Roller Coaster

I figured it was time to actually blog about life. Perhaps I have been facing some of the truths about life. It has definitely been an adventure for quite some time, it has been a roller coaster ride for over a year now... I have learned more lessons than I even imagined would be possible. I am amazed at the ability of the human heart, body, spirit..emotions to recover and then crash again and then recover.. just like a massive roller coaster. I went from having parents that were still married, and being very happily married myself, to having my marriage fail, to being divorced, still loving my Ex, my in-laws and my step kids, to attempting to move on and pretend to be happy, finding other things to fill my time with. I even attempted to run away from life and start over in Cedar City. I was so looking forward to going back to the town where I attended college and have some of the best memories and friends of my life. Thru all of the challenges over the past few years, I am amazed at the amazing support system I have. I love that I don't have to say a word to my friends, but they are so intune with the spirit and with me that they just know when I am struggling. I am also grateful for my amazing family, who have stood by my side thru all of life. I am grateful for my Savior and what he has done for me. I love the poem "Footprints in the Sand". I can honestly say I have felt my Savior carrying me a lot of the time over the last while.

Have you ever noticed that just when you think you have things figured out, a curve ball is thrown at you? I think this is to make us stronger. I am grateful for challenges in life that shape us into the person that our Heavenly Father wants us to be and knows that we can be.

I am amazed at the blessings that also come thru trials. I have 2 amazing jobs, one that pays the bills and another that allows me to share my love of dance with many amazing girls. I am blessed to have a place to call home, an amazing family, and friends, enough food...

I am grateful for all that I have and for everyone that is a part of my life. You are all very imporant to me! Thanks for everything!

To Those of You Born Between 1930 and 1979

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE
1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or
drank while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can
and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in
baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors
or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps
not helmets on our heads.

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats,
no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and
sometimes no brakes

Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always
a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and
no one actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon.. We drank
Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And, we weren't
overweight. WHY?

Because we were always outside playing...that's why!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as
we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And, we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and
then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the
brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned
to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's and X-boxes. There
were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies
or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal
computers, no Internet and no chat room

WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there
were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games
with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it
would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the
door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those
who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment.

Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was
unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers,
problem solvers and inventors ever.

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new
ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we
learned how to deal with it all.
If YOU are one of them? CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck
to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government
regulated so much of our lives for our own good.

While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know
how brave and lucky their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors,
doesn't it ?
~
The quote of the month is by Jay Leno:

'With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides,
flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one
end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist
attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the
Pledge of Allegiance?'

Keepers

OUR PARENTS

I grew up with practical parents who had been frightened by the Great Depression. A mother, God love her, who washed aluminum foil after she cooked in it, then reused it. She was the original recycle queen, before they had a Name for it.... A father who was happier getting old shoes fixed than buying new ones.

Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barely a wave away. It was the time for fixing things; a curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, oven door, the hem in a dress. Things we keep.

It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All that repairing, eating, reusing, I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant you knew there'd always be more.

But then my mother died, and on that clear summer 's night, in the warmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that maybe 'keeping' wasn't to be scorned because sometimes there isn't any more.

Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes away....never to return. So... while we have it.... it's best we love it... And care for it.... And fix it when it's broken...... And heal it when it's sick.

This is true.... For marriage.... And old cars..... And children with bad report cards..... And dogs and cats with bad hips .... And aging parents.... And grandparents....And friends ....We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it. Some things we keep.

There are just some things that make life important, like people we know who are special... And so, keep them close!

Good friends are like stars.... You don't always see them, but you know they are always there.

Keep them close.