brought me and Lorraine some "poo pourri" which made us laugh.  Lorraine had heard of it but I hadn't.  Lorraine also acted like she was going to  spray some on her and Tammy told her that was a great idea just in case someone pooped on her!  Tammy brought chocolate....mmmm.  I brought the Party Girl hat.

We laughed and had a great time and enjoyed a good lunch and then we loved and supported one another.  Some times it's important to share our hard times with our friends so we can get it off our chest and breathe just a little easier.  Friends appreciate being needed and don't mind sharing hard times as well as the good times.  Today was great.  I always leave my friends filling uplifted.  I sure love them all!

This morning I took Kimi and her friend to a Morning Side.  It was so good.  A little gal that goes to Fremont High has a disease that has made her blind and is slowly killing her brain.  The parents spoke to the kids (the church was filled) about their daughter and all that they have learned through this trial.  It was so uplifting and wonderful and the spirit was so strong.  I came home and looked for the quote I wanted to post for the day.  This is the one I chose: "There is a blessing hidden in every trial in life, but you have to be willing to open your heart to see them." ♥  I also came across this one that I also thought was some good advice.  "If you CAN solve your problem, then what is the NEED of worrying?  If you CANNOT solve it, then what is the USE of worrying?" Both have a great message.  I know during hard times it's easier to know what to do than to actually do it.  I think we just need to remember to hang on and not give up....have faith that God is with us and will help us through.

A Week of Celebrating

Today I took Tammy to lunch for her birthday~which is Thursday.  This week is full of birthday celebrating and so I made plans early with my friends.  I love celebrating birthdays.  It's just so fun to be where we are and see where we've been and to look forward to what's coming.  Life is so interesting...the learning process is remarkable...the rewards for enduring and living are awesome!

I love being this far in life.  I love having friends that have been part of my journey.  I love Tammy and all the moments we have shared.  We have had so much fun together over the years.  We have been each others sounding boards and support...because life isn't always easy and we need friends who listen, encourage, and love us unconditionally.  Tammy and I have that kind of friendship.

I'm excited too see what's in store for my friend.  Her path is different from mine and I can't wait to see where it leads her.  I think there are great things waiting for her.

Kimleighel is 18!

Holy Cow I can't believe Kimleighel is 18 years old.  She was so excited for this birthday.  She was so happy and bubbly.  The excitement wasn't because we had big plans....it's just because she's so grown up.  (she has big plans)  We did take her to dinner on Saturday and she chose LaFerrovia.  Sunday morning she opened gifts.  She's been liking Duck Dynasty lately so she got a few Duck Dynasty things..including the 4th season.  She was happy and smiled all day!

I am thankful for this feisty, beautiful, fun daughter of mine.  She makes me smile.  I have enjoyed the journey to this point.  We have learned so much along the way.  From the beginning of her life we knew there would be moments of frustration....she has different challenges that are hard because others don't understand and are unkind.  Kimleighel's confidence is growing which makes things better.  This girl is talented...just saying!

I'm proud of Kimleighel and her efforts to improve herself.  She has a strong spirit and is sensitive to the "Spirit".  She has had some pretty cool experiences that most people don't.  I'm thankful for that because those experiences out weigh the hard things.

I appreciate the talks we have.  Kimleighel shares a lot of her feelings and concerns with me.  I know she.. like most... still keeps plenty to herself but the things we share and talk about are awesome and make me happy as a mom.  Kimi has been referring to herself as my "baby girl" which makes me smile.  I prayed for this child and I'm so thankful she was sent to me.  Kimleighel truly is a blessing!

A Day with Larry

It's always nice when Larry has a day off and we do things together.  I like it when we do.  Today we did!  We went to the Temple in the afternoon.  I love going to the Temple....just being there is so relaxing and peaceful.  After going to the Temple we decided to stop by Elder Wards house to see him since he just got home from his mission in England.  We stayed longer than we planned because Trevor just had the best spirit about him and we didn't want to leave.  It was plain that Trevor served a wonderful mission and grew from it....literally...I think he's taller.  His faith and testimony grew and I believe his smile did too.  The kid is cute and couldn't stop smiling.  (Elder Mead was the same way)  I took it all in.  I couldn't help but remember each time one of my son's returned...the memories are wonderful.  I had to wipe my eyes a few times during our visit.  I'm really glad we stopped over because it was awesome.

