Sisters

I have been thinking about my sisters lately. It started because I was thinking about a little thought I had put on a panel of pictures of my girls. It says "having a sister means you always have a friend". For me that is so true. I love my sisters, we are each so different, but also the same since we grew up together. I love that I get to spend time with Tiffanie all the time, and that after years of fighting when we lived together, that now we have so much in common. I miss Tori she is fun and talented, and I just don't get to talk with her enough.

I also am so blessed to have six awesome sisters-in-law, that really I consider sisters. The four of us Shipley sisters have married these five brothers. They are loud, and obnoxious but there must be something to them because they have married awesome women. Melanie, as the only daughter is the glue that keeps the family together, how she turned out so sweet with these brothers is a mystery. And then there is Liz, the saint that married my brother. I always thought that it would take a strong woman to marry Jared and fit in with my sisters and I since we are all so close in age and Liz fits that to a "T".

Then there are my friends that are sisters. The women that I serve and have served with in Primary are a constant inspiration to me. I also have some great neighbors that I know I can count on for anything and I love them.

I know this is super sappy, but it has been on my mind and wanted to let these women that really matter to me know that they really matter to me.

Jane Eyre

I finished Jane Eyre yesterday. I think it could go on my favorite books list! Jane has a terribly hard life, so when she finds love I was so excited, and then it turns out that he is already married. I got so caught up in the love story that I was thinking it would be ok for Jane to be his mistress, his wife is mad, and he was tricked into marrying her, everyone would understand. Then Jane says " Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation: they are for moments as this..." that line pulled me back to reality and I realized I wasn't just reading a nice story, but a classic. I loved that Jane did the right thing for the right reason. How often are we confronted with situations, and we rationalize our choices, instead of following our own principles? Jane didn't do what was easy or would be approved by society, she did what was hard, because it was right. I loved this book, there is so much to learn from this story!

Great Weekend!

I had a great weekend, so great that its taken me until Tuesday to write about it. On Friday Darren and I celebrated our 12th anniversary. For fun we went shopping for lawn chairs, specifically Adirondack chairs. I am so excited about our newly fenced back yard that I think I need to create a spot to sit back and enjoy. We also went to dinner at my new favorite steakhouse; Texas Roadhouse-yum.

Saturday was our annual Easter egg treasure hunt. When I was young my family and I used to go to Richfield, and go on a big treasure hunt through the mountains, then after a dinner of marinated Turkey we would hike a huge, steep hill and roll eggs. Some people, usually the uncles and older male cousins would be at the bottom of the hill and throw the eggs back up at you and you kept rolling the eggs until there was nothing left to roll. This year we tried to recreate this experience in Eagle Mountain. I had a perfect spot picked, but in true Utah form someone was already there shooting, so we had to pick a different spot. This is what our hill ended up looking like. More of a hill of dirt, than a huge, steep mountain, but still lots of Fun!

On Sunday, we had an Easter devotional out of the Family Home Evening Manual. We had the traditional pose in your Easter Dress on the porch pictures, and Mike and Tiff and Carter came over for dinner. It was a great Easter!

Treadmill reflections

Yesterday I had to get a new key to my gym, and I talked to the owner about taking a group of people to run around the hills in Eagle Mountain. After I left I thought "What have I gotten myself into?" But as I have thought about it more I thought; maybe I shouldn't find some way to back out, maybe it would be fun. Maybe this whole thing is supposed to be fun. Maybe I'm not supposed to be so obsessed with the scale and maybe all this exercise is great because its fun and I like it, and it gives me time to myself to think and get ready for my day. If that were really the point then I don't need validation in any other way. I get so frustrated when I feel that I've worked so hard and the scale doesn't budge, and I feel guilty that I leave my kids every morning. So I have to believe that this about more than loosing weight. I also like the thought that I will be healthier as I get older.

This is what runs through my head as I run/walk/elliptical, whatever. Oh, and Fall Out Boy is fun to workout to so is the soundtrack to Wicked.

Happiness is....

New idea books! Look how pretty and fun they all look together. These came today! I was giddy when I opened the box! There are basically two things I do when I'm stressed 1. eat 2. shop. These books are the result of frustration I felt on Saturday.

I was reading a little of Real.Life.Scrapbooking and found a layout about the author's wedding day, she was remembering how her cheeks hurt from smiling so much. I almost started to cry as I remembered that same feeling from my wedding day. Darren and I will celebrate our 12th anniversary in a couple of weeks, and I think its great that after twelve years I can still get emotional when I think about how I felt the day I married him. Yes, way sappy, but thats my mood today.

So, Happiness came in a box, but led me to realizing where I find true happiness.

I am emotional eater

I've tried to deny it, I like thinking that I am in control. I eat when I'm stressed, tired, bored, worried, angry, actually any emotion could send me to the fridge, pantry, storage room, any where I keep (hide) food.

So, in the spirit of "Keep moving Forward" I am going to be looking for other ways to deal with stress. I just wonder who actually thinks "I can't take it anymore, forget the M&Ms I'm going for a walk." I find myself thinking "I can't take it anymore, where are the M&Ms? Oh, yeah I don't buy those because I will eat too many, let's see what else I can find. I could go for a walk, but that would mean putting on different shoes that don't really go with this outfit. Plus, I already worked out today so its ok to eat this (fill in the blank)." Anyway I am really going to try. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over again expecting a different result. I want a different result so I need to do something different. Now that I've put it out there I'll be more likely to follow through (see how I used a positive statement-winning outcome)

If you really want a laugh today check out my brother's blog. The "One semester Spanish, Spanish love song" its hilarious.

This is Sarah

My very independant 5 year old. She was playing with the condiments in the fridge, lining them up and making them come alive.

She opened the syrup this morning by ripping the lid off, rather than just flipping it open. She had to do it herself. You'll notice that she is drinking hot chocolate, I didn't take a picture of the tupperware lid that she melted on the stove while she warmed up the water herslef. Good thing we just invested in fancy smoke detectors.

She needed a bag to put her strawberries in after her jobs were done, and since the old box was empty she opened the new box herself.

Here she is in her fashonista glory. The rule is; if we aren't going anywhere whatever she chooses is great. Some things just aren't worth the fight.

I have to admit, life without Sarah would be a little dull, she keeps us laughing. She said during our job meeting this morining "that these stinky jobs are freaking me out!" That's our Sarah.

Now I'm Cool!

So, I'm last person I know (well, almost) to start a blog. I chose the title Keep Moving Forward because that is my new mantra. Yes, its taken from Disney's Meet the Robinson's but that makes it even more cool. That inspiration comes from a children's movie, that sometimes movies made for children can be inspiring.