Breaking Dawn

Well, I read it and enjoyed it. I don't have more to add to what others have said. I thought it ended the series well. It was rather...passionate. I'm not sure how I would feel about my 13 year old reading this (in the future of course). But, nice way the end the series.

Blog Beauty

We're back to basic black because Marcus didn't like the last one. I'm determined to find a new background that he'll like that adds more pizazz. So, we may be going through quite a few changes in the next few weeks. Comments on the backgrounds you like may help my case.:)

Fitting In in Spokane

Spokane has been an i n t e r e s t i n g transition, but over the past few weeks that we've been here, I've seen little miracles take place in our lives. Most of them regard Samantha and her doctors and therapists. We have been set up with some of the best in the city, and I owe all of that to prayer. It seemed that every step I took was blindly taken. However, the past two weeks things have fallen perfectly into place, and those blind steps were actually leading me directly along the right path. Friday was an amazing day for me to see that everything, everything had fallen into place for Samantha.

Last week I received a new calling in church as the 1st counselor in the Relief Society. This was a huge shock because we had only been to church twice. The Sunday morning before I was sustained, I was overwhelmed with worry, thinking of how ackward I'd feel when they called my name, I stood up, and the RS President made hand gestures signaling I wasn't who she thought I was -- it was really someone else she had wanted as her counselor. Luckily that didn't happen. I've been in presidencies before. I was excited about the calling, but I was also very...mmmm...I don't know...feeling like I shouldn't be there perhaps. During our first presidency meeting, I learned about our new president. Two years ago her daughter, Rachel, died at the age of 21. She had a blood clot that traveled from her leg to her lungs. She died in the ambulence on the way to the hospital. This happened 6 weeks after Rachel gave birth to her second child. The story is much longer and more detailed, of course, than I'm sharing. But while she was sharing this experience with us, I knew partly why I was called to be in the Shiloh Hills Relief Society Presidency. It was so I could learn from Laura. I don't expect Samantha to die anytime soon. I didn't feel anything that would make me believe I needed to prepare myself for any imminent disaster. But, I did feel that I needed to learn from Laura, from her experiences, how she copes, how she handles her pain, and how she relies on the Lord. Though our personalities are very different, I think there is much that I need to learn from her because of the experience she has had with her daughter. Even though I'm not expecting Samantha to die any time soon, I am expecting to feel more pain from time to time. I'm expecting there to be more ups and downs, and I need to continue to learn how to deal with that better. I feel that the Lord has arranged this so that I can have close contact with Laura and learn from her.

I look forward to the calling, but I look more forward to creating close friends and learning from their examples.

Thank You

Thank you so much to all those who called or wrote their state senators about the Protect Our Children Bill. Oprah, on her Friday show, announced that the bill had passed! I believe it is worth every dollar to keep our children safe from these horrible predators. Thank you.

gonna eat me a lot of peaches...

Krazy Kiddos

Callie is getting everywhere these days. She gets herself stuck all the time. Under the table is a common place where we can find her crying because she can't get out.

She is also beginning to make this face when she is excited. I'm not quite sure where she picked it up, but it's pretty hillarious. She has been known to look at someone, open her mouth really loud, and produce a growl at them. But, it's playful. Ya know, kind of like the puppy next door? She hasn't been growling as much lately, but she does open up as wide as she can when she's excited. What a cutie! (Though, these pictures in no way reflect that.)

And little Sammy is up to her own tricks now a days. She likes standing up in her stroller as if she' s watching the seas ahead. "Land hooooo!" Needless to say, we have to strap her in most of the time now. Look how long her hair is getting!

Insight Requested

Because of my new calling/responsibility at church, I will be given some time this Sunday to speak to the women in our congregation. I'll only have 10 minutes, but I can choose to talk about anything I want. I've thought a lot about it and I feel like I know what I would like to address in that very short time. Happiness. I kind of have my thoughts, but I would like your input.

1. Do you consider yourself happy?
2. If you aren't happy, do you have any idea how you could become happy, or happier?
3. What is holding you back from doing what is needed to be happier?
4. What is it that makes you happiest? And not just happy, but really really deep down happy?
5. When you're feeling down, how do you change your mood? What pulls you out of that gloomy feeling so you can feel peaceful and happy again?

You don't have to answer all of these questions, or you can. If you don't want to leave it as a comment, that's ok. You can email me instead. Thanks!

marcusandjenny@gmail.com