We decided to go out for a late lunch early dinner.  We wanted to try somewhere new and ended up at a pizza, pasta, salad bar in Clinton.  It's a buffet type of place.  It was good but would be better if we went at a busier time of day so the pizza would be fresher.  The pasta and salads were good though so no complaints.  We will go there again.

I love spending time with my hubby.  We have a lot of fun together.  I must say the guy makes me laugh and scream and then laugh some more.  He has been scaring me lately (role's have been reversed) and it cracks me up after I jump and scream.  The worst is when he puts on his scary mask....I hate the mask.  I have considered putting it on and scaring him with it but I'm afraid he might knock me down....because I was thinking of scaring him while he's in bed...just waking up to it!  I know I deserve the scaring since I scared him almost everyday for 2-3 years.  I might start again since he is doing it to me.  I had stopped because I was afraid of causing him to have a heart attack. (true)

Life is good...especially when you don't take it too serious.  When you can find reason's to laugh and help others too also.  When we spend it with the ones we love.  When we do the things Heavenly Father wants us to do!

Hmmmmm

Yesterday when I got home from exercising I had the thought "we can do hard things".  I googled it and got this image to post on face book.  (I like posting a thought a day)  Anyway I didn't think much about this other than it is so true.  We Can Do Hard Things....and we Do!  Each one of us gets our own hard things and we do them....that's life.

Well sometime in the after noon I got a phone call from Tonya.  She asked me if I remembered Diane Hall.  I really couldn't and Tonya said "she remembers you".  While we talked I pulled up pictures from Ed week from 3 years ago.  There was Diane with Tonya and I did remember her a bit.  Then Tonya told me about a message  Diane had just sent to Tonya.  Diane wanted to know if Tonya thought I would speak at their Relief Society meeting in April.  All I could do was laugh.  Ummm....I don't speak in front of groups.  I'm really not good at writing talks...but I said I would.  How could I say no?  This was just a little too weird....I went and listened to Jodi speak and then I post this....I think it will be good for me...hard but good!

We Choose

I invited myself to go with Jodi to Bountiful where she would be speaking to the RS sisters from the ward she lived in 20 years ago.  I have learned that sometimes if you want to do something you have to speak up. ☺  I love spending time with Jodi and so I asked.  Jodi accepted my invite and so I went with her.

It was fun meeting some of the ladies that she knew...they all love Jodi.  They had a dinner first and then Jodi spoke.  This girl is amazing.  Her talk was about choices.  We get to choose how we are going to respond to what life gives us.  And we all know that life gives us plenty....and it's not all good...but from it all we learn and get to choose how we react.

Jodi spoke of her son Tyson who they got to enjoy for 17 wonderful years.  She told how Tyson never complained about his trials with his health...never!  Tyson lived life to it's fullest and enjoyed it as much as possible.  Jodi and her family also had to decide how they would react to this trial.  Jodi chose to live a Happy life and to be Grateful for All the Good in it!  Jodi keeps a Gratitude Journal which helps her focus and find things to be grateful for every single day.  I have also wrote down things I am grateful for at times in my life and it's amazing what a positive impact that alone can make.  Jodi made a comment about how Gratitude is  almost "magical".  I believe that is true....being grateful and smiling can change a bad day or moment into a good day.  Those two things are "magical"....I know because I have chosen to focus on them and my life is good and I am happy.

I love that Jodi and I are so much alike.  It's fun!  Before we left tonight Jodi called Dick's Bakery in Bountiful and had them save her lots of doughnuts.  The girl loves sweets like I love sweets! (I'm pretty sure I eat more & I know I exercise less) However she knows a lot more places to get the best treats.  She was sweet and sent me with a container of doughnuts.....they are yummy!

I love that that Jodi and I can share our most personal feelings with each other.  We can be silly and crazy but we can also be serious and compassionate.  I'm so glad our paths crossed when they did!