Saturday, January 28, 2012

I Survived!!!

I'm so stinking tired it is not even funny. These past couple of weeks have been super-crazy.
I've started attending all of my board and fund raising meetings again. Some days, that means being gone from 7:45 in the morning to 9:00 in the evening. Along with the meetings, we have been planning and putting together our biggest fund raiser of the year. Let's just say in the past two or three weeks I have had five or more meetings, a couple of classes, some get togethers and a party or two. On top of all of that, I was still working full time. In fact, work got quite busy this past week. Our big fundraiser was Friday night and it went really, really well. My only break was going home for two weekends to spend some time with my family and friends up there. Not all of this was laborious, there was some fun stuff that happened too. I will blog about one or two of those things a little later.:D On top of everything, I am being trained on a new position at the temple that is going to be so much fun.
At the beginning of this past week, I began to realize the it was going to be pretty stinking amazing if I survived this week. In fact, at one point I told someone that.
Well, here it is, the end of the week, and I am still alive, though I am quite exhausted. The best news ever is that I SURVIVED!!!!! It is a MIRACLE!!!
Now that I have survived, it is time to REST and RECUPERATE. Super-excited for that!!! :D

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Christmas with Family

The post below talked about one of the things we did for Christmas this year. It was so nice to be all together because that seems to happen less and less these days, with all of our crazy schedules. By Friday night, we were all in town. I may never learn, but somehow my brother and sister got a hold of my camera and took pictures with it. Most of the ones they took turned out super-cute. However, because this is my blog, I will not post the one they took of me without my knowing. You don't want to see it. Ha ha.







One of our traditions is to drive and look at Christmas lights, as well as drive by the Live Nativity. Below is a picture of my Uncle's house and the live nativity. One nephew told us his favorite part of looking at lights was seeing the Baby Jesus stuff.




My niece and nephew love Grandpa's singing reindeer. By day two, my little niece could sing the song (Grandma Got Ran Over By A Reindeer) right along with it. I tried to get it on video of both of them singing, but as soon as they realized I had a camera, they wanted to see the picture, so I didn't get it. Trust me, it was cute! Here is a picture of it though.



Here are the kiddos on Christmas morning.





It truly was a great Christmas filled with family, fun, traditions, worship and more.

Christmas Crazies

This year for Christmas, we did something a little bit different. Lots of thanks to Heather and Carson for planning it. On Christmas Eve, we played Minute to Win It: Christmas Edition. I learned that I would never do very well on the show but it was a blast. There are lots of pictures too!




One challenge was to throw marshmallows through a wreath. It is a lot harder than it sounds, trust me. (I think they started moving the wreath so I could actually get more than one through.)








Another games was trying to get the cookies from your forehead to your mouth without using your hands or letting it fall. Love the picture of Brady on this one.






Another games was to see who could build the biggest shaving cream Christmas tree. Let's just say not all the shaving cream stayed on the plates.




I didn't get pictures of the other challenges, but it was loads of fun. Honestly, we are just a bunch of Christmas Crazies! Good Times!!!

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Empty Well

Working at the temple is such an amazing experience. Talking with the other workers is so neat. On Saturday, one of the other sisters and I were talking about how important it is not to stretch ourselves to far. She told me that she was giving a presentation on this topic on Wednesday and invited me to attend. It was meant to be, because everything that I thought I had, did not happen. Can I just say this was one amazing, amazing presentation. It was titled, "How Can I Lengthen My Stride When I'm Already Doing the Splits". Here are some things that stood out to me.

Two words answer this question perfectly. "You Can't!"

As women, many time, we feel like we need to do everything for everyone and there is no way things will get done if we don't do them. We have been blessed with compassionate hearts. We are constantly giving water from our well. Sometimes we are so busy giving that water, that the well never gets replenished or there is no water when we need some. This is called the "empty-well syndrome". I have felt this the past couple of weeks. It was so nice to have energy again, but with that energy, (I felt) came responsibilities. I began to hand out water from my well because I had a lot of time to make up. Well, my well isn't completely empty, but it is getting there and I can tell.

How can we resolve this. First, we need to maintain a balance. Overdoing one area of life (physical, emotional, etc.) creates imbalance in the other areas that are just as important. Second, we need to learn to say "no" and not feel guilty. This is so stinking hard. As part of a local organization, I have not been doing much even though one of our biggest fundraisers is coming up, because I couldn't. Not only am I not pulling my weight, but I feel super-guilty. This is huge. Saying no is liberating, but feeling guilty takes that away. This is a constant fight. Next, make time for what really matters. This isn't saying that everything you do in life isn't important, but some things are more important than others. Focus on the most important. Last, remember that you will never be caught up because there will always be more to do.

I left this presentation feeling like a huge weight had been lifted off of me. It brought light to some of the questions that I have had. Seriously, I am a people pleaser and treat others how I want to be treated, but sometimes, I need to treat myself that same way and actually allow others to treat me that way. Easier said then done. That doesn't mean that I will stop serving or being involved. It just means that now I will evaluate everything I have to do, and do what is the most important and not worry about the smaller things.