6 Years With My Best Friend

Six years ago today I married my best friend. And good news -we’re still best friends! 🙂 Life has definitely not turned out the way I thought it would back then. I thought by six years of marriage we’d have at least three kids with at least three more to go. And for some people, dealing with infertility can really take a toll on their marriage. That hasn’t happened for us. In fact, I think our marriage is actually stronger because of the things we’ve gone through together. We communicate really well with each other and I feel like I can talk to Devan about anything.

And now we’re starting a new journey together. We’re currently taking foster care training classes and we’re hoping to foster-to-adopt. Adoption has always been something I’ve considered but foster care has always been scary because you know you may only have the kids for a short time and I knew that would be heart-breaking and I just didn’t want to deal with that. It’s amazing how our perspective has changed while going through the training classes. It’s no longer about us and our desires to have a permanent family -it’s about the children and their need and right to have a safe, loving place to live while their birth parents get some things taken care of. And in the situations where the child or children can’t go back to their birth parents, we’d love to be able to provide them with a permanent home.

We know there will be many challenges and lots of heartbreak along the way but we feel really good about this. We really feel that this is the path our Heavenly Father wants us to take right now so unless we don’t get approved for some reason or something drastic happens in our lives that would change our course, this is what we’ll be doing. And we’re really excited about it. We’re also scared and nervous but mostly excited. 🙂 We can’t wait to see what happens in this new chapter of our lives.

Have You Ever Felt Judged or Been Accused of Judging Others?

Tags

judging, judgment, mental-health

She’s just been judged. 😉

Have you ever felt judged or been accused of judging someone? I’m pretty sure we all have –especially with social media these days. With social media people can say whatever they want and it can reach a huge audience and because they have the computer as their shield, they say things in a way that they would never say in person. If you have one opinion and you see a friend’s status talking about how idiotic people are who think that way, you feel hurt and judged. And because things like that are so common, you even feel judged when you read someone’s well thought out and kindly worded post about a differing opinion. But I suggest to you that you are not being judged as often as you think and even when you are being judged, it doesn’t really matter.

Now I am not saying that real judgment isn’t out there and that it can’t lead to other, more serious problems. Judging that leads to bullying, and shunning others, and rumors, and other types of mistreatment is awful and sad and we should stop doing that. But I’m not talking about that kind of judgment. I’m just talking about judgment or perceived judgment that is just an opinion and hasn’t led to other types of mistreatment. So please don’t think that I’m downplaying bullying or anything like that –I see it as a separate issue. 🙂

(Before I move on with the rest of my post I’m going to warn you that it is quite long. If you aren’t willing to read the whole thing, please stop now. I’d rather you not read any of it than read part of it and come to the wrong conclusions. You kind of have to read the whole thing to get what I’m really saying. But, if you’re interested and have time to read a long post, please read on. :))

Everyone makes judgment calls on a daily basis for themselves and possibly for their family as well. Some of the judgment calls I’ve made are as follows: infidelity is bad, sex before marriage is bad, profanity is bad, drinking and smoking is bad, eating processed foods and refined sugars is bad, laziness is bad, using skin care products that are full of chemicals is bad, following the teachings of Christ is good, attending church meetings regularly is good, spending quality time with family is good, and the list goes on and on. Some of you probably felt judged as you read that list but I promise that I’m not judging you. And some of you probably judged me as you read that list but I don’t care. 🙂 And I’m not even saying that I’ve never done or never do any of those things that I’ve decided are bad or that I always do those things that I’ve decided are good. Some of them are fairly recent decisions and even after I make a decision to live my life a certain way, sometimes I still don’t.

I believe that most people are good. Most people love others and want to be loved. Most people want what is best for themselves and their family and others. Most people want to be kind to others and want others to be kind to them. Most people try to live the best life that they can with the knowledge and resources that they have. But no one is perfect. We all mess up. If you look at all the little things –there are times when I don’t want to be good, when I don’t love others, when I don’t want what is best for someone else, and when I choose to do something even though I know that I shouldn’t, and I’m pretty sure most people are the same. But when you look at the big picture, I’m good and so are you and that’s what we need to remember. 🙂

When we make judgment calls and decisions like the things I listed above, we generally make those calls based on life experiences that we’ve had and information that we’ve learned and feelings that we’ve felt.  For many of us, these judgment calls or opinions can change over time. For example, in the past I’ve loved my processed foods and thought that people who go to great lengths to eat natural, healthy food are acting a bit ridiculous and as a result, are missing out on many of the joys of life. Now I avoid processed foods as much as possible and even do crazy things like make my own mayo, chocolate chips, etc… using ingredients that I know and trust and I believe that eating those chemical laden, processed foods would be mistreating the body that God has given me.

