Hi guys I hope this brighten your day a little. THEY ARE SO CUTE.

When the going gets tough...

The 'tough' get going.  Is that how it goes?  I think it finally makes sense to me now.  The 'tough' is referring to the people who keep trudging along no matter what.

Maybe the thousand pages of Gone with the Wind were worth the read last month.  While Scarlett had her issues, she was independent and didn't let anyone or anything stop her.

I'm tired and I'm scared.  I know I need to be patient and give things time to grow.  I know I need to give myself credit for the hundreds of hours I have put into this new endeavor.  I know that I need to exude confidence, but inside, there is a little bit of fear.  I think it is weighing me down.

The fear is a greater hurdle than all of the increased time management to ensure my home remains a haven.

That's big.

I wish I didn't feel so alone.

A

My Mechanical Child

This is my car, some of you have met her already. I love her. It's odd really. My other car, who is now dead and gone, was so hated by me. Well, she was appreciated, but definitely not beloved. In fact I think there was a type of sabotage on my part where she was concerned, like I wanted her to die because she was not the car I wanted in the first place. I had wanted, that's right, a blue Saab. But everyone said "Don't do it." that it was an irresponsible choice, and I would certainly regret it. So I didn't. My Corolla and I tolerated each other for four years. I'm quite sure she knew she wasn't loved. Maybe that explains all her bad behavior. Anyway, this time around, I tried to talk myself out of a Saab, I looked at all the Honda Civics I could find with more than 110,000 miles on them. But again, the blue Saab hatchback was calling my name. One friend did tell me straight up it was a terrible idea, that if I wanted a Saab I should wait til I could spend the money to get a new one. But the reality of the situation is that if I had money I would never buy a Saab. Yuck, I don't like new Saab's. I realized then that I only ever wanted this quirky, old Swedish-ish hatchback. And now was my opportunity. It was the right car at the right time for the right price.  And so she is mine.

She whistles at me every morning when I walk out to her, and so I say hello. She is like a darling little pet. Recently however we have been having some issues with the alarm system. As in, it goes off...a lot. To the point where if she doesn't whistle at me when I hit the lock button, I know there will be trouble later, and sometimes even if she does. I just tell her to be a good girl and hope for the best. Car alarms are special little things. Each car has a different one, and different things make different cars go off. Which in my car's case is everything. I was out on the Potomac last week sitting on the rocks, my car parked way back out on the road. I was talking to a friend and all of a sudden I shushed him, I thought I heard a familiar sound. Sure enough it was my car's alarm, she's loud.

Oh dear. 

I was laying in my bed last night, relaxing after a long beautiful day in the country side. All of a sudden she blew. I threw on clothes and ran down the stairs out the the car. I tried to push the auto lock/unlock buttons, didn't work. I actually got in the car and started it, nothing. I put it in and out of gear, no luck. I was freaking out, my neighbors were going to start throwing eggs at us, it was SOOO loud. I didn't know what else to do but to start driving. So I'm driving down the city block, my car alarm blaring, and I see a cop pulling up behind me, then the lights go on. Great! I pull over roll down the window and try to yell over the alarm. "Sorry! I can't get her to stop!!" Meanwhile he's calling in my plate number. I think after he saw my disheveled hair and mismatched pj's and coat he smiled and said not to worry, that he just wanted to make sure the car wasn't being stolen. Of course another cop car pulled up right behind him. So the two cops have me surrounded, lights going, my car won't stop screaming, and they are just laughing at me. Finally I got out of the car and got her to whistle at me, which immediately shut her up of course.

Seriously, I think this is my current equivalent of having a child. That was a crazy ruckus to be making at midnight. And yet, in the end I just sighed, sternly told her I had better not have to come back out that night, patted her on the hood, and went back to bed.

She just needs some TLC in the form of yanking out the electric wires hooked up to the alarm system, and she'll be all better.

