In the background

16 November 2017, 10:16 pm by Giggles
Categories: Life

When I was in upper elementary school or just starting junior high, I can’t remember what year exactly, I entered a photo of our puppy running towards me in our backyard in the county fair. He was an adorable puppy and the photo caught him mid leap. It was a great photo. And after the judging I got the feedback “Pay attention to what’s in the background.” Which stung. The background was our patio and had a few patio things on it but even now I don’t think it detracted from the photo at all. And it’s not like I could tell the puppy to run at me from a different direction so I could compose the shot differently. I’m still slightly bitter about that judge. I have similar feelings for a judge in the Utah County fair about ten years ago who told me a close-up photo of water splashing in a fountain needed more details.

However…

I pay a lot more attention to what’s in the background of my photos now. In fact, not wanting to step on toys and not wanting cluttered backgrounds in the photos I take (because I take a lot every day) are the main reasons why I try to keep a tidy house.

A less chaotic background also keeps my brain from getting too chaotic as well.

I rarely scrub the baseboards and dusting doesn’t happen all that often either. But I try to keep things in their place and horizontal surfaces as clean and organized as I can as well. We’ve had some small home repair things happening the last two weeks so several boxes from the garage are in our living room and our coat closet has had to be completely emptied for over a month now with those contents in the living room as well. It’s been a bit much for me. But today I vacuumed and swept all the floors and just getting that done made me feel a lot better about our currently overly cluttered living room.

The background isn’t the focal point for anything, but it can make a difference to what is.

2 Shared thoughts

Iddo

15 November 2017, 9:50 am by Giggles
Categories: Family, Happy Things

I love our little Iddo. It’s hard to believe how big she is already.

She loves to cuddle up to me in the morning when she first wakes up. She loves to take care of her baby brother. She loves to play with her sister. She loves to run with her little brother.

She loves coloring and singing and making new friends.

She loves to do whatever it is I’m doing. If I’m sewing she’s standing next to me or on my lap helping. If I’m doing laundry she needs to be putting the clothes in the washer or drier. If I’m cooking she needs to be adding ingredients. If I’m taking care of a baby she needs to be taking care of her baby. If I’m running she wants to be on her bike to go with me and she’s excited to do her second race next month (although she really wishes she could use her previous race bib for this one, as 367 is HER race number).

She’s ambidextrous and it’s a lot of fun to watch her switch back and forth between her hands while she’s eating, coloring, writing, etc. She’s equally good with both hands too only her name is backwards if she writes it with her right hand.

She’s amazing and there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t feel the overwhelming responsibility it is to be her mom and the overwhelming love that goes along with that.

2 Shared thoughts

My world

14 November 2017, 9:07 pm by Giggles
Categories: Family, Gospel, Happy Things, Relationships

When I was teaching college we had an assignment when we talked about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs that asked the students to list everything they did one day and where on Maslow’s hierarchy it fell. The majority of the students did great. But most semesters we’d have a few students who seriously underestimated what self-actualization and transcendence were and tried to tell us that catching up on sports scores, or taking a shower, or packing their bag for school were self-actualizing moments. I’m still not sure how finding out how your sports team did in the game the night before connects you to the greater universe.

I’ve had moments of transcendence though. Finishing my marathons and moments during the half-marathon earlier this year were brief moments of transcendence, followed, particularly after the marathons, by lots of moments of physical needs related to muscle pain.

Eight years ago today I had a transcendent day. I was connected to my parents, my ancestors, and my descendants. I was connected to God and the universe. I touched the eternal. It was the day that Brett and I got married. Looking at the photos takes me back to that day and those feelings.

Giving birth to our children was also an experience with transcendence. I touched the eternal in a different way. The veil between mortal and immortal was very thin. They were moments of intense power and fulfillment. Pain yes, but that ranked down on the scale of feelings really.

For our anniversary every year we dance to the song we danced to the night of our wedding. Tonight as we danced Brett held Izri in his arms, Shimei took turns holding each of our legs and I held the girls’ hands as they danced around us. It was a moment of joy. It’s amazing what has happened in the last 8 years. And it will continue into eternity.

I love this photo we took earlier this year when we took the kids to pick apples. This photo contains my world, my reason for everything.

My world

Thank you, Brett, for making my dreams come true.

4 Shared thoughts

Watching you

13 November 2017, 10:56 pm by Giggles
Categories: Family, Life

This evening I was opening a box of laundry detergent so I could wash the diapers. Shimei was highly interested in the whole process and standing there the whole time. We had the following exchange:

Shimei: What you doin’?
Me: Opening this box. What are you doing?
Shimei: Um… Watching you.

And he is. They all are. They watch everything I do.

Brett knows exactly what I say during the day because it’s what they say. You can see exactly how I treat them because it’s how they treat each other. For good or for bad, they are watching everything I do. I try to keep that always in mind because I know I will see my reflection in what they do and I want it to be a good one.

3 Shared thoughts

What’s Your Origin Story?

12 November 2017, 10:27 pm by Giggles
Categories: Family, Gospel, Musings

Today I taught Gospel Doctrine about “Finding Joy in Temple and Family History Work.” As I thought about it in preparation though I realized it was in part a lesson about what our origin stories are and the importance of knowing those stories. There are days I like to think of myself as a super hero, and every super hero has an origin story, so what’s mine?