Now you might be thinking that both of those sentences sound quite judgmental but they don’t have to be. Just because I think that a specific action is ridiculous or bad or disrespectful to God doesn’t mean that I think a person doing that is ridiculous or bad or disrespectful. Back in my processed food days I don’t think I was bad or acting out of disrespect for God. I was making decisions based on my life experiences and the knowledge that I had. I ate processed foods because they tasted good and were quick and easy and that’s what my friends ate too and I didn’t think they affected my health that much. Now that I’m avoiding processed foods, it’s not because I’m ridiculous, and I don’t think I’m missing out on the joys of life either –I actually enjoy cooking from scratch and eating healthy food. I’ve made that decision because I discovered that those bad foods were affecting my health quite a lot and I’ve done a lot of research on nutrition and natural living and with the information that I now have, I try to eat things that nourish my body and help heal all the problems that my body has. I’m trying to respect the wonderful body that I’ve been given and give it the nourishment that it needs using plants and animals that I believe God put on the earth for that very reason. And my opinion may change again someday. Who knows?

I believe that others make their decisions the same way. They may be doing something that I consider to be wrong or silly or rude or whatever else, but when I say that those things are wrong or silly or rude I am basing that off of my own experience and knowledge –if I were to do the exact same thing with the mindset that I currently have, then it would be wrong or silly or rude. However, I assume that the person doing those things has a completely different mindset because of different life experiences and knowledge and that they aren’t doing it with a bad intent at all. Maybe they are trying to be rude or ridiculous or disrespectful, but it’s not up to me to decide. I’m going to assume that they are making what they believe to be the best decision for them at the time.

And when someone states an opinion that is contrary to mine, I’m not going to assume they are judging me because I am living contrary to what they believe. Maybe they are judging me but I don’t know what’s in their head so I can’t assume that they are. And if I do assume that they’re judging me and they’re really not, who does that affect? I will have negative feelings towards them and possibly towards myself as well and they’ll be completely oblivious to it all and as happy as can be! I’d rather be the happy one. 🙂

Of course I’m not saying that I never feel judged or that I never judge others. Sometimes I say, do, or feel things before I really think about it. But as I make more of an effort to have the attitude that I’ve described above, I’m a much happier person and I have a much better opinion of those around me. 🙂 I like it and if you’ve never thought about things this way, I hope you’ll give it a try and see if it improves your life and your outlook on life as well. And if not, that’s okay too. I won’t judge you and I’ll assume you’re not judging me. 🙂

Putting My Homemade Deodorant to the Test

Tags

aluminum free deodorants, coconut oil deodorant, deodorant, homemade deodorant, zinc oxide, zinc oxide deodorant

Some of you may not know this yet, but I’m really weird. 🙂 My youngest sister Jessica is a senior in high school and she says she has a hard time explaining me to her friends. I tell her she can use the term “weirdly awesome” and leave it at that, but she likes to give a bit more of an explanation. She sums it up like this –“she makes her own toothpaste!” Well, I not only make my own toothpaste, but I also make my own lotion, hand wash/body wash, shampoo and conditioner, etc… And it’s not just skin care products, I also make my own sauces and dressings and mayo and things like that for cooking. I do all of this for health reasons and it turns out that it’s actually a lot of fun and it saves me money. 🙂

As far as skincare products go, I had thrown away pretty much all of my store bought products that are full of chemicals and preservatives and switched over to homemade, but there was one item I hadn’t been able to let go of quite yet –my deodorant. I had tried several brands of natural, aluminum free deodorants from the store a few years ago and none of them worked for me at all. My choices seemed to be to go around with body odor or to go back to my old brand of regular deodorant. I chose the regular deodorant because, not only did I not want to offend others with my stench, I didn’t want to offend my own nose either. Back then I didn’t even know it was possible to make my own stuff so I didn’t even consider that as an option.

