On The Road

This weeks topic is: On the road. If you could pause real life and spend some time living with a family anywhere in the world, where would you go?

I would probably go to Australia for a little while. I have always wanted to visit there. They have so many animals that we don't have here and the outdoors would be so fun to explore the wilderness out there. I do not know how different the culture is out there but it would be fun to live with loans while I was staying there. 

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

G is for Group

I started the second round of my 21 Day Fix today. It was a lot harder then I thought it would be. I have not craved sugar in the last week like I did today. I am glad that I have Facebook groups that keep me motivated and focused on sticking with it. I have turned to these groups a lot lately. If you are struggling with anything try to find a support group. You never know how helpful they can be until you try.

What word starts with G that is relevant to your week?

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Missionaries

I grew up having missionaries from my church visit frequently. Since I have been out of high school I started building closer relationships to the missionaries that would serve in my area. We recently had a missionary that I absolutely adored. She was always upbeat even if she was having the worst of days. She spent a lot of time at our house and with our family, teaching lessons or having dinner. One things about the missionaries in my church is they get transferred to different areas during the time period they serve. This missionary had been here for I believe about six months, which is quite unusual. Last week she got transferred. I will miss having her around but know I will get to see her after her mission.

Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

First Job

I am back again to share more about myself with you.

If you could be a tree or a plant, what would you be?

I would be a plant. Specifically I would be a flower. Flowers smell amazing and most of them are beautiful.

If you could have a servant come to your house every day for one hour, what would you have them do?

I don't really like the word servant in this question. If I could have someone come to my house everyday for an hour I would probably have them clean everything. That would only last so long though so maybe I would have someone come make dinner everyday for the family. 

If you could have an endless supply of any food, what would you get?

I would probably say I would want an endless supply of cheese. Our family uses so much of it on almost everything we can possibly add it to.

What was one of your first moneymaking jobs (other than babysitting or newspaper delivery)?

My first job was working as a receptionist for an eye doctor in Walmart. I loved it. To this day I miss that job. I had fun at work and had a great boss. I was lucky to have a job like that as my first.

Bonus Question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

To see what I am grateful for last week click here and read my Thankful Thursday post. This week I am looking forward to touring a wedding location.

Leave your answers to these questions in the comments.

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog.

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Five Minute Friday: Because

This weeks Five Minute Friday word is because. 

I have used this words more times in the last year then I have in my entire life. My daughter hit a period in her life where she asks why about everything. I quickly learned that the best way to stop the chain of why is to just say because. Because is a word used to explain why something is taking place. I can tell you that most of the time I don't really have a reason when I use the word because. I just want it to appear that way.

What does the word because make you think of?

Thank you for stopping by to read today.

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Concerts

I am thankful this week to be given the chance to take my best friends sister to a concert. We went and saw Demi Lovato. This was the third time I have seen her live. I have to say I liked her former shows better. I love her new look but she spent way to much time talking at the show. It was a fun experience though.

Thank you for stoping by and reading my thoughts.

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Endurance

This weeks photo challenge is about what endurance means to me.

I started playing the violin when I was four years old. As I got older it got harder and harder. I would practice an hour a day. I loved every minute of it. As things got harder it became harder and harder to practice. All I had to do is remember why I played and it made me keep going. I don't play as much these days but I hope to pick it up again more in the future.

Thank you all for stopping by to read my thoughts.

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Practice makes perfect

This weeks topic is: Practice makes perfect. Tell us about a talent you’d love to have…but don’t.

I would love to be able to play guitar. I love music and try to learn as much as possible. It would be so much fun if I could write songs and play guitar. After knowing how to play the violin it is hard to teach myself because it isn't as similar as I thought it would be.

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog.

"Learning from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

F is for Five Pounds

I finished up my first round of the 21 Day Fix program yesterday. I lost a total of five pounds. I am starting another round of it next week and hopefully it goes a little smoother. I am going to try working out more this time. Last time I focused more on eating better and smaller portions. Hopefully I can double if not triple my results this time.

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Thank you for stopping by.

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Praise

This week I started reading The Book of Mormon. I have a hard time understanding books when I read especially when it is written in a different style of english I am not used to. In order to help me understand what I am reading I started a journal and write about what each chapter is about. At the bottom of each journal page there is a scripture from the bible. On the first page of this journal it has a "prayer" about praise. It says: "God, I praise You for who You are. Thank you that You are so much greater then I am. Help me to love You more deeply and see You more fully as I worship You with my words and with my life. Amen." The one person that we can count on no matter what in life is God. I am excited to learn more about The Book of Mormon and to understand more about stories I am not as familiar with. 