For Posterity

Ok I had this awesome Title that was all star Warsie, that went on about "About a month ago near a lake far far away" but blogger didn't like the format.  So this is what you guys get.

Alright AMPLE as The voice of reason in this family I feel obligated to post something.

last night Jackson was caught in the basement watching TV between the hours of 0000 and 0400 for the second time in a week.  Apparently the Jones family has finally produced an insomniac.  I have to be at work in 4 minutes so I don't have time for a real post, But sheesh someone had to do another one.


Honus

Opinions

I know, this was like, so four weeks ago, but I didn't post four weeks ago. Let's catch up.

 Chief Justice Roberts gave the deciding vote for the Supreme Court stating that Obama's health care plan as it stood was not constitutional under the context of commerce law, meaning that you can't tell people to buy insurance anymore than you can tell them to buy broccoli. However under tax law, the majority states that it is legal. This means that as long as the government offers a punitive tax to be paid in place of buying health insurance, then it is legal as far as the government is accountable to current tax law.  The only part of the law that the Supreme Court rescinded was the governments power to force each state to set up a program to utilize the additional funds, in the most simplistic terms, as a measure to protect states rights.

There is a lot of controversy about this right now, and so many different ways to look at it.

A tax professionals opinion about what it means.

Happy with Roberts

Not so sure about Roberts

SO, here is the way both candidates for the presidency have addressed the health care bill on their web-sites. Again I think the Republicans could do better in making their case. In fact any type of case would be helpful. Bama, as usual, all smoke and mirrors, convincing smoke and mirrors.

Mitt-Face

Obama-Face

All of this is of course just fodder for the mind.  It's good to think about what you think, don't you think?

Em-Face

COLOURLovers

In my recent adventures of creating my logo, I happened upon COLOURLovers.

Go explore, it is awesome!  They have thousands and thousands of color palettes to peruse and enjoy.  You can create designs and become inspired.  It took me some research to figure out what the numbers meant for each color.  So, I want to share what I learned with you.

Let's take Ocean Five for an example.

The first color is a copycat of Martha Stewart's Rainforest.

                                                 (I made this example in Photoshop :o) )

There are two numbers underneath the Hex and the RGB (Red, Green, Blue).

If you want to have this palette in a project you are making, you can go to any application like Photoshop, Word, etc...and input the color by changing the numbers.  It's that easy!

So there were lots of other tricks I learned, but the most important thing, is that when you find a color you love.  You can write down these numbers (either HEX of RGB, both will get you the same result), save them, and make your project uniform in any software that you are using.  Heck.  I bet you could write them down and take them to a paint store and they would be able to create it for you.

The palette I chose for my logo and website was entitled Starry Night featuring Vincent VanGogh's colors.  I love it.  Here is the mock-up I used for all of my photoshop work.  (another trick I learned)

And the result, my awesome business cards and company logo!!

So, now you are informed about one way to embrace COLOURLovers.  I have only tapped the surface.

A

The First Wave.

And there off. The first wave of Jonses have pointed there Minivan in the general direction of Michigan and put the pedal to the metal. Our intrepid travelers Have their Leapsters and DVD players charged and loaded with fun things, but the funnest thing in the car with them is a Burr.  They will turn there noses up at Speed limit signs, and wave happily to local law enforcment, for they have been summoned to the biggest party of the summer. They will sing,sleep, maybe cry a little, and Laugh all the way to Grandma's House.

Summer Recitals

So I sang in 2 recitals this weekend! It was really fun, and nice to have family around that could come enjoy!

So Mother wants results, and I hope you all enjoy them too!

hahahhhaah enjoy the cat duet. i just have audio of my other aria... and i dont know how you upload that. so i guess just enjoy these.

SEE YOU IN A WEEK :]
and why does no one blog.... me and eliza are the only ones with a strong streak recently.
minus me last week....maybe.

love you alllll!

P

Hello

Well its Thursday again and no one has posted since last week! What is going on peeps. I thought we had ample amounts to say?

