New idea

Well,
I have an idea for my blog. There have been many women that have influenced me in my life. So, if you cant tell I changed the name of my blog. Now I will be featuring one of my favorite women each week. I don't intend on running out of women, I have been blessed to know many!
I will still have some personal anechdotes and things I have learned from time to time, but I hope to have much more testimony bearing so stay tuned...

A great opportunity to teach!

Today Heavenly Father gave me a perfect teaching opportunity for Gabriel. A lesson I remember learning when I was about his age. We were at the store today, and Gabriel asked me for a "yummy candy bar". I told him no. When we got home Gabriel pulled the same candy bar from his pocket and licked his lips. When I saw the candybar, I instantly felt grateful for this opportunity to teach him while he was still young, the importance of not stealing. We talked about it, until he felt more sorry for taking the candy bar, than he did about not eating it. Then when Tom got home I took Gabriel, the candy bar, and his money to the store. Gabriel gave the candybar back and he gave them all of his pennys, that he has been working for. Then he told them he was really sorry. They told him that people who steal go to jail. Then they told him because he brought it back and did his best to pay for it, that it would be OK this time. Gabe went out to the car and said- Whew Mom, I am glad you didn't have to go to jail, and I didn't have to go to jail. I said Me too! Then he said, Mom I never want to steal again! But, I do want a candy bar! I thought, Me Too!
Then we got in the car and drove home. We got to talk about the spirit. How Gabe felt a little sick in his stomach when he took it and how he felt nervous to eat it. When we got home I told him about what happened when I was a little girl.
When I was a little girl I was at Adamsons with my family. I wanted gumballs-Rainblo if I remember right. I knew if I asked my mom for them, she would say no. So I just put them in my pocket. Then when I got home I ate some of them. My mom of course noticed that I had gum, that she had not given me. I remember that I had a pack of raisins and the money from my piggy bank. We took them to the store. Grandma worked at Adamsons. I had to tell Grandma Twilla that I had stolen the candy, I gave her the raisins and my money. Mom and Grandma both told me it was better to be honest. I never stole again. It is funny how similar my story is to Gabe's. He is so much like me, that I am never suprised at most things that he does. I sure love him!! I am glad I get to carry on my Mom and Grandmas wisdom. I love being the mom...

Journals, Grandparents, and Bounty!!

So, I was going through a box from Hyrums closet today. Books. And, one was my journal from High school. I have four Journals from before we were married and 3 and a blog from after. My life from the Gulf War on is documented. This particular Journal was full of my life when I was a Senior in High School. This was a life changing year for me. This was the year I had my first boyfriend, first challenge of my testimony, first time to live away from home. I loved my Senior year. I realize that that year was a real starting off point for the way that I have lived for the following 9 years. Wow! what a pivotal year. I am so grateful for the Lords guidance in my life.
Grandparents. My parents-my kids grandparents have taught me so much. Similar to Nephi, I have been born of goodly parents. They taught me how to understand right from wrong and then they let me make my own decisions. This let me succeed and fail when the stakes were low enough that the rebound was small. I relied on my Dads calm steady pace. His Wisdom and his quiet. I loved to go home teaching with him, to work in the yard with him, and I hated to go fishing with him :) because I had to be quiet. And I loved to talk with him, so fishing was not my favorite. I remember when my Dad to Levi and I hiking one time. We learned about wild spearmint, eating the baby bright green shoots on an evergreen, not drinking from a stream in the middle of the mountain, how to make a shelter from pine bows in the rain, and how beautiful and quiet a mountain lake can be. I seem to remember every turn of that hike. I sure would love to do that again!
My Mom is so different from my Dad, but yet so similar. If I were to wax philosophical I would say my parents are like a river. My Dad the slow swelling river rolling quietly around the bend and my Mom rushing, bubbly, and sometimes as exciting and thrilling as a white water ride. They are the same...but different. I really enjoyed talking to my Mom to. These conversations usually happened on a trip to Twin. When the Radio was turned up a conversation would usually comfortably begin. I could often get a lot of things sorted out in my mind by talking them through with my Mom.
I remember that my Mom would always tell us...If we ever needed an excuse to leave someones house we could always say our parents wanted us home. One time I wasn't strong enough to use that excuse on my own, so I called my Mom to ask permission to stay at a friends house. She almost always let me stay. Rarely would she say no, in fact this may have been the first time. I was praying so hard that she would say no, and I can remember her clearly saying... No, not tonight, I think you better come home tonight. I acted put out, but I was really so grateful.
So, recently as I have prayed for my parents I have thought about how grateful I am for them and all they have taught me. I just had to get it in writing so that I could remember it forever. Thanks Mom and Dad!
Now, onto the bounty. I must have moved to the Garden of Eden. I have Corn, strawberries, Strawberry Jam, Raspberries, Raspberry Jam, and Zucchinis put up for the winter. In the Garden waiting to be harvested I have more zucchini, lettuce, peppers, rhubarb, green beans, eggplant, tomatoes, chives, cilantro, mint, oregano more raspberries, and apples on the trees. Most of this was free to me, due to the generosity of my neighbors. Now I just need to buy a freezer to store my bounty for the winter. But this summer we are eating like kings...or maybe pioneers either way it is yummy!!