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog.

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Unique

I am back again to share more about myself with you.

List three pet peeves?

1. Burping in public.

2. Making clicking or clapping noises when fidgeting.

3. Mismatching clothes.

What makes you unique?

I have been told for a long time that I am more mature then most people my age. I think that makes me unique.

What would be your ideal birthday present, and why?

My ideal birthday present would probably be the new Apple Watch. It doesn't come out until early next year but it is the only thing I really want right now. I have always been an Apple fan. I have a Mac laptop, iPad, and iPhone so having the Apple watch would be a great addition to my set.

Which way does the toilet paper roll go? Over or Under?

I keep my toilet paper on a shelf. If I were to hang it though it would go under.

Bonus Question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

To see what I am grateful for last week click here and read my Thankful Thursday post. This week I am looking forward to going to my home town for a day and seeing people I grew up with.

Leave your answers to these questions in the comments.

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog.

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Five Minute Friday: Hold

This weeks Five Minute Friday word is hold.

Go

I like to hold on to stuff. Even when I know I am not likely to ever use it again. For months I have been trying to go through my room and get rid of stuff I have held onto for years. I don't know what it is about letting go that is so hard. I have clothes in my closet that I have not worn since high school and that was five years ago. I think it must be hereditary because I can already see that trait in my daughter at the age of three. She holds on to everything. One of these days I just need to go through her room and pack some stuff away or get rid of it.

STOP

Do you hold on to stuff that you don't use?

If you would like to join us every friday click the link below to learn more.

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog.

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Online Shopping

I absolutely hate shopping. I know that must sound strange coming from a girl but I just never enjoyed it. I do a lot of online shopping these days though. This week I am very thankful for it because I have been able to get items that have been sold out in stores for weeks. Not to mention not dealing with lines or traffic.

What ar you thankful for this week?

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog.

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Humanity

This weeks photo challenge was to share a picture or collage that represents what humanity means to me. 

The quote on the picture says "There is no death, only the seen and unseen. Suffering remains without understanding. Nature is not the focus. Humanity is." Humanity is defined as the quality or state of being human. I love this picture. We are all human no matter how different we may look or sound.  This picture shows that perfectly.

What does humanity mean to you?

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog.

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Super Sensitive

This weeks writing prompt is: Super sensitive. If you were forced to give up one sense, but gain super-sensitivity in another, which senses would you choose?

I would give up my hearing and improve my vision. For a long time now I have wanted to learn American Sign Language. Sometimes it seems like people over look that as a language. It is not easy to learn either. When one of your senses is taken away most of the time others will improve. I think that if I had to give up my hearing it would make me appreciate certain things in my life now that I didn't before. It would suck to not be able to hear music the same way or peoples voices.

Put your answers in the comments below. 

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog.

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

E is for Empty

Have you ever sat down to write and have no clue what to write about. Well thats how I feel about this post. I have sat down to write this post multiple times this week and nothing has come to mind. I am still left empty. Somedays it just happens. 

Share a random thought of the week with me in the comments below.

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Brighten Your Day

As I was looking for something to write about today I came across this bookmark not once, not twice, not three, but FOUR times. At that point I thought well maybe there is a reason I keep finding this specific post. I took time to look all of these scriptures up. My favorite ones were the first two. They talk about how we are here for a reason and God is there with us every step of the day. We had an open house activity at church yesterday. I got the chance to talk to a couple in my ward that I hadn't really gotten to know. Our conversations were everywhere from personal to church related topics. I came home last night feeling a lot stronger with my beliefs. I am not even sure how to explain all of it. I hope you can use these scriptures above to help lift your spirits on days where you need a little push to get going or make it till the end of the day.

Which scripture is your favorite in the list above?

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

My Favorites

It is the time of the week to share a little bit about myself again.

Do you prefer reading coffee table books (picture), biographies, fiction, non-fiction, or educational books?

I read mostly fiction stories. Every now and again I will pick up a non-fiction book but it has to have some significance to my life for me to really get into it.

What is your biggest fear or phobia?