So this weeks challenge is to read scriptures for 30 min. I am still doing the challenge and doing pretty well how is everyone else doing? Anyone still doing it? Well I wanted to do this challenge for my personal progress with reading my scriptures. I have never been very good at it. I mean I read a couple verses here and there but it always seems I can never really remember what I am reading. This week however has been different. I have been reading and remembering the next day what I read the day before. I talk to Christopher about it which helps me remember even more. I don't know why I have such a hard time making time for my reading and studying. I put so much effort into getting back in shape and eating right and all those type of things. I forget that I need to prioritize my own personal study of the scriptures too. It helps me to be happy. These last 4 days has helped me to remember that.

So I am making these tomorrow for dinner:

      I will probably make it with some grilled veggies and some fruit! Its seriously good! and good for you! 

                Sweet Potato Black Bean Burgers

Makes 8-10 patties
Ingredients
1 sweet potato, chopped and boiled until fork-tender
2 cans of black beans, drained and rinsed

 

2 carrots, chopped
1/2 sweet onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup oats, coarsely ground (see picture in directions)
1 cup Panko bread crumbs (whole wheat if you can find it), divided in half
1/2 cup corn, fresh, frozen & thawed, or canned & drained
2 t. cumin
1 t. salt
1 t. pepper
1 t. cayenne (if you like spice–omit for little eaters)
olive oil

Directions

Heat oven to 350 F. Either spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray or line it with parchment paper.

In a large flat-bottomed skillet (cast irons are great), saute onions and carrots on medium-low heat with a little olive oil until onions have a nice golden color. Add garlic and saute for 2 more minutes. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mash one can of drained black beans (a fork, potato masher, or your hands will do the job), then add the other can of drained black beans and just lightly mash them, leaving some whole. Add the sauteed veggies and all the other ingredients, except for 1/2 of the bread crumbs, and mix well, mashing some of the sweet potatoes to help bind the mixture.

Put the remaining bread crumbs on a small plate or pie pan.

Pulse oats in a blender, food processor, or coffee bean grinder once or twice until they are coarsely ground like this.

The mixture should be thick and slightly sticky. This looks a little gross, but let’s be honest, ground raw meat doesn’t look much better! 

Form the patties. Use a 1/2 cup measuring cup, slightly over-filled, to measure out each patty. Patties should be about 1 inch thick and 4 inches in diameter.

In the same pan you cooked the veggies, add just enough oil to lightly coat the pan and turn the burner back to medium low. Dip the patties into the panko crumbs, gently pressing the crumbs into the patties. Add panko-crusted patties to the pan (2-4 at a time depending on the size of your pan), letting them get lightly golden brown, then flipping. The first side browns quicker.

Transfer the patties to the baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.

Serve on hamburger buns with your choice of toppings. Avocado, tomato, roasted red pepper, lettuce, chipotle mayo (just blend a chipotle pepper with 1/2 cup of mayo), are all great with these.

Springfield, MO

So we are moving to Springfield, Missouri. Christopher accepted a position there in January. I stole this picture from my friends blog. It was taken in winter when everything was dead! It was much more green this trip This past week we went there again to find a house to live in for a while. But first thing was first we had to say goodbye to our baby girl. She went and stayed with Nana and Poppa in Tallahassee for the week. She was sooo excited! She will barely speak to us on the phone she is having so much fun. I know it was way harder on me then her. 

 So we set off to Missouri just me and the boys! Seriously the pictures below is what most of our 4 days looked like. We were in the car pretty much all day everyday! Lots of pictures in this post of Henry but how do you choose! 

 This kid didn't mind though as long as he got to eat whenever he wanted. 