How do I keep up?

The Lady who used to own our house still lives close and drops by every once in a while. She caught me home for the first time last week. She also caught me in the middle of life. We had morning dishes in the sink, lunch dishes on the table. Clothes and toys strewn on the floor. And laundry in the hall waiting to be carried to the basement. Outside the Lawn had not been mowed in 2 weeks and the garden had yet to be weeded-at all. Hyrum was running around in a diaper, Gabe was in his underwear, and Seth was in a bad mood. I had spit up on my shirt and pants- hair up in a sweaty pony tail and no makeup.
In contrast...This woman had 10 kids. She was house cleaner by proffesion and all the neighbors talk about how she would scrub the garage floor every 3 days. She had a garden full of flowers that she kept, so she could take a vase to anyone in need. She scrubbed the rafters in the basement every night and she said she was always right behind her kids if there was ever a mess. She brought toys, cookies, and a vase of flowers for me. She also had a dog bone in the car for our neighbor across the street and a banana bread for my next door neighbor. Granted this women is 80 with no children at home, but she wasn't always. So, is there something I am missing. How do I keep up? How do I keep the house clean and be the Mom I want to be? That day that she came we had gotten up early, I had gone for my run, when I got home we read scriptures, then we all rushed through breakfast and went to the zoo. When we got home from the Zoo, the boys were exhausted and I was exshausted. I was giving them some scrambled eggs for lunch and clearing the table of breakfast. We have no airconditioning so the boys were stripping to try and cool off. After I made their lunch I sat down to blog my run. That is when she showed up. I felt so embarassed at the condition I had let "her" house get in. I just can't figure out how she did it. Maybe I spend to much time blogging? This week several times I have thought about calling a lady in our ward and asking if I could come and observe her. I just am not sure how to become that super mom I am sure our Mother in Heaven is. Any Ideas?

I love this talk!!

O.K.
Do you want a great motivator to clean the house? Read an inspirational book or poem? Enjoy the Beauty of the Earth? Spend real quality time with your beautiful children?

Read this wonderful talk. http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=a1f5ceb47f381210VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD
I am so inspired. And I have been all week, OK I know its only Wednesday :) And while your at it, google Ralph Waldo Emerson and read a few of his poems. I am not exaggerating when I say that his words are a spiritual feast.
Here is a little taste of Emerson...
The Rhodora

On Being Asked Whence Is the Flower

IN May, when sea-winds pierced our solitudes,
I found the fresh Rhodora in the woods,
Spreading its leafless blooms in a damp nook,
To please the desert and the sluggish brook.
The purple petals, fallen in the pool,
Made the black water with their beauty gay;
Here might the red-bird come his plumes to cool,
And court the flower that cheapens his array.
Rhodora! if the sages ask thee why
This charm is wasted on the earth and sky,
Tell them, dear, that if eyes were made for seeing,
Then Beauty is its own excuse for being:
Why thou wert there, O rival of the rose!
I never thought to ask, I never knew:
But, in my simple ignorance, suppose
The self-same Power that brought me there brought you.


