Faith not Fear

"The greatest glory in life lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." Nelson Mandela
"We can grow in faith only if we are willing to wait patiently for God's purposes and pattern to unfold in our lives, on His timetable." Robert C. Oaks

"I believe that God will always make a way where there is no way. I believe that if we walk in obedience to the commandments of God, if we follow the counsel of the priesthood, He will open a way, even if there appears to be no way." President Gordon B. Hinckley

"We can grow in faith only if we are willing to wait patiently for God's purposes and pattern to unfold in our lives, on his timetable." Robert C. Oaks

"Faith is believing that although we do not understand all things, He does. Faith is knowing that although our power is limited, His is not. Faith in Jesus Christ consists of complete reliance on Him." - Dennis E. Simmons





"Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not." Doctrine and Covenants 6:36

A few weeks ago my friend Darcee had a contest on her blog -- the catch was you had to do an act of service and comment about it and then you were entered into a contest and had a choice of the prize you received. I WON! I was so excited. Darcee is an amazing scrapbooker. And when I say amazing, I mean AMAZING. I've been struggling with some personal issues and just needed something to cheer me up so I told her I'd like a book with some of my favorite quotes. She delivered. She scrapbooked my quotes and then a few more that are now some of my favorites. One that I didn't include a picture of is a great quote. It reads: Joy comes not from having a painfree life, but from conquering the obstacles, even when they are painful."

Thanks Darcee! I LOVE it!

Here's the rest of the pictures. For some reason I can't figure out how to add more than five pictures at a time. I'm blogily challenged. :)

Busy Saturday

I am so enjoying this time in my boy's lives. It's busy. All the time. No breaks. Ever. Even when they are in school I have a lot to keep me busy but that's okay. I love it. It was another busy day with activities, starting at 10 this morning with a tournament game for Zack in Sand Springs (just outside Tulsa). Zack was a team captain and had a great game. He's so quick and his enthusiasm for the game is huge! They won their game but they lost their second game later in the day so the football season is now over. It's sad but next year won't be far away (and neither is basketball season). Then we headed back to Stillwater for an OSU game. My brother Patrick is here visiting (he's on his way to Ft. Sill for six weeks of training). His friend Josh drove out with him just to attend an OSU game and it was a blast. Of course OSU won but it's always fun to be at the stadium watching the game live. Fun day, but I am SO tired. I've included pictures of all the boys today. Jeffrey was home but took some self-poses. Enjoy. I'm going to go to bed. Not really, but that's what I want to do.....

Eight things about me.....

Well, I was hoping I would be tagged by my sister-in-law for this post but I wasn't so I'm just doing it anyway. It's one of those get-to-know you things, which most people find annoying but I find fun. Here it is -- It's called 8 things (I added some things to make it a list of 8 things -- way creative, aren't I?) Just remember as I wrote this I am tired and watching a Will Smith movie on TV.

1. EIGHT favorite movies: Sweet Home Alabama, The family man, Hope Floats, Return to Snowy River, Remember the Titans, ALL Will Smith movies, Juno, Napoleon Dynamite

2. EIGHT favorite TV shows: (when I have time) The Amazing Race, Monday Night football, Biggest Loser, Grey's Anatomy, Prison Break, Ugly Betty, Seinfeld, the Brady Bunch

3. EIGHT things that happened today: Ran at the gym, put stickers up at the beadery, went to post office, dusted, cleaned a bathroom, dropped off Zack for ride to football game, took nick to football practice, went to ward Trunk-or-treat

4. EIGHT things to look forward to: the future, Patrick coming tomorrow, the boy's football games, OSU winning a national championship, the future, Nick going back to school (has been home for four days), breakfast in the morning, running another 5K

5. EIGHT favorite foods: Mashed pototoes and gravy, sweet potatoes from Texas Roadhouse, all bread, cheese enchiladas, brownies, Rice Krispie treats, grilled steak and corn on the cob

6. EIGHT places you'd like to visit: Paris, Hawaii, Washington D.C., New York City, Bahamas, Disneyworld, Idaho and Utah

7. EIGHT people you'd like to meet someday: Joseph Smith (not the kid on Nick's football team), George Washington, Will Smith, Robert Horry, Michael Jordan, Chuck Norris, Reese Witherspoon (I think we could be BFFs) and Will Smith

8. EIGHT people to tag - hmmm....do I know 8 people....Margo, Stephanie, Whitney, Susan, Andrea, Cousin Jon, Tyler and Tiffany

Something the boys decided to do for my birthday was inflate some helium balloons and "suck" out the helium. Pretty humorous. Here's Nick demonstrating the affects of helium....

How I spent my 36th birthday

Well it's been over a week since I turned 36 and so far it is an incredibly busy age to be! I haven't even had a chance to post and I have wanted to but just have ran out of time. But finally, a moment and I can write about my birthday. It was a typical day. So let's run through a typical day -- vacuumed out the car -- washed the car -- got gas* for the car -- drove to Tulsa for Nick's football game (he erased the video because the guy he was defending scored a touchdown -- I don't blame him), sat by my friend Susanne at Nick's game -- came home and watched OSU beat Missouri! YAY! Anyway, that was my day. Busy, busy, busy!

*on my bday gas was 2.62 a gallon. Now it's 2.39 -- can we say we love that oklahoma is below the national average.....

Just for Jon

This post is entirely for my cousin Jon who knows I love him but knows that I love when I can do something better than BYU and he may have noticed that OSU is now ranked #8 and BYU is following close at #9! Way to go COWBOYS. Jon - I was sad OU lost because....well....because they are in the state of Oklahoma but the cowboys win was huge. I can't think of a better birthday present for me.....Can't wait to read your comments.