Quiet simple day

I had a nice quiet day with Donnell, Josh, and Brinae. Josh is starting to feel better, his fever broke, but he is still tired. Sometimes simple days are the best!
 Gratitude list:
1. enjoying a movie with the family all bundled up in blankets.
2. Cheddars onion rings for lunch, mmmm!
3. Getting and looking at my Smash book stash(I'm making a weight loss journal)
4. Seeing Brinae get excited about making her own Smash book(her's is all about tasty stuff-recipes, kitchen, etc)
5. finally getting pages printed off (been a headache getting computer and printer to communicate) for my OLW and my Relief Society lesson next week.

Decluttering

I wanted to accomplish something this Christmas break before going back to work. Today we tackled decluttering our bedroom.  I  thought of my word light and decided that  I needed to be brave and not be afraid to throw away-thus making our room lighter. I managed to fill one of those big black garbage bags with clothes that I don't wear, I will donate them to the Outreach Center. I tried to use the "everything you touch -toss it, give it, or put away in its spot" rule. We did it! The sad part of the day was half way through and I figured Donnell would not be able to go on our date tonight due to the amount of work he was doing with his back, I was so looking forward to going out with him. It seems like forever since we had a date. I love him so much and felt guilty for feeling selfish. THe bedroom looks good and feels great, hopefully we will be able to go soon.
My gratitude list:
1. a clean bedroom
2. Downloading my new class from Big Picture Scrapbooking
3. My BPS class was free due to rewards!!
4 I was able to see Cassandra, Abby, and E.J. for a little while today-I just love them to pieces.
5. Sonic happy hour-little nuggets of ice and diet coke!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Another brand new start. The beginning of another year, the making of new year resolutions, the excitement of new goals, hopes, and dreams. I have always liked the beginning of everything-the first line or two of a new book to pull me in, the excitement of two lines on a home pregnancy test, the sense of willpower at the start of a diet, the thrill of the phone when starting a new relationship, all starts of new journeys-don't get me wrong I love the whole journey, but I relish the beginnings! This year is no different, new goals, or old goals reborn again-weight loss, eating healthy....., but along with those are the feelings of something new, something resonating deeper in me this time.
 My one little word for 2014 is Light. I want to invite more light into my life, I want to become lighter -weight wise, emotionally, stress wise, I want to stand in Christ's light more, I want to illuminate goodness more, there are so many opportunities with this word and I own it this year. My word last year was Be and even though I didn't quite accomplish everything I wanted to do with this word, I feel like I did learn to just be!
 My gratitude list today is :
1. Dr.'s for my Mady-she had to have surgery to rebreak her arm so it could be put in a cast.
2. So grateful that Mady did well in surgery.
3. Days off!
4. physical therapy for Donnell.(on his back)
5. My Josh-he is sick today. I am grateful that I can be his mom.

Gratitude list

Clean sheets especially after a shower.
Sitting on the couch in a newly rearranged front room.
Clean kitchen floor.
Church and teaching relief society today.
Going to egertons for dinner after church- she is a really good friend and I am thankful for her!

UPDATE

Well Mom has the internet again, so I thought I better get busy and get caught up!
Josh is in public school and seems to enjoy it, he is quite funny, I hear(imagine that!) He is in grade ten. He is a Priest at Church and blesses the Sacrament every Sunday.
Brinae is leaving me and going to BYU-Idaho, her start date is April 17th, we are all going to be lost without her around. She is working at Walmart and enjoying the paychecks!
Serenity is going to College and doing very well, her gpa is 3.6 that is incredible with four kids and a husband!
Donnell is still working full time and going to school fulltime. I miss him so much, but am very thankful he is trying to better our lives. We just celebrated 20 years of marriage! He is still my soulmate and best friend! I love him so very much!!
Cassandra is pregnant and due in April, I am so worried about her, I want the best for her. I am so happy that she has gone to Church the last couple of Sundays.
All the grandkids are doing great and they are so much fun for us.
I now work at the Van Buren Library as the youth services programmer, I LOVE it!, I get to plan all the programs for the kids and teens. I enjoy my job so very much.
I can't wait for Mom to get her webcam and then we can skype!
Love to all, B

Women bonding

Robin, , Patty, and I have been staying here in Bloomington, Illinois while our kiddos are at EFY. We are sharing a suite and having a good time. We have been swimming, eating, driving around, and vegging out.
One of our major concerns happens to be my Brinae, she is pretty sick, but she refuses to leave EFY. We think it is her gall bladder acting up, it is only working at 3% and she is to have surgery on it. She has been having stomach pains, and she has sores under her tongue. We took her meds yesterday and a home remedy today, neither seems to be working. We are praying that she makes through this week and we get home and she can see her surgeon. It breaks my heart to see and hear her in pain. This is her last EFY now that she has graduated.
Donnell had to stay home and work, I miss him. I worked on my project life abit today. It is coming along.

Others' blogs

I just finished reading Amanda's and kristina's blogs. they live in Arizona now. Amanda was just another one of my kids. She is happily married and doing great. I miss her.
Her sister Kristina haas a very busy life full of kids and all sorts of happenings. Reading her blog and facebook always brings a smile to my face and so causes me to want to be a better mom, wife, and friend.
Lindsey is another one I love to follow, she has touched my life and has made my life richer for her being a part of it. She lives in Salt Lake and I miss her-even though I have only been able to see her a couple of times after her mission-her influence continues to be a part of my life.
I love all these awesome ladies and I wish I could hopefully touch someone's life like they have touched mine.
Can you believe that my Brinae is a senior this year??? She is doing great in her schoolwork-she does it all on the computer and her teachers live in all parts of the country-Alaska, Nevada, Virginia, California,etc. We joined the homeschool group so she is on yearbook staff and student council. She is getting ready to take her ACT so she can apply to BYU Idaho! One of her reasons for going there is they have heated sidewalks!!!!
Josh is in grade nine. He does not like school-no big surprize there!! He still has to do it though. He is so funny and reminds me of Donnell so much.
Donnell is working full time and going to school full time. He is getting all A's, but he is so tired. I am so proud of him. He loves programming, he really feels like it is his niche.
I have been doing ok-struggling with myself on so many levels. I love my life, but sometimes I feel like I am not doing a 100% in any of my "jobs". I desire to do better and am working on it. I guess life is always a work inprogress-hey that is a good title for a layout~~
Love to all