Ever since I started making my own products I’ve had deodorant in the back of my mind but was always nervous to attempt making my own. A few weeks ago I finally decided to attempt it and I was definitely not pleased with the results. The deodorant may have been ok if I applied several times a day but who has time for that? So I did some more research and came to the conclusion that zinc oxide powder (I had to order it online) is the key ingredient for an effective deodorant.

Zinc oxide powder is used in natural diaper rash creams and in natural sunblock. Why would I use it for deodorant? First of all, please remember that I’m not a scientist so I may not explain everything right but this is my understanding of it all. Also, it’s important to note that I wasn’t trying to make an antiperspirant deodorant –just a deodorant. Sweat is a natural and healthy thing for our bodies. And the sweat isn’t what causes the smell –it’s the sweat mixing with bacteria as the sweat decomposes. Zinc oxide supposedly reacts with the short fatty acids that are responsible for the smell by converting them into odorless zinc salts and it is antibacterial so it inhibits bacteria growth. I also used coconut oil (smells great and is antimicrobial), arrowroot powder (to thicken and to help absorb moisture from sweat), cypress essential oil (smells great and has a bit of an antiperspirant effect without blocking sweat completely), and lavender essential oil (smells great and is antibacterial).

Most of the deodorant recipes I found using zinc oxide powder were a spray deodorant, which I didn’t want. So I decided to attempt my own cream deodorant. I softened some coconut oil and stirred in the zinc oxide, arrowroot powder, and essential oils. It was a nice, white cream. But by the next morning it was completely hard because my house is so cold! The melting point of coconut oil is 76° F and my basement (which is where I’m living now) is probably around 60° right now. So I had to melt down the deodorant again and pour it into an old, cleaned out deodorant container and let it harden. Now I can use it just like regular deodorant. And if it gets too warm and soft in the summer time then I can either store it in the fridge or use it as a cream like I had originally intended. 🙂

So, did my second experiment work? Well, I used it for a few days and it seemed to be working great. Yesterday I really put it to the test and was super pleased with the results. I didn’t shower yesterday, and if I’m being completely honest I hadn’t showered the day before either. I know, I know –that’s disgusting but it happens sometimes. I did wash my armpits and put on deodorant in the morning though, which worked great. And then last night I played basketball. I hadn’t played in years and it was definitely more of a workout than I remembered –I was sweating like crazy. But guess what? I smelled my pits and they did not stink at all and I didn’t even reapply before playing!!! After two days of no showering and a strenuous workout I can definitely say that I’ll be sticking to this recipe. 🙂 Here it is if you’re interested.

Treasa’s Homemade Deodorant

1/3 c. extra virgin coconut oil

4 T. arrowroot powder

2 T. zinc oxide powder

15 drops doTerra Cypress essential oil

10 drops doTerra Lavender essential oil

Soften your coconut oil and whisk in the arrowroot powder, zinc oxide powder, and essential oils. For the essential oils you can use more or less depending on scent preference and you can also use other oils if you want. I really like these though. 🙂 If your house is cool, pour your cream into an old, cleaned out deodorant container and put in the freezer for a bit until it hardens. If your house is warm, pour into a clean jar and use it like a cream. This works best when applied to a clean underarm so if you’re gross like me and don’t shower that morning, at least wipe down your pits. Hopefully this works as well for you as it does for me! 🙂

“…My Soul Delighteth in the Things of the Lord”

This year I made a few New Year Resolutions –a spiritual goal, a physical goal, a household goal, and a financial goal. Last month my main focus was supposed to be my spiritual goal –to read my scriptures and say my prayers everyday –but I was far from successful. This month I decided to try again but so far I haven’t been doing too well –until last night.

Last night my ward had a Relief Society activity at the church that was all about the scriptures. We had a seminary teacher and his wife come and play a scripture chase game with us and then we compared studying the scriptures with scuba diving (there are so many treasures to be found if you take the time to dig in deep and you look carefully and patiently for the treasures) and learned some tips to help us get more out of our studying. I had heard all of it before and yet somehow I had forgotten it all.