So the driving around payed off. It was pretty frustrating trying to find a place. There are plenty of houses to rent in Springfield but NO ONE wants to rent for less then 12 months. Christopher and I were looking for a short term lease because we want to buy pretty soon but we also wanted to get to know the area before we do that. We called so many houses on the first day I can't even count. At the end of day one we were ready to give up. We went to dinner and on a whim decided to go look at one more neighborhood. We passed this house and saw the for rent sign. I did not want to even call but Christopher told me to just do one more today. So I called and of course the guy wanted a 12 month lease but then he stopped me and asked why I wanted a sort term lease. I told him and he said that he and his son are Realtors and that if one of them writes the contract for the house we find, we can get out of our rental lease whenever we buy. 

Its a pretty cozy little house. Its the only one we even looked at. It has a fenced in backyard and it even has a little pear tree back there. Its in a great central neighborhood. I think we will be happy here for a while. 

Christopher might kill me but I have to tell one more story about our trip. On Saturday we thought it would be fun to go and explore the surrounding area of Springfield so we set off down to Branson, MO (40 min away). We didn't look at a map until it was too late but we ended up driving on some seriously unnecessary winding and rolling roads. I was kind of mad about it and I was getting car sick. I was letting Christopher know how I felt pretty much the whole time we were driving. He got pretty quiet for a little while and when I looked over at him and he was pretty much white. Now if you know Christopher you know he has extreme motion sickness. He barely made it off the road and into a gas station before he lost all his breakfast. Poor Guy. Apparently he told me that talking about being sick made him sick. Usually the driver does not get sick in cars. This was his second time he got sick on this trip. Not good. We are going to have to get use to these roads if we are going to make it out here.    

Overall it was a good trip. I am trying to get excited about moving to springfield. Hopefully I will like it more once I get there. Everyone that knows anything about Springfield always tells me I am going to love it, so hopefully they are right. As of now I am just excited to be normal people with a job! No more student Status!

I can't watch this and not think of Lizard listening to reason.



Love Honus

Cool Dudes.

Summer Photoshoot

Aren't they the cutest!!

Caving.

So this happened last night....

I don't have babies to post, so I will just post my friends.

Me and B made a cake and discovered a beautiful new kind of ice cream.

We can buy some at the lake house since none of you will buy it right now. 

Maybe Chris, Ryan, and Jon can have some since I hear they don't eat healthy with their wives... 

Or maybe I just assume that. :]

As you can see, I have failed the challenge. 

I promise i'm not being a fatty though. 

And i'm going to take advantage of my teenage metabolism while i can. 

I'M ONLY A TEENAGER FOR ONE MORE YEAR.

(actually 11 months)

that's scary. 

The cake is me and dads favorite.

It was really good. 

I hope i'm not tempting anyone with this picture. 

I wish you all luck with your next 3 weeks...

ONLY 3 WEEKS I'M GETTING SO EXCITED!

Love you.

P

Grandma and Grandpa!

We had so much fun with Grandma and Grandpa! When they arrived on weds morning we gave them big hugs and then we took them to my parents house to celebrate Charlotte's birthday.  She wanted to go out on my dad's boat for her birthday and swim in the lake.  They got to ride in a tube and jump off the boat into the lake.  They loved it.  It was extremely hot though.  We did presents and had a good birthday.  Thurs they made the kids day by taking them to the new Chuck E Cheese that just opened up.  Friday we went to a small summer park and did some bumper boats and mini golfing.  That was really fun!  Maggie like to sit in the pond obstacles in the golf course and splash.  Saturday Charlotte had some friends over for a birthday party.  We were busy every day. Grandma was a good sport hobbling on her crutches everywhere with us.  Grandma and Grandpa got lots of Charlotte, Jackson and especially Maggie hugs.  Maggie would walk over to grandpa and just put arms up for him to pick her up and hold her.  She would also snuggle up to him close when he was sitting reading or using his Ipad.  Maggie also loved to play on grandma's boot!  It was a WONDERFUL time having them here.  Thanks for coming.

Jones fun - make slideshow

I'm Hungry!