I know that Heavenly Father loves us, that he made us, and that he made us for our own specific purpose. I love this life. I am grateful for the experiences I have. And I am so grateful for the beauty that surrounds us. I hope to some day be able to express the feelings I feel like Emerson. Until then, my simple testimony will have to do.

Mormon Woman- So Check it out!!

OK, my sister-in-law just emailed me this...
Dear friends and family and even my awesome acquaintances--

As many of you are well aware, there are a lot of myths, rumors and lies about the LDS religion on the Internet --practically everywhere, if we think about it --and top Google search terms result in anti-mormon websites and misleading images. In fact, here's what Elder Ballard said about it:
The emergence of New Media is facilitating a world-wide conversation on almost every subject including religion, and nearly everyone can participate. ...
Conversations will continue whether or not we choose to participate in them. But we cannot stand on the sidelines while others, including our critics, attempt to define what the Church teaches. ...("Sharing the Gospel Using the Internet," Ensign, Jul. 2008, 58–63).

Personally, I would like the chance to participate and see the correct information being found.
Maybe you do, too?

For over a year, I have been following a website called Mormon Women. Last month, I was asked to be an administrator of the site (completely voluntary), and I was so excited to help! Mormon Women, which is sponsored by the More Good Foundation, is one of many other websites dedicated to flooding the Internet with positive and correct information. [Although they are not official websites of the Church, they strive to be in alignment with all doctrinal teachings and policies put out by the Church.] Because of sites like this, many people have found the truth online, rather than misinformation. I encourage you to visit Mormonwoman.org today, but I want you to do more than visit the site. Much more!

We need women to help --to see this as a missionary effort, and to help us get information out there about real live Mormon women --women who do not feel ashamed in their faith, but rather live it the best they can each day.

Will you please help me gather material for this site?

This is what we need:

· Comments. Come and comment! Share your faith and beliefs in brief and effective ways on easy topics like tithing, Relief Society, etc.
· Pictures. We need to replace the misleading google images pictures with pictures of me, you and your mom. We want all ages, nationalities and marital statuses represented. We are Mormon Women! We work, we play, we serve and we can do all these things with the love of the Lord in our hearts. And we do it differently! Some of us bike, others of us are into photography, some are vegetarians, some are musicians, many of us are writers...we need to show this!
· Portraits. We need you to submit articles on Women who inspire you and include with it a picture of that woman. So easy! Do you love your RS president? Was your Young Women’s President inspirational? Is your mom the best? Tell us in 1000 words or less, and include a picture.
· Essays, articles, artwork, poetry etc. Are you creating something that is inspired by the scriptures or the Spirit? Share it with us!
· Video. Do you have video from a ward activity, service project or Enrichment night that quickly bears testimony of who we are and the typical things we do? Send it our way.


Remember, though, that this site is for nonmember and investigator use and hopefully will be a powerful missionary tool. This site is not for social networking among members. This is not the place to discuss your misgivings about your local leaders or highlight other doctrinal issues that should be solved by personal prayer and study. We are trying to reflect an articulate, united front of love, intelligence and testimony!

Maybe you remember Sister Beck quoting President Hinckley in a recent General Relief Society Meeting:
If [the women of the Church] will be united and speak with one voice, their strength will be incalculable. . . . It is so tremendously important that the women of the Church stand strong and immovable for that which is correct and proper under the plan of the Lord.
(Quoted in Julie B. Beck, “What Latter-day Saint Women Do Best: Stand Strong and Immovable,”)

To me, this is a way for us to speak with one voice!

Here is the contact information for your convenience:
You can reach me and other administrators for questions and/or to place submissions at mormonwoman@gmail.com.
You can comment at the site at www.mormonwoman.org.
You can join us on Facebook! Go here to join our group.
You can learn more about the More Good Foundation at www.moregoodfoundation.org.


And then, if you would like, tell other Mormon Women! I'm working on an email that can be sent out --which is easy to forward, less long-winded on my part, etc.-- to all of your friends and family as well. I will send it within a day or two...

Thank you so much for your time!
With Love,
Cheryl

P.S. If you are a man and you received this, could you pass it onto your wife, sisters, mothers, etc.? That was my intent if you were included in this email (and probably because I didn't have their email addresses!). :)

Something I am proud of

http://www.beniceorelse.com/newsletter/video/A_Day_of_Beauty.html