I had been going about this all wrong. I was viewing daily scripture study as a chore –something that I really needed to do but if I was tired or busy or just plain lazy I’d put it off or forget about it and when I did get around to reading, I would just quickly read a chapter and didn’t get much out of it. It was boring and tedious. The activity was a reminder of how I used to feel about the scriptures. When I was serving my mission in Japan I loved studying the scriptures! It was something I looked forward to each day. It’s not a chore, it’s a privilege. We are so blessed to have access to the word of God –I have the books of scriptures at my house, I have them on my computer, and even on my iPhone and Kindle. I can read them, I can listen to them, I can highlight scriptures and take notes. I can read them in the order they’re written, I can study by topic using the Topical Guide and other study helps. I have 24-7 access to the word of God and I’ve been largely ignoring it.

At the activity they challenged us to read the scriptures for 7 minutes a day, 7 days a week for 7 weeks so that we can develop a habit of scripture study. However, I decided that I need a bit more than 7 minutes if I’m really going to enjoy it. I have committed to waking up early every morning and studying for half an hour. I pray before reading so I can have the Spirit with me to enlighten my understanding and then I read a chapter in the order they’re written –this morning I started at the beginning of the Book of Mormon again –and I take notes on the computer about what I learned or, at the very least, I summarize what I read. I spend the rest of the time studying a topic. Right now I have decided to study the topic of diligence using Preach My Gospel as a guide. I look up scriptures on diligence, ponder them, and write in my notes what they mean to me.

Today was the first day of doing this and I really enjoyed it! It was super hard to get up and those of you who know me might be thinking there’s no way I’ll be able to continue this for long –not in the morning. But I am optimistic. This time is different because I have the Lord’s help. I know that He wants me to study the scriptures and I now have a strong desire to do so. I know that the Lord can bless me with the energy I need to get up early and make it through the day afterwards and I’m going to be praying every night and morning for His help so I can continue doing this.

In the years since my mission I have slowly moved farther away from where I would like to be spiritually. It’s not that I’m doing anything bad or that I’ve lost my testimony, I just haven’t kept the things of the Lord as a high priority. And because it happened gradually, I didn’t notice the effect it had on my life quite as quickly. Last night the Spirit that I felt was strong and filled me with joy –it was the feeling I had quite often during my mission. It helped me realize that the “blah” or dull feeling I’ve been living with for the past few years has been caused in part by my attitude and my lack of focus on spiritual things.

I want to be able to say what Nephi said in 2 Nephi 4:16 “Behold, my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord; and my heart pondereth continually upon the things which I have seen and heard.” I know that as I make an effort to diligently study the scriptures that I will be able to feel the Spirit more in my life and I will have the words of the Lord in my heart and in my mind to help guide me through life. We live in a difficult time and it’s not getting easier –I need His help to make it through this life with peace and joy in my heart no matter what I have to face.

My New Budget-Friendly Love: Beans!!!

Tags

black bean soup, gluten free, pinto bean recipe, pinto bean soup, white bean soup

I’ve started experimenting with beans recently because I don’t like to cook meat (probably because I’m not very good at it) and I’m on a budget and beans are super cheap! They have all sorts of health benefits especially if you use the dry beans and soak them before cooking. And I’ve found that beans are very versatile and really easy to prepare as long as you plan ahead.

Now, I’m certainly not an expert but Devan and I have enjoyed what I’ve made so far so here’s how I do it:

Lately I’ve been making soup with beans because it seems to be the quickest way to use them that I’ve found so far and it’s really yummy! They aren’t the prettiest soups I’ve seen but as long as they taste good, I don’t really care. 🙂

1. Choose what kind of bean you’d like to use. So far I’ve made a black bean soup and a white bean soup and a pinto bean soup. All are good. I think I may have liked the white bean soup best but the black bean soup or the pinto bean soup can also be used to top a salad with lettuce, tomatoes, tortilla chips, and some type of crumbly cheese and it’s kind of like taco salad.

2. Measure out two cups of beans and rinse them and then dump them into a crock pot and pour quite a bit of water on them. I don’t know if it makes a difference but I use hot water (not boiled or anything –just hot) and I pour in something like 7 cups. I always add a pinch of baking soda as well because we have really hard water and I’ve heard that the baking soda will help the beans soften more in hard water. DO NOT TURN THE CROCK POT ON! Just let the beans soak in the crock pot that is OFF overnight.