My awesome stir fry with lots of veggies from my fridge, chicken, and rice didn't cut it tonight. I don't remember the last time I was this hungry. I also passed on mini chocolate chips in my pancakes. I thought blueberries would be a healthier choice. I will get my stars today. Does a chocolate flavored protein shake count as a dessert? The consensus of my food diary is that I'm a carboholic... What did everyone else's show? A

Checking in and Checking up

 4 days down folks . . . . 

How is everyone doing? Its been 4 days and the GDOC is basically empty. Have we given up or are we just not reporting? I made a chart for Christopher and I so I have to look at it everyday. It makes me really happy when I get to put X's in all of my boxes! I think it helps keep me stay motivated. It also helps me to remember everything. Maybe you should try it if you are feeling well not motivated. Abby has addressed a concern about working out. Is anyone else struggling with anything? I know it was pretty hard passing on such yummy desserts last night at the BBQ I went to. Christopher is doing everything but exercise. If its not a basketball game or touch football then he is not really interested. Maybe that will change when he has more time after school is done. That might just be wishful thinking on my part though. How is the no eating past 8 going? Should we move it to 9? Is everyone finding time to eat before 8 with work, kids, crazy life? So far I like the challenge and it is helping me think more about my body and the things I need to work on to take care of it. 

 These two tend to make working out more enjoyable. They like to cheer me on. Henry likes to follow me back and forth when I move. Reese joins in sometimes too that gets a little crazy though. Reese is always very concerned when I make grunting noises or big sighs of relief when an exercise that was difficult is over. "Mom are you ok? Are you going to be ok mom?" She is very in tune with what people are feeling. I kind of love that about her

(notice the M&Ms in Reese's bowl. I am proud to say I have not had one M&M this week. Thats big for me!)

So I am having trouble eating healthy and finding the time to prepare for meals. I was going to post a bunch of recipes I want to try but it is getting late and it will only make me hungry. I decided I should go to bed instead. I will post the recipes this weekend then maybe we can try them together next week!!   You should post some too if you have a favorite recipe that we should try! Ok start reporting on here peeps. I want to know how everyone is doing! Everyday is a new day. If you have been sucking it up these past few days then start fresh tomorrow.

The 'non-negotiable' rules...

Confession,  I am not very good at rule #2.  I haven't eaten after 8:00 since Monday AND yesterday I passed over a beautiful array of festive desserts...but exercising...

I'm going to the doctor today for my foot, but really that is no excuse.  Why don't I ever EVER have the motivation to get on my back and do some crunches, pilates, etc...

Does ANYONE else have this problem?

Tips? Motivational thoughts?

I will always be ab-less if I keep this up...

Abby

P.S. It isn't helpful having a husband who has weighed the same for seven years straight and doesn't feel like he needs to give up desserts....

The Ample Challenge

I propose we challenge ourselves for 5 weeks to make really healthy decisions about our time and nutrition. At the end of 5 weeks we will hopefully feel better and maybe even look a little better!! Maybe even pick up a few new habits we would like to continue to use everyday. So the challenge looks a little bit like this . . .

The Ample Challenge
 3 non-negotiable rules:
- 8 PM food cut off (except for Phil who kind of has to eat after 8)
- Exercise everyday for at least 30 min. This can be any form of exercise i.e. walking, jogging, swimming, cardio, lunges up and down your hall, jumping jacks, push ups, sit ups, bike rides. You just have to get your heart rate up and keep it up for 30 min.
- NO DESSERTS. Ok throw your hands up in the air and say "ahhh come on its summer. How can I not eat a dessert for 5 weeks? That is ridiculous. What about parties or special occasions? What about just once a week? At least give me a cheat day. come on!" Are you done? Good. You are looking at the queen of desserts here. I can hardly go an hour without a hand full of M&Ms these days. So if I can do it I know you guys can. Just think of how good you will feel about yourself at the end of the 5 weeks and we are on vacation and desserts are allowed again!! Seriously this is the third rule and I am not making a cheat day. Don't ask for one.

