Book Review

My book review at the moment is about the series "Out of Jerusalem". I am reading the 4th book as I have read the others a while ago.

The fourth book is called "Land of Inheritance". I absolutely LOVE it! It is difficult to lay down. I felt the same about the other 3. It is a story that really brings the Book of Mormon story of Lehi's family to life. It gives you a chance to imagine what it REALLY must have been like.

I have fought with my brothers and sisters and still do once in a while. I have never wanted to actually kill them. On the flip side, I have never had my life threatened either! How sad. It makes me look at my own little family. I worry if they will be faithful to the gospel. So many people grow up and lose the spirit. I so hope and pray that my children will choose to follow the prophet. Will choose to stay active. I can't imagine how Lehi must have felt to not only be a prophet but to have his 2 first born become so evil that they would try to kill their brother.

I can understand their jealousy. I might have felt jealous too. I actually have felt those same feelings. In my single years, I went to school with my little sister. We shared an apartment with 2 other friends of hers. She was tall, beautiful, popular, adored and every guy I liked, had a crush on her! Ya, it can be hard but I don't remember plotting her demise! lol

Anyway, it is human to have those feelings but at what point to we go beyond humanity? How sad for that family.

So, I highly recommend reading this series. It has really strengthened my testimony and desire to study the scriptures. Plus, it has a great plot and story line that keeps you wanting to read.

I just got home from church. How exhausting. I took the 4 older kids and Bry stayed home with Wyatt as they were both sick.

Sacrament meeting is always an adventure. The kids actually did well but that is because I give them such and icy glare if they misbehave that they are frozen in place! I had to go up and sing with the choir and Gabe yelled out loud to me while I was up there that Seth had hit him in the forehead. So embarrassing. I could just beat them!!! But I don't. I sit there and smile and all the while they are getting the icy glare! lol


Anyway, I did sharing time in primary and lived through teaching the Sunbeams. I know I sound a little negative here but man, I swear Sundays are the hardest day of the week.

I really enjoyed the talks in Sacrament meeting. I really did. I sat there thinking of how much better I need to be doing. It is hard to be the kind of person I know I should be. Sometimes I just don't want to be nice. Am I the only one who feels this way???

Anyway, I think the harder I try the harder it gets! So, I think I will just go get in the tub and read a good book!

Th Sugar Cleanse

Good morning. It has been a while so I thought I would post. I have been doing a sugar cleanse with my dearest friend. It is so much easier when you have someone to report to! It is a lot like the South Beach Diet but this is what it is....

You can eat whatever protein you want and only green veggies the first month. That means no sugar, bread, pasta, baked goods, chips of any kind, no milk or dairy except for cheeses. NO fruit. All for the first month. It basically kills the Candida that grows in our bodies. Candida is like a yeast infection and it feeds on sugar. Most people have it. It is what makes us crave carbs. Kill it the the cravings stop.

I have bought sugar free treats to curb the sweet tooth and that really helps. I have sugar free jello and pudding and have even bought some sugar free candy. It really helps in the afternoon!

Last night I was weak and HAD to have something that was not protein or green! So I cheated with an orange. It was wonderful!

We started on Monday. I have gone running (if you can call it that) 3 times and I have lost 2 pounds. I try to drink a lot and take a daily vitamin that is really good. It is that liquid one from Costco. I love it. You don't really have to limit the fat intake with this "cleanse" which I really like! I can still have my ranch dressing which on other diets, I had to cut out. I hated that because I really don't like any other dressing much. I like Ranch on salads, to dip veggies in and things like that.

So, most of the time, it doesn't seem like I am restricting myself. For dinner the other night I made baked salmon which the kids devoured, steamed cauliflower with Parmesan cheese on top, and a really good salad ( which I am famous for I'm my family).

So...there it is. A sugar cleanse. A nice name for a diet! ha ha. It is working and every day I crave the sugar less. I am losing weight and eating healthy. That is all I really want. I don't care if I am skinny. I want to have endurance. I want to be strong. Able to run without having to stop or die from it. I want to be able to hike without being out of breath. I want my clothes to feel good and not be too tight.