3. In the morning drain the beans and rinse them well. The soaking and the rinsing helps get rid of whatever it is in beans that causes flatulence.

4. Put the beans back in the crock pot and add vegetables. For my black bean soup I added a couple of diced chili peppers, some celery (maybe 2 stalks) cut into little pieces, a diced onion, and some minced garlic. For my white bean soup and pinto bean soup I added half a head of cauliflower (cut into little trees), 2 stalks of celery, and a diced red bell pepper.

5. Add about 4 cups of broth (I like beef broth with the black beans and pinto beans and chicken broth for the white beans). You can use homemade broth or stuff that you bought from the store. Of course homemade is healthier but sometimes I succumb to the store bought stuff. For gluten free you can use the Better Than Bouillon concentrated bases and dissolve some in 4 cups of water for your broth.

6. Add your desired seasonings. Pepper, salt (if you used homemade broth), onion powder if you didn’t use an onion, garlic powder if you didn’t use garlic, cilantro works well with black beans and pinto beans, cumin works well with them all as well as chili powder. I believe I also added lime juice to the black bean soup. Just have fun and experiment with the seasonings but remember you can always add more but you can’t take out what you’ve put in. That being said, I usually use A LOT of spices. I like my food with a lot of flavor. 🙂

7. Add enough water to fill up the rest of the crock pot but still save room to put the lid on. Turn the crock pot on low and go to work. When you come home at the end of the day it will be ready to eat! 🙂

8. For my black bean soup I took out a little less than half of the soup and pureed it in the blender and then added it back into the soup so it was a bit creamier. For the white bean soup and the pinto bean soup I didn’t have to do that because the cauliflower got really soft while cooking and broke down into creaminess. 🙂

9. Eat and enjoy! If you make some brown rice you can add a little bit to your soup to make it heartier and more of a complete protein. I like this soup because it can be different every time depending on the beans and veggies you have around. You can also dump in some frozen veggies if you don’t have fresh. I love variety, simplicity, and health and this meal does all that for me. 🙂

Did I Fail At My New Year Resolutions?

So, last time I blogged I posted about my New Year Resolutions and said I would report on my progress. There are some goals that I did really well on and others that I pretty much did nothing on. That’s not ok, but what’s done is done. The good news is, I have 11 more months to work on my goals and I can do much better. 🙂

So, here it goes:

Spiritual Goal: Read my scriptures and say my prayers every day.

This goal was supposed to be my focus for the month but I didn’t do too well. I wasn’t a complete failure –I read and prayed more than I did the past few months but I definitely still struggled. My issue is that I still haven’t found a good routine for myself. We’ve tried to make it a habit to read and pray together every night but Devan and I have different schedules a few days a week and we don’t always go to bed at the same time. Once we miss a day or two I get out of the habit and don’t remember to do it again when our schedules are the same. Mornings don’t really work for me either. I can barely drag myself out of bed early enough to take a shower and there are probably way too many days I don’t even do that. I’m thinking Devan and I might need to do individual scripture study most days and read together on Sundays. And then we can pray together when one of us is ready for bed even if we’re both not ready. So that’s the plan for next month. I’m optimistic it will work much better this time. And I’ve started out well for February –today is the 1st and I actually read my scriptures this morning. 🙂 However, I might make it a habit to read on my lunch break instead.

Physical Goal: Stick to my healthy eating habits, exercise 6 days a week, and lose 5 lbs. per month until I get to my goal weight.

I consider myself successful on this one even though I didn’t meet the goal 100%. I did stick to my healthy eating habits –I even did really well when Devan and I went to Las Vegas. We only ate out two meals and I was careful with my selections. We had a kitchen in our room and we cooked the rest of our meals. I did really well with my exercise too, although there were a couple weeks that I only exercised 5 days instead of 6 but I still consider that pretty darn awesome. I didn’t lose 5 lbs. though. At work we participate in the Gold’s Gym Corporate Wellness program so I meet with a coach from Gold’s Gym each month usually around the 22nd or 23rd of the month. On the 23rd I had only lost 1 pound from the previous month but my body fat had gone down by 2%! So even though I didn’t lose the weight that I had planned –I’m still losing body fat so I was pretty stoked about that. 🙂

Household Goal: Spend time at least one day a week on cleaning/organizing the basement.