Weekly Challenges:
There will be 5 weekly challenges. These challenges are a fun way to compete with yourself and everyone else. A little healthy competition is always good!

Week 1: Keep a Food Journal- The point of this is to track what and how much we are really eating. This way we know where we need to do some work or we can see where we are already doing a good job. Or it could be where we (by we I mean me) see that all we ( again me) are eating is processed junk out of a box and we (me) really need to change some things. Got it? Pretty easy. I was thinking we could keep it in the kitchen on the counter or taped to the fridge that way it is right in front of you and hopefully you won't forget.


Week 2: Eat at Least 5 Servings of Fruits or Veggies and Drink 8 Glasses of Water - This is pretty self explanatory but it is kind of hard to get 8 glasses of water in when you aren't already doing it everyday. Keep track!


Week 3: No Pop and No Sugar- This basically means no processed foods when I mean sugar. Nothing from a box! Obviously fruits and veggies and whole grain bread and pasta are ok. Try to keep it fresh this week. Oh that means no DIET sodas either.

Week 4: Read Scriptures 30 Minutes a Day- Pretty self explanatory right? Those who are already doing this good job! Those who aren't (me) need to!

Week 5: Get 8 Hours of Sleep/ 8 Glasses of Water- I'm brining back the water challenge! I know 8 hours of sleep will be hard for most of us but I think it is really something to strive for. We can do anything for a week right? Mom and Dad this one is for you guys! Dad have you ever gotten 8 hours of sleep in a row? 


- Ok so there are the challenges. Plan for them each week so you can be successful! Everyday that you complete the challenge and follow the non-negotiables you get to put a star in our google document (GDOC) by your name. Abby made this for us so we can chart our progress and support each other. If you do not have a Gmail account you can email me your progress or post it to the blog and I will report it for you!

If you choose to you can track your weight over the 5 weeks and watch how you are doing. I will be doing this. I will weigh in every Monday morning and report it to the GDOC. I like being able to see my progress and I like that I feel accountable to you guys to do well and eat healthy. It helps me to stay on track. That is why I am putting it all out there. I hope you guys do too. This is where I am starting.

This is completely on the honor system whether you are keeping the challenges. I am providing starting pics and again at the end. It helps me stay accountable and on track.

At the end of the 5th week we will all be meeting in Michigan! On Monday we will have a party to report our success and celebrate our healthy choices. I am proud to announce the first Jones Family 5k. Hopefully with all of the exercise we will be doing everyone will be able to walk/jog/run. In moms case maybe hobble! I hope you are walking by then mom! I am really excited about this and I hope you all choose to participate in the challenge!

Ok, so go eat your final dessert or get your sugar fix. I am allowing this because you better believe I got mine last night, thats right 2 handfuls of M&Ms! Hmmm I should probably throw the rest away. Anyway today is your last day until August 6th!

I think it will be important to blog about our day to day struggles and successes. Basically I am calling a free for all on blogging this month. If you have something you want to share like a recipe or a strategy or just about your day I think it would be cool to hear about. So we can all still blog on our allotted days but also I invite Phil, Roxy, Mom and Dad and the brothers from another mother to blog whenever they feel like it.

Please report your weight (if you choose to) and intentions by the end of the day July 2, 2012!

Progress

Well, I'm making some progress into becoming a business owner. I went on a shopping spree to Ikea and then afterwards had an incredible idea to lease out an office space in the local Family Center. So I called them. They have a small room/office that is 119 sq. ft. It is in a building that the whole community is constantly going in and out of, has two full-time preschools and daycares, the play room, a park, free parking, a receptionist...the list goes on and on. So I went to see the space today...

It's currently a storage room.  It needs a little TLC and a really great layout...with a calming aesthetic...

All of the shelving things on the side wall can go.  They said it was there from a previous leasee.  

It has two windows that overlook the ramp.

There is my own phone line.

There is a receptionist there from 9-6.

There are just a few set backs.  

