In case anyone was wondering...

Working out to "30 Day Shred" only a few months after having a baby is completely different than working out to the same video 4 years after said baby.  Even though my workouts have been few and far between - it wasn't as hard as I remember.

I feel like I'm starting to come out of some kind of haze that I didn't really know I was in.  In some ways I feel like I had PTSD from all of the moving (3 times in 7 months).  But, now that I'm feeling settled I'm starting to regroup a bit.  And, I am no longer saving boxes.

I feel like writing more (see above).  Again.  I don't think I'll do the write every day like before, but I'm going to try and write more often.

I'm feeling the need to learn something new.  I think I might take voice lessons.

My family is growing up.  And I have to remind myself that I am at the peak of everything right now.  Peak laundry, peak eating (actually I think we've got room to grow here), peak grocery shopping, peak noise, etc.  My oldest will leave for college in less than 6 months.  I have a feeling that once she goes, time will speed up exponentially.

I'm currently on the "no treats" diet again.  Except this time, I'm allowing myself to eat treats on the holidays.  I want to enjoy all the pies I'm making for Thanksgiving. (Christmas lasts the entire month of December, right?)

Sometime, I'm going to post the list of all the crazy things that are said in my house.  Here's an example:  "Don't cut your ham with your elbow!"  We have a lot of those.

Also, I'm not posting this link to Facebook like I sometimes do.  I think that's the only time people read my blog and I don't feel like sharing so much this time.

Choice

Life has been crazy and chaotic.

Which equals to me being crazy and chaotic.

I finally realized the other day, that I have a choice.

I can choose to let what is going on in my life define me.

Or I can choose peace.



Just because life is full of stressors doesn't mean that I have to be stressed.  

I can choose.

In fact, for an entire day I kept repeating to myself:  It's a choice.

I can choose how to react to this stress.



Life will never be nice and easy; there will always be something to stress about.

But, I can recognize the stress and still seek for the peace that I really want.

It's a choice.  

Every day.

Every minute.


I choose peace.

Running Hills (part 3)

It seems like I've been running hills for a long time now. 

All the places I have lived for the past three years have been surrounded by hills. 

And any kind of running, meant going up a hill.


I realized as I was running a hill yesterday that the home we are in the process of buying is surrounded by farms; flat land.

There won't be any hills that I have to run up.

And I thought, "What am I going to do to feel like I'm pushing myself if there aren't any hills?"


I'm going to have to seek out other ways to improve myself. 

Maybe it will mean going faster. 

Maybe going longer distances. 

Maybe I'll have to look for hills to run, instead of them just being there.


I think there will always be times in my life when there are hills that I can't avoid. 

Challenges that I must face even if I don't want to.

And then there will be times when everything is just flat. 

 
It's those times that I need to find other ways to push myself harder.

Maybe that means giving more service. 

Studying my scriptures harder. 

Praying more fervently.

Or looking for hills.

 
The important thing for me is to not lose any of the ground that I have gained while running "my hills." 

I want to use what I have already gained to push me farther.

I want to keep running.
 

Lessons Learned

I feel like I am in a familiar situation.

A waiting one.

Except this time instead of waiting on a job,  I am waiting on finding a place to live.


My first thought was, "I guess I haven't learned what I was supposed to last time!"

But then I realized I wanted to look at it in a more positive way. 

So instead I asked, "What did I already learn from the last time this happened?"


I learned that it all works out eventually.

I learned that God is very aware of me and my concerns.

I learned that "calmness" is the way the Spirit speaks to me.

I learned that no matter how much I want things a certain way, I know that the Lord knows what is really best.  


Recognizing what I have learned from the past is helping me get through this time.

I think that's why the scriptures talk so much about remembering.  

The Lord wants me to remember the lessons I have already learned.


It's not about being stuck in the same situation over and over again. 

It's about using the lessons I have already learned and adding to them each time.

Perfect World

It seems like I have lived a hundred different lives.

And I have friends from all of these times.

Some of these friends I still keep in touch with; but not that well.

And some of the people may not even know how much I like them and miss them.

It would be perfect to live in a neighborhood with all of the friends that I have ever made.

But, there are so many people that the neighborhood would probably end up being a city.

And I guess I would like my family to live close.

You know, just outside the red zone.  (That's what my husband calls the area that is too close to family.)

So, I guess I'd really need a county or two.

But, I really love meeting new people, and I'm sure I'm not done making friends, so there would have to be room to grow.

And I do want my kids to eventually grow up and move out on their own.

So, maybe it's really my own state that I need.

And, since I like taking road trips with the family, I'd really need a country to drive across.

The problem is that someday I would love to learn to speak another language fluently.

I think the best way to do that is to visit other countries.

Welcome to my perfect world.


Won't you be my neighbor?

Fitting In

Even though I may "live in the moment" there still have been times when I've moved that I've felt like I just didn't fit in.

In fact, one move I spent almost an entire year feeling that there was no one else around in just the same situation as me and therefore, I was all alone.

But here's the thing about fitting in: it's better not to think of it as a puzzle piece trying to fit into that one exact spot in the puzzle.

Think of it more like a piece of clothing that can really go with any outfit.

Or better yet, some kind of fruit to go into a fruit salad.

The fruit salad of life!

We already "fit in"; its just up to us to put ourselves in.

And most likely, we'll end up being that fruit that someone else has been waiting for to complete their salad.

So, what fruit are you?