This one was a complete failure this month! I didn’t work on the basement even one day. I planned on it several times but then when I went downstairs it was so cold that I couldn’t bring myself to do anything but cover myself with a blanket to get warm. And that’s saying something because winter is my favorite season. But we keep our house at 69° F which is totally fine upstairs. It’s quite warm. But then we go downstairs and it feels like we’re in a big meat locker. I’m surprised we can’t see our own breath. Anyway, I’m hoping February will be a bit warmer than January or I probably won’t do much better on this one next month.

Financial Goal: Stick to my budget and work on Dave Ramsey’s baby steps.

I did well on this one. We stuck to our budget and didn’t even overspend in Vegas. The only reason we went on the trip was because it was already paid for. And we didn’t spend hardly anything while we were there. The first of Dave Ramsey’s baby steps is to save up $1,000. We haven’t been able to do that yet because we are barely getting by each month. But Devan will be getting more hours starting the beginning of February so we’ll be able to get that done soon.

Anyway, today is a new day and a new month and I’m excited to see what changes I can make this month. 🙂

My New Year Resolutions

Tags

new year resolution

Spiritual Goal: Read my scriptures and say my prayers every day.

Physical Goal: Stick to my healthy eating habits, exercise 6 days a week, and lose 5 lbs. per month until I get to my goal weight.

Household Goal: Spend time at least one day a week on cleaning/organizing the basement.

Financial Goal: Stick to my budget and work on Dave Ramsey’s baby steps.

Now, I realize that I’m not perfect otherwise I’d already be doing all of these things. I know that I can’t expect myself to accomplish my goals perfectly. There will probably be days that I don’t accomplish anything at all and that’s ok. I’m going to take it one day at a time. If I mess up I’m not going to get frustrated, consider myself a failure and give up. If I mess up one day or one week or one month I can still refocus on these goals the following day. The only way I’ll be a failure is if I do give up. Each month I’ll re-evaluate my goals and whether or not I’m on track.

Also, each month I’ll choose a focus goal and really work hard on that specific goal that month. I’ll blog about it and let you know how it’s going as well. I’ll start with my spiritual goal because I believe that improving my relationship with God and making sure I’m in tune and worthy to receive guidance from the Holy Spirit will be the key to having the strength and determination to accomplish my goals.

Did you make any goals for the new year? What have you resolved to do?

Merry Late Christmas!

Things have been crazy busy this holiday season which is why I haven’t blogged in a while. I love Christmas! It is by far my favorite time of the year. I’m grateful that we have a date set apart for the purpose of celebrating the birth of our Savior and that it’s a federal holiday so I don’t have to work. J I’m also grateful for the time off because it gives me the ability to spend time with family. I love Christmas music and how it constantly reminds me of why we celebrate Christmas. I also love the tradition of gift giving. We are celebrating the Savior’s birth and when you celebrate someone’s birthday you generally give them gifts. However, we can’t just show up at Jesus’ house and give him gifts and that’s not really what he wants anyway. He is happiest when we are serving others in His name. And that’s what we do at Christmastime. We give gifts to those we love and we serve those in need –all in the name of Christ.

I’m so very grateful that my Heavenly Father created a wonderful plan for us all to come to earth to learn and grow and that He sent His Son to die for us so we can overcome physical death and suffer for our sins so we can overcome spiritual death if we accept His Atoning Sacrifice. I’m grateful that because of the Savior’s sacrifice that we can eventually become like Him and live with our Heavenly Father and our families for eternity, if we follow His teachings. I’m also immensely grateful that the Savior also suffered our afflictions and temptations of every kind in addition to suffering for our sins. Because He did that I know that He understands everything I go through. I can always turn to Him and He will know how to help me.

I’m also grateful for the freedoms we have in this great country. I’m grateful that I have the right to believe in the Savior and follow His teachings if that’s what I choose. I’m also grateful that others have the right to believe something entirely different if they so choose. Christ doesn’t want to force anyone to follow Him –it has to be their choice.

