Compassionate Service

I am the Compassionate Service Leader in my congregation's women's organization. That means I get to organize our service projects within our community. If we have a sister that had a baby, was ill or injured, then I make arrangements for meals to be brought into her family to help lighten her load. If a family is moving, we have helped them pack and clean to prepare for their move. If we have a sister who is experiencing grief, I find ways to bring her joy, such a card signed from her friends or a basket of goodies to let her know we care. If we have a funeral, I organize the meal for the family afterwards. If we have a food drive, I help organize it. All of these little things help me meet the needs of our community and bring great joy. I feel so blessed to be a part of making someone else's burden easier.

I love Impel Clothing!

I love the longer sleeves and lengths. I'm almost 6 feet tall and my daughter is already taller than I am and we need that extra length. Our Impel shirts are staples in our wardrobes. We wear them all week! If you haven't tried them yet you have to check them out. They are updating their site and coming out with a new "vintage" look. I can't wait! Check it out at www.impelclothing.com

Busy...

Time has been flying by again and I haven't had a chance to blog. Now that all my kids are in school I should have all this free time, right? Not so far. This has been a crazy first week of school and I think next week will be just as busy. There is always so much to do and only so little time. I do spread myself a little thin but I try to make sure my family is taken care of first and foremost. I have been trying to remove the clutter from our house to help make it easier to clean and keep clean but after living in this home for over 7 years we have managed to collect quite a bit. What do I do with my time? Here's an example of what my day is like:
6:15 am Wake up for family prayer and scripture study
6:30 am Make breakfast and pack lunches for girls while encouraging them to get dressed, take their vitamins/meds, brush hair, put on shoes, get their backpacks, brush teeth, etc.
7:00 am Send two oldest kids to the bus stop
7:15 am Get myself ready to walk two youngest kids to school
7:30 am Walk girls to school and then run 3-5 miles depending on the day and how much time I have.
8:00 am - 2: 45pm Here's where I have to try to accomplish as much as I can, such as: exercise (I run, cycle, lift weights, yoga and am currently learning how to play tennis), clean house (dishes, laundry, vacuum, scrub, wipe, organize, mow & weed), pay bills, buy groceries and other necessities, car repair and maintenance, doctor and dentist visits, visiting teaching appointments, blog, my church calling, cut coupons, shower & get dressed, eat lunch, prepare for dinner, work on house projects (currently I am refinishing a dresser and painting our shed)...
2:45 pm Walk to school to get youngest kids or pick them up on way home if out running errands
3:00-5:00 pm Help kids with homework and getting prepared for school the next day
5:00-6:00 pm Make dinner
6:00-8:00 pm Eat dinner and clean up afterward, get girls to brush teeth and go to bed after picking out clothes and shoes, visit with husband after he gets home from a long day at work
8:00-11:00 pm Work on any projects not finished earlier in day... depending on the day I have basketball, my daughters have church activities, PTO meetings, BYU Alumni meetings & Church calling meetings as well.
11:00 Get ready for bed and hopefully get to sleep by midnight. I love to read so sometimes I am tempted to stay up late to read a delicious book but I know I will have to pay for that the next day so I try to be careful.
I'm sure I've left things out as this was just a quick example of all the things that I do. Life as a mom is very rewarding but a lot of hard work too. I'm often amazed that my mom did it with 8 kids. I am busy, but it's worth it. I love my life and my family. I thank my Father in Heaven for the opportunities to serve Him and for all the blessings he has given me. If only he would give me the blessing of being able to slow down time just a little bit. Just until my girls are grown. :)

Super Heroes

Girls Camp is coming up soon. I'm helping out as the High Adventure leader. I love Girls Camp and camping in general. I enjoy roughing it in the great outdoors because it helps remind me how good I have it the rest of the time. I also really appreciate the beautiful world that God created and camping gives me a wonderful opportunity to do so up close and personal.
The theme for camp this year is Super Heroes. Each of the leaders has to come up with a superhero identity. Wonder Woman was my first thought- she was my favorite super hero while growing up. I loved her invisible plane and lasso of truth! It was taken already, so I had to keep looking. I think I'm going to go with the Pink Panther. I like it for a few reasons: 1. Pink is my signature color. 2. I like to run- panthers are symbols of quick runners. 3. The Pink Panther is humorous and I love to laugh. 4. The Pink Panther is stylish & adventurous and so am I, if I do say so myself.
I went out hiking last week with a group of the camp leaders at the park where we will have camp this year to get to know the lay of the land. It was so nice to get together with these ladies and talk while we walked over rocks and roots. These ladies ARE superheroes to me. They are great examples of righteous women who let their light shine and serve the Lord without complaint. I can't wait for camp- it promises lots of fun for the Pink Panther and her cohorts.

Race for the Cure

This is my second time running in the Komen Race for the Cure for breast cancer research. My friend Emily and I joined thousands of other runners at Meredith College in Raleigh. It was a beautiful but hot and humid morning. We had a great time and loved all the goodies for runners afterwards! We decided to do it again next year. Want to join us? Let me know- the more the merrier!

5k Success!

The Lengthen Your Stride 5K was a success! We had beautiful weather for our first run and over 1,000 people participated! We collected over $2,000 and 5,550 lbs. of food for the NC Food Bank. We donated over 300 bags & boxes of clothes to North Raleigh Ministries and 50 boxes of clothes to LifeCare Pregnancy center. We also have 2 XL bags of long sleeve shirts for migrant farm workers to help protect them from pesticides and we gathered 2 boxes of used grocery bags for a local elementary school fundraiser.

All that hard work paid off and I'm so excited that we will do it again next year!

Public Affairs

I recently joined the North America Southeast area public affairs team for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Someone asked me what that meant and why it was needed. I read this article today that I think answers that question very well. Click here to read what Elder L. Tom Perry said last week at Women's Week at BYU.