1. My office at home is awesome.  It looks so cool, and I just put some money into it.  It seems more inviting. But anything would be in comparison to that space right now...

2. It will cost money to lease the space.  I could just use my home for free.

Counters:

1. I could make this place pretty awesome with paint and a rug and what not.  I could just bring my awesome therapy table with me.

2. It would be awesome marketing to have my office in that building.  Parents walk by daily.  It is part of a group of organizations that focus on birth -4...My target clientele...

Thoughts?

Sadness.

No one will ever go to the opera with me.

So that is what I am doing tonight, going to the opera alone.
What's new. NOTHING.
I am always one of 3 people in the theatre sometimes the only one...

But tomorrow!
Tomorrow my roommate is coming to the great SLC.
We are going to get a preview of our new life together.
I can't wait.
It will be a good time.

I love you guys.
I bet one of you would come to the opera with me.
I hope one of you would...
Hopefully one day Charlotte and Jack and Maggie will come with me.

Rox and Phil are raising them right.
:]

You guys should all play operas for the beebs.
Have them listen to actual good people.

This is a scene from the opera im going to.
This guy is a boss.
His name is Bryn Terfel.

Well I love you again, and more.

Pants.

Funnies

Remember when we used to make Laura be the little Spartan? Yeah, that was funny. We had this whole thing memorized once upon a time. My favorite move is still the side lunge/karate chops in the middle of "The Perfect Cheer."

"Not Cute!!"

The Road Ahead and Corn : )

Like I might have mentioned in a previous post, I really don't want to live in Utah anymore! Well I have some exciting news for multiple reasons!

This December we will be moving here.

Ryan will be working for these guys.

 

and...

We will be a 2 1/2 Hour drive from these guys.

We are super excited and feel very blessed to be given this opportunity! We cant wait to start a new adventure together! 

On a culinary note... Corn on the cob is in season!!! try to kick up the flavors a notch by squeezing some fresh lime juice on top along with cilantro and Cojito Cheese!!!

It is delicious!

Love  -M-

Intentions

Sometimes a moment catches me and I can't stop thinking about it until I write it out. Other times a myriad of thoughts join into the essence of a concept that is harder to capture in words, but is just as important to me to record. I'm dealing with the latter at the moment.

I left my last post without much of a conclusion, having expressed only where I was in that moment. But there is more to it.

Again, the idea that changing my thoughts allows my state of being to change is not a new concept to me. It is, however, daunting. Eliza pointed out the same fact last week. "I liked your post." She said, with clear hesitation hanging over her statement. "But you can't just change your thoughts." She is right. In fact it is empirically proven that the more you tell yourself not to think about something, the more you will think it. But my yoga teacher was right too in that if we are miserable then our thoughts need to be different for our state of mind to be different.

I went to another yoga class the week after my mini epiphany in Hannah's class. I went thinking that I would approach it with a kinder, softer mentality toward myself and see if it was different. Sarah, my friend, and teacher, had a better idea. As she was leading into the practice, she invited us to think about why we had come that day, and encouraged us to dedicate our practice to something, or someone. Better yet she asked us to set an intention for our practice. I loved that word "intention." As she said it the thought came to me that I wanted to practice yoga that morning with the intention of showing gratitude to Heavenly Father for the body that he has given me. The class felt much like a prayer to me. I found that I wasn't changing my thoughts as much as I was consistently re-focusing them back to my intention. Instead of focusing on, or pushing away the negative, which almost always breeds more negativity, I allowed myself to recognize my straying thoughts, and turn back toward my set intention. I think I've accepted that I will always have the distracting and negative thoughts floating around in there, but I don't have to give them my attention. Of course I do, and I will, but it is that much easier to ignore them when I have set an intention for my thoughts, and given myself something helpful and good to focus on for a class, or a day, or a week. In the end it was the intention that allowed me to have a softer, kinder experience with myself, as opposed to just telling my self to be soft and kind.