Thank you Tash for doing this with me. I sure love you!

Reality check.

Well, it was a beautiful winter day here in Utah. Lovely gray clouds, overcast, some call it, beautifully landscaped snow with gray and yellow highlights. (I won't mention the sources) I couldn't ask for better. So I decided to finally get out of bed at 11:00 am and go for a run.

I have been trying to get back in the habit as you all know. It is VERY hard. I have been running on the treadmill and as some know, it is totally different than hitting the pavement.

I made my son who is 12 go with me as he is needing to do something physical. He is not involved in any sports at the moment. He kicked my butt. We took our Golden retriever, Jenny who did great. She is not used to it so I am training her to be my running buddy. She is afraid of every car that comes up behind her.

It was cold and it bothered my throat. I am just getting over a cold I've had for 2 weeks. I was surprised how fast I got tired. I realize that I finally need to admit that I am totally out of shape. I am where I am because I eat too much and don't exercise. I weigh more now than I ever have and have been making excuses as to why this is but it all boils down to ME. I have bought diet pills that don't work but keep me up all night. I have tried 3 different brands and none of them make a difference. I am very discouraged about it.

Am I desperate enough to make the change? I hope so. I am tired of giving excuses. I did this to myself. I am very depressed about it but I want to run again. I want that feeling of freedom and the high that comes with it. I want my clothes to fit and feel good. I want to have energy. I want my kids to be proud of me and not embarrassed to have me with them at school or other events. I want to be the example to them how important it is to be healthy.

I know I can do it. I have done it before. It will just take patience and perseverance and I can do that! My thing is the long term. Can I do it for the rest of my life? So far I haven't been able to but that doesn't mean that can't change.

I'll keep you up to date on my success!

Happy Valentine's Day!

What a fun holiday! A day to celebrate love! I used to hate Valentine's day. It seemed like I never had a boyfriend on the actual day of Valentine's!

For the past 13 years, I have! I love him more and more every year. We are VERY different though. Sometimes I feel we have nothing in common....and yet. The more time we are together, the more alike we become. Or at least we have learned to appreciate our differences.

This morning we gave a gift and card to each other. We had bought each other the same card!! Can you believe that? Out of all the cards they sell, we picked the same one. This is what it says....

"A soul mate is not the person most like us in all the world. A soul mate is the person in whose light we shine the brightest. Your love brings out the best in me."

I loved it. Simple and to the point. Yet it says it all. We bought each other a box of chocolates which is "sweet". He bought me sugar free hand made chocolates from the "Idle Isle" candy store. It is a store here in Brigham City that has the BEST candy. It is so thoughtful of Bry. I bought him a velvet box of truffles (hoping to share).

So....Happy Valentine's day to you all. I hope your day is as good as I think mine will be! Love you all!

Book Review

The book I am reading at the moment is the Cry of the Icemark. It is a book for youth. I want to preview anything my kids may want to read in the future! I have read that it is being made in to a movie at the moment.

It is about a teenage queen who is fighting to save her country. Making allies with Vampires and Werewolves. It is actually a pretty good story line. It has not been a book I can't lay down. I soak in the tub to loosen up my body in the morning and so I read in the tub. I enjoy it enough to keep reading but it hasn't gripped me to the point of no return.

It is a long book and I do wonder if it would keep the attention of a younger reader but it must since they are making a movie.

I am not a professional critic or an editor but I will say that the book is interesting, a good read for kids and a fun story to follow for the most part.

Absolutely fabulous!!!!!

This is what Bryan and I went to yesterday at Kingsbury Hall! It was mesmerizing!. These people are world champions all come together to travel the world to share their talent.

Sometimes I wish I truly excelled at something like that! It was so worth the money! I would recommend it to anyone. We went for our 13th anniversary.