To know my origin story I need to know who I am and where I came from. That means I need to know my family stories, where they lived, what they did, who they were. Because all of that makes me who I am today.

It also means I need to record my own life and stories so that my children and future generations will all know their origin stories as well. This quote in particular stood out to me about the importance of recording our stories, both the big and the small ones.

Not one of my children has any recollection of my grandparents. If I want my children and grandchildren to know those who still live in my memory, then I must build the bridge between them. I alone am the link to the generations that stand on either side of me. It is my responsibility to knit their hearts together through love and respect, even though they may never have known each other personally. My grandchildren will have no knowledge of their family’s history if I do nothing to preserve it for them. That which I do not in some way record will be lost at my death, and that which I do not pass on to my posterity, they will never have. The work of gathering and sharing eternal family keepsakes is a personal responsibility. It cannot be passed off or given to another.
– Elder Dennis B. Neuenschwander, “Bridges and Eternal Keepsakes,” General Conference, April 1999.

Knowing our stories isn’t enough though. If we only know who our ancestors are but do nothing to connect them to us by going to the temple and having the sealing ordinances performed then we have not tapped in to the full power of family history work. Going to the temple, specifically for our ancestors, is where we can get super powers.

And we ask thee, Holy Father, that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and that thy name may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, and thine angels have charge over them;
Docrtine & Covenants 109:22

As we help our ancestors on the other side of the veil they are then in turn the angels who help and guide us here on this side. And we could all do with some more heavenly help in our lives.

Do you know your origin story? What story are you writing (literally, make sure you record it) for the generations to come?

7 Shared thoughts

I love to see the temple

11 November 2017, 10:54 pm by Giggles
Categories: Family, Gospel, With the Kiddos

By the time our kids were born we’d created the habit of sitting down each month and figuring out what weekend we’d be going to the temple that month. So we just kept doing it. For the first six months after our kids are born that meant driving to Mesa (2 hours), and then I’d hang out in the visitor’s center with the kids and nurse those that needed nursing while Brett went in to serve for an hour and then we’d switch and he’d hang out in the visitor’s center with the kids (but not nurse them) while I went in to serve for an hour. After the first six months when I was more comfortable leaving them with people we had some dear friends who lived just a couple miles from the temple and they’d watch our kids while we went and served together for an hour till they were 1-year-old and then I was confident to leave them for the two it would take to do a whole session. Then we’d get the kids and take them to visit the temple for a few minutes, get dinner and Krispy Kremes, and drive the two hours home. It took all day.

In August the Tucson temple was dedicated and I was actually worried about how having a temple that close was going to complicate things. The temple is still 45 minutes from our house, so it’s still a long time away from the kids between the drive and the service, longer than I’m comfortable leaving a nursing baby for. And we still wanted to take the kids to visit the temple every month as well so they can continue to feel that. But we don’t have a babysitter near the temple to help us out any more. I spent several weeks trying to work out the logistics of how it would work. And it was with great relief that I finally figured out a solution for at least the first several months.

Now, once a month, Brett gets the kids up on Saturday morning and gets them breakfast (he does that every morning anyway). And then he leaves for the temple while I clean up breakfast and get the kids dressed. About the time Brett arrives at the temple I load the kids into the car and we all head up to the temple too. We get there about the time Brett finishes and he comes out and the kids play in the fountain for a few minutes while I nurse Izri. Then we take the kids into the foyer for a few minutes. They remind us they need to be quiet so people can hear the Spirit. And then we load them back into the car and Brett drives them home via Krispy Kreme and Taco Bell while I go in and serve and then follow them home.

We really aren’t saving any on gas this way. It takes us 4 hours to get everyone there and back, and that’s just with us serving for an hour each in the temple. But we all get to go still. Our kids still look forward with excitement for temple day every month. And for me, that makes it totally worth it.

I love to see the temple

2 Shared thoughts

Running Momma

10 November 2017, 8:03 pm by Giggles
Categories: Exercise, With the Kiddos

I love to run. I’ve been running almost my whole life. Sometimes more than others. Sometimes more consistently than others. But everything goes better when I’m able to run semi-regularly.

Izri is only 4.5 months old but I’ve already started running again. Considering I ran till I was 28 weeks pregnant with him, it isn’t surprising I’m getting back to it sooner with him than with the others. He still isn’t consistent enough with when he wakes up at night for me to go in the morning before the kids are up, so that leaves going when Brett gets home from work in the evening. Which means kids want to come with me.

Yesterday I went out for 2.5 miles. I pushed Shimri and Shimei in the double jogging stroller the whole way. And for the first time Iddo paced me on her bike. She did great and went 1.25 miles before she decided that since we were going past the house anyway that she’d stop. I ran loops around the house in case that happened. Next time she’ll probably go further. I was so proud of her.

My kids are my favorite running partners. Between pushing the stroller and answering their questions the whole time they definitely stretch my physical limits. And every now and then they think I’m actually going fast too.

3 Shared thoughts