It is true, if we are miserable we need to change our thoughts. It is also true that accepting our thoughts as they come, and re-focusing on an intention we have set for our thoughts allows us to hold on to the ones that are helpful, and sort out the ones that aren't.

Clearly the application of this is easier said than done. I've only gotten as far as thinking about trying to set the intention for my thoughts at the start of my day. And I guarantee I will never master it. But I feel softer, and more calm when I let myself try. Maybe that is where the victory is with this whole business of thought management. It's in the daily efforts we make to be kind to ourselves, it's in our failures to do so, and then getting back up and trying again. 

It Was A Sad Goodbye

Emmies has come and gone ( sniff sniff). It was a sad ride home from the airport. Reese was crying, I was crying and intermittently we sang Pop Goes the Weasel then cry some more. Reese has never cried like that saying goodbye to anyone before so it was really sad. It was a great week. We had so much fun! Probably what made for the sad goodbye. Reese hadn't had this much fun and attention since Henry was born. We (and by we I mean Reese and Emily) went to the pool or splash pad almost everyday. She got fun new toys and she finally got her face painted! It was especially nice for me because it was like I had one kid again and not just any aged kid but a super easy infant kid. Reese basically clung to Emily all week and I was absolutely fine with that. Reese loves her Aunties but I think because Emily has been able to come and see us so often she is especially comfortable with her. Here is a week in Pictures with our Emmies! Thanks for coming. We will sure miss being such a cheap plane ride away from you when we move. 

 Reese had snack time . . . 

 nap time . . . 

 Exercise time . . . 

 pool time . . . 

and face painting time with Emmies everyday!

Reese has been wanting to get her face painted forever. She asks me almost everyday! I have taken her every week on tuesday for the past month to get her face painted by this chic at a free event here in Atlanta and every time she gets to scared to do it. She watches face painting videos on youtube all of the time. So when Emily bought her face paints, you can imagine, the girl went crazy. For the past 3 days we all have gotten our face painted by Reese. Even just now as I laid her down for a nap she asked me if she could face paint after sleepy time. It is always on her mind. She is pretty good though don't you think?

Oh yeah this guy was here too this week!

P.S. We were busy and when we weren't busy we were tired so unfortunately we didn't get to make our Aprons for Grandma. Maybe in August!

The Voice of Laura Past

Mom called and thought it would be cute to show a snippit of what Laura thought about us sibs a short 10 years ago. She wanted so much to incorporate all our interests in the things she did, and worked hard to find her own niche. She has grown up so quickly, and done so many amazing things. Happily she found the world of Opera to claim for her own, and is bravely pursuing her dreams.

We are so proud of her!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PANTS!

My Brother and Sisters

By Pants

"My sister Emily is 25 she makes up stories for me, once she made up a song on the guitar about me. I am thankful for her because she loves me as much as my parents love me. Emily is really nice, I like her a lot, she is never mean to me. 

My brother Phil is 23; he is my only brother out of five girls. Phil also plays the guitar. I am thankful for my bother because he is very nice to me and is really fun. He plays wiffle ball with my sisters and I when he is visiting with his wife. wiffle ball is one of our favorite sports. 

My sister Abby is 21, she is a really good singer, and she has been living with me for a really long time. She is on a mission in Caracas, Venezuela. The things I am thankful about her is her love and time she has to be with me. She takes my sister Mary and I to the movies a lot. 

Eliza is 18, I am thankful she got me into playing soccer, because soccer is very important to me, she wants me to be a lot like her when I grow up. Eliza runs cross-country; she is the second best CC runner in HHS. She is also a really good singer. 

Mary is 13 and in 8^th grade, she is the second youngest, she is the only other kid that lives with me, I am thankful for her, because she is the only person I have to hang out with, even though we get is fights a lot we still love each other. All the things we have in common are good singeing voices. Good at reading and spelling, we are really good at wiffle ball and baseball. Out best talent is running cross-country, we race in the Crim and Volkslaufe runs. Half of the talents are from my dad and half from my mom."