I also love celebrating the New Year. I think it goes right along with Christmas. As I celebrate Christmas I think of Christ which leads to pondering His teachings as well. I’m imperfect just like everyone else so as I ponder His teachings I become very aware of things that I’ve done or failed to do in the last year that I would like to change in order to become more like the Savior. The New Year is a perfect time to do this. It’s a chance to start over. The hardest part is deciding what to change since I can’t possibly change everything. My next blog entry will be about my new goals. Stay tuned if you’re interested! J

Things I’m Thankful For: My Friends

Tags

friends, thankful, Thanksgiving

Over the Thanksgiving weekend I was able to reconnect with a few of my good friends from high school which led me to do some reflecting on my many friendships and I realized a couple of things. First of all, I have awesome friends!

These are the friends I met up with last weekend. I had a better photo without the possessed eyes but since we were all quite crazy in high school I decided I liked the possessed look. lol

My friends (not just the ones in the photo) really are amazing and they’ve done so much for me. A few of my friends came to help at our family bakery before the Gluten Free Expo and worked for free through the night just to help us out! Several of my friends have helped us move on a couple different occasions. There have been many times when my friends have been there for me and I really appreciate it!

The other thing I realized is that I’m really a terrible friend. 😦 I’ve never really known how to be a good friend and I still don’t think I know how. I never know when to ask questions -I worry if I ask too much that I’m prying and if I don’t ask enough then they might think I don’t care. I rarely call my friends to talk or to plan things because I have a fear of being that annoying “friend” who always calls and tries to hang out but no one really wants me around. It’s a wonder I have any friends at all but I’m grateful that I do! And I’m so glad that even though I don’t keep in touch with my friends like I should, when we do get together it’s almost like we’ve never been apart. 🙂

So to all my friends out there -thank you for being my friend and for putting up with me! 🙂

Things I’m Thankful for: My Family

Tags

family, Thanksgiving

Even though I’m extremely disappointed in the results of the Presidential race I’m not going to focus on that. What’s done is done and all we can do now is move forward the best we can. Instead I’m going to continue to focus on the good things in my life that I am thankful for.

I am so very grateful for my family. The picture above is of my side of the family. I have a mom and a dad who have been married for 31 years, 2 brothers, 4 sisters, a brother-in-law, a sister-in-law, 1 niece, 3 nephews, and of course my husband. My family is awesome! Those who know us are aware that we don’t generally hug or say “I love you” (other than to our spouses) but we are very close. We do things with each other and we do things for each other. We currently own a gluten free bakery (Eleanor’s Bake Shop) and have been open for a little more than 2 years. Most of us have other full-time jobs but because we made the decision to start the shop together based on inspiration and because we know how stressful it is for our mom to run it herself and how incredibly exhausting it is, we spend our free time helping out at the bake shop, most of the time without pay. Because of the bakery, we spend a lot of time together and when you run a family business you know that there’s bound to be plenty of arguing, but because we’re family we are able to put our differences aside and still enjoy our time together. And we spend plenty of time together outside the bakery too -we usually get together every Sunday evening.

This picture is my husband’s side of the family. The family consists of my husband’s mom and dad, 4 brothers, 3 sisters, 3 brothers-in-law, 2 sisters-in-law, 4 nieces, 8 nephews, and of course his lovely wife -me. 🙂 If you’re looking at the photo the numbers don’t match up. That’s because one sister with her husband and two children live out of state, another sister with her husband and four children live a couple hours away and weren’t able to make it the day the picture was taken, and one brother was off somewhere serving in the Army.  This family is very different from the family I grew up with. They are constantly saying “I love you” and hugging each other. It was tough to get used to it -we’ve been married for over 5 years and I’m still getting used to it. 😉 But I love being married to Devan and being a part of this family too! We are all really close and I know I could count on any of them to help me out for any reason! And they were all such a huge support to me when Devan was deployed for the first year of our marriage. 

It’s actually quite nice to be a part of two families that are so different. If I’m going through tough times and I need someone to encourage me to suck it up, be happy and move on, then I can turn to my side of the family. If I need someone to cry with me or jump up and down with excitement for me, then I can turn to Devan’s side of the family. My two families play different kinds of games, eat different kinds of food, and even have different types of conversations and a different sense of humor but I love them both (yes, I said the “L” word) and I’m grateful that I can be a part of both families forever!