After that we had dinner with some old family friends. They were best friends with my parents and I practically grew up at their house. They had 8 kids and we had 9. there was someone the same age in their family as ours. The mother has become very frail and can't walk anymore we really wanted to get together. There were about 40 people there.

If there is anyone who I would call my hero, it would be JoAnn. You may have heard of her. She used to speak at especially for youth and womens conferences. She has written quite a few books for the the church too. She was the one who started the "Families against pornography" movement. She has a website you can go to. Just slick on her name. JoAnn Hibbert-Hamilton. I adore her. I want to be like her when I grow up but I don't want any of her trials!

She was one of my mom's closest friends and I love her like a mother. I feel so bad that she is so sick. She has had to stop speaking and doing her thing. Anyway, take a trip to her page. She was amazing.

What a day! We just got home from doing our taxes. We went to a new guy this year and found out the accountant who has done our taxes for the last 6 or 7 years has done done our taxes as an S corp. How frustrating. We thought he was doing it right and naturally trusted him. He knew we were an S corp. We talked about it every year!!!

So we did well. We only have to pay a couple thousand in taxes. We made some good money this year and hopefully we can do the same again.

It snowed more. We have about 3 feet of snow here. I love it. Anyway....just a note to let you all know what is going on in this neck of the woods!

I was on Yolanda's blog and I loved that she had a place that tells what she is currently reading. I thought this was a fabulous idea!

I love to read and most of you know. I ALWAYS have a book I am reading. I have been reading The Bartimaius Trilogy. I am really in to kids books lately. I have read quite a few and love them! I read the Inkheart series and A Door in the Woods, series and I so enjoy them.

Kids book are clean and without a lot of swearing which I like. Plus I can pre-read what my kids are reading.

I have read through all styles. I went through a Stephen King stage, I read all those vampire books. All the religous books and series. I loved the work and the glory, Tennis shoes among the Nephites, and many others I can't think of at the moment.

I enjoy fantasy. I have read all the Lord of the rings, Harry potter and many others. I can't say enough about how much I enjoy getting in the tub for an hour (or two) and reading. I have only dropped a book once!


If you have any questions about a good read, just let me know!

Today is the 13th anniversary of my mom passing away from breast cancer. It has gotten easier as time has gone by but I still miss her so much.

She Died on Feb. 1, 1995. I was married Feb 18, 1995. It was such a sad as well as happy time. I think it was a blessing for us to have a wedding to look forward to and to plan. I think it took a little of the sting away. At least for me.

I remember waking up on my wedding day and I could distinctly feel her there. It was very strong. I remember even talking to her asking if she was there. It was so.....well, words can't describe it. All of us felt that she was there. When my younger sister and I were feeling sorry for ourselves one day, talking about it (a few years later), she said, "well, at least she was at your wedding." Then we realized that physically, she wasn't. It made us laugh.

We were able to dress our mother after she died. We did her hair and her makeup. We painted her toenails bright red. (we wanted her to be stylish when she resurrected!) It was a neat time for us. We have always been close as a family and it was an experience I will never forget. We laughed and let humor numb us for a bit.

We (my sisters and I) sang Danny Boy in 4 part harmony at the funeral. It is a fun memory for me because we usually sound so good when we sing and that time, it was awful! I remember we were totally off in the harmony and we were singing a cappella. It embarrassed me but also made me laugh. Anyway, Danny Boy was one of Mom's favorites.

I still feel her watching over me. She isn't always here but I know when she is. She is with me now as I write this. I can just tell. I have always been able to.

Friends out there... Love your mothers. They are not perfect and some make a lot of mistakes. I know mine did. But they love us unconditionally and there aren't many people who do. Appreciate every kiss, hug, criticism, and argument. I would give anything to have a good old fashioned argument with mine! Ours were always good ones!

I wish I would have been a better daughter. I wish I would have been more giving and patient. I wish I had done many things differently but regrets are empty. I will just vow to do better in the future. Thanks Mom. I love you.

See you in a bit.