CTR

When I was young, the term CTR was just a simple reminder from parents and church leaders to Choose The Right. I remember the pride I felt upon receiving my adjustable CTR ring with the green shield in Primary and wearing it so much that my finger ended up with a green ring around it. Choose The Right meant something so simple then.

Make good choices.

Be a good example to your brother and sisters.

Be nice to others.

Simple. I have no idea when CTR took on a whole other meaning. Perhaps when as a teenager I often did NOT CTR, or as a young adult when I made some more than questionable decisions, or even as an adult when I made the wrong choice and said the wrong thing over and over and over again. Sometimes I wish I still lived in blissful oblivion as to how ridiculous I really was!

Today, CTR is horribly complicated. I feel the weight of many worlds on my shoulders. The choices that I make today affect my children, my husband, and most decidedly my future. I tire of finding myself at a crossroads every few miles. Once again we are in a place where the immediate future of my little family dynamic is in another person's hands. And there is NOTHING I can do about it.

Except pray.

And mother.

And pray some more.

One day I will write a best selling novel based on the true story of my ever-so-dramatic life. One day I will stand in front of a crowd and tell them all that they will survive their trials because I survived mine. One day I will THRIVE!

Today I will simply do my best to Choose The Right.

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Dear Disney, Thank you for Frozen.

Yeah, I finally saw it today. Took the girls and went to the matinee. I had high expectations. Yeah. I knew I could have been setting myself up for disappointment, but I also have heard NOTHING but wonderful things about this movie. And then we got there and I almost LoSt it in the very first scene! Okay, admittedly, I am emotional today (TODAY? Try every day.), and I do have a particularly special place in my heart for stories about sisters--or siblings--for what I would think are obvious reasons, but just in case you don't know...there are five reasons why I love good stories about sibs:

Adam

Stef

Holly

Lisa

Kelli

In case you haven't seen this movie and you want to: SPOILER ALERT!

I love that while there is a bit of a love story in this movie, the TRUE love story is found in the love that Anna and Elsa share. And I was just struck by the fact that my first loves and my true loves are all related to me. How lucky am I? 

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Thankful Post Days 17-20

Yep. Catching up once again, but this one might look a little different. There are all kinds of different things running through my head right now, so forgive me if this sounds a little like a thankful rant instead of just a little post.

Day 17: I am thankful for my upbringing. (I know, I know! I already said I was thankful for my parents--this is different! TRUST ME!) I am thankful that I was raised in a tiny home bursting at the seams with people and animals and chaos--and mostly LOVE! I am thankful that through all my turbulent teenage and young adult years, I always had a safe place to land. I am thankful that--while I may have turned away for a time--I was raised up in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This, too, became a safe place for me to land.

Day 18: I am thankful for the knowledge that I have a loving Father in Heaven who knows me. He accepts me for who I am, and because of this, I know that I need to live my life as His daughter and representative--therefore I must love others.

Day 19: I am thankful for answers to prayers and divine intervention. No one would survive long in this world without either of these two things!

Day 20: I am thankful for challenges. I am thankful for strife. I am thankful that I can do hard things. I am thankful that I don't ever have to do them alone. I am thankful for eternal perspective--knowing that struggles are a necessary and brief part of an eternal plan. I am thankful for strength.

OMG! Catching Up Thankful Post! Days 13-16

November 13: Thankful for music and the blessing it is in my personal and family life. I love that my girls are always singing!

November 14: Thankful for an amazing support network for my weight loss journey!

November 15: Thankful for those who are patient with me.

November 16: Thankful for books. Lots and lots of books! And reading. And the ability to escape with a good book.

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Thankful November Day 11 and 12

Day 11

I am thankful for my education. It has always been one of my greatest treasures.

Day 12

I am thankful for the career I had as a high school teacher. I floundered. I failed. I fought. Mostly, I learned about who I am and what I want. I was blessed with many of the greatest colleagues a person could ask for. I had amazing mentors and awesome friends. Sometimes I miss those days. More often I am simply glad that I was allowed that experience.

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Thankful November Day 10

Some days it is just enough to have a thicker skin and enough perspective to understand where someone could be coming from...and the knowledge that we have a Heavenly Father who loves us all...so we should love all as well...even when it is hard. 

*STEPS OFF SOAPBOX* 

*TAKES A BOW*

*EXITS STAGE LEFT* 

Thankful November Day 9: Alisha

Yep. Totally stole this picture from your Facebook page, Alisha. :)

We have been blessed in numerous ways over the past few years, but none more so than with this girl! Our Alisha came into our lives because I needed a part time sitter and she needed a job. The blessing she became...the easy part of our family she became...the dependable, happy, helpful, wonderful, fun guardian she is to my daughters is PRICELESS.

So, I am sure she is every shade of red by now, so I will not gush more. I could not, however, have made it through days or weeks or this past year and a half without her help. We love you!