I would say my biggest fear is of spiders. Even the smallest of spiders I don't want to be anywhere close to it.

What is your favorite cheese?

My favorite cheese is probably sharp cheddar. I live in a house where we use a lot of cheese on everything. Since I have been on my diet I am not allowed very much cheese and I miss it.

What is your favorite month of the year?

This one is tricky. I was talking to my fiancé this morning about how excited I am for it to be October because I get to decorate for halloween. I would say October is my all time favorite since it is the first of three months of decorating the house for different holidays. Not to mention my birthday is in October too. 

Bonus Question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I write a Thankful Thursday post every week so to see what I am grateful for this week check out that post by clicking here. This next week I am looking forward to going through halloween stuff so I can get ready to decorate.

Check out the blog that started the Share Your World questions here.

Answer these questions in the comments below or leave me a link to your blog with your post on these questions. 

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog.

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Five Minute Friday: Ready

Teaming up with Kate and the Five Minute Friday crew for another fun writing prompt. To check out more about Five Minute Fridays click the button.

 This weeks word is: ready.

GO

I am sure people are already starting to get tired of me talking about my recent engagement and the wedding we have started to plan. This is somewhat to do with it but not entirely. In the last three years I have put on close to 50 pounds. For months I have tried multiple diets and workout programs to help me lose the weight. Unfortunately I didn't sick with any of them. A couple weeks ago a program called 21 Day Fix was brought to my attention. I am hitting the end of week two and have lost two pounds. (That is with skipping many workouts and occasionally straying from the diet.) I am ready to get rid of this extra weight. What could be a better motivation then getting married. I plan on losing at least half of what I gained by the time the wedding comes around. I am ready to make the change. I am ready to stand my ground. I am ready to be a better me.

END

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

September 11th

Today marks the 13th anniversary of one of the most tragic events in U.S. history. I was in forth grade at the time. I remember going to school that morning having no idea of what was going on. As I walked into the classroom I noticed the T.V. turned on. It was just after the first plane hit the first tower. We continued to watch as the next plane crashed into the second tower. I remember the fear in everyone around me. Not many people were at school. I lived across the street at the time and and just wanted to go home. However the school would not allow us to leave till an adult signed us out. The rest of my memories from that day are foggy. One thing I do know is that many innocent people died that day. This was a day that changed America and will never be forgotten. I am very thankful for our officers, fire fighters, other emergency responders, and military. These people often put their life in danger to protect us. Always show you respect and thankfulness towards these people and let them know how much they matter. 

Where were you when the events took place on September 11th 2001?

Take a moment today to remember the people that died that day. 

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Adventure

This weeks photo challenge is Adventure. My photo is about family.

I had a conversation tonight about family with my mom. My family will look like the one above in just under a years time. I never really thought about it this way. I have been in this environment and surrounded by all of these people for so long it is just normal to me. When my fiancés children started asking me about what to call me and my mom after I marry their dad it made me wonder. I added my name to one of their emergency contact sheets for school the other day. As I was filling in information it asked for my relationship to the child. I turned to my fiancé and asked what to put. He told me to put step mom. That is when everything started to hit. It was a scary but good feeling at the same time. I am excited for the journey ahead as I become an official part of this family and all the adventures that will come after.

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Bookworms

This weeks topic is, Bookworms. Grab the nearest book. Open it and go to the tenth word. Do a Google Image Search of the word. Write about what the image brings to mind.

I grabbed the book The Maze Runner by James Dashner. The tenth word was "cold". I am extremely excited for winter to be here. In fact it is right around the corner. I am excited to get all of the holiday decorations out as the winter approaches. This will be the first time I will be able to decorate my own house.

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

D is for Dummy

So this morning I woke up to a kid freaking out because there was an open gallon of milk on the counter and an open fridge. Well.... It was all my fault. I have no idea how I managed to forget about everything. I had gotten my daughter some milk late last night because she had woken up three times. After she went back to sleep I went to bed. I feel so stupid. Luckily I think the only thing that went bad was the milk but what a morning.

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Fast Sunday

I sat at church today trying to take away something from the lessons to talk about today. Unfortunately I didn't. Today was fast sunday. Every first Sunday of the month people are given the opportunity to share their testimony. As I sat there I was trying to remember the last time I got up and shared mine. I could not tell you the answer to that. When I was younger I thought church was a waste of time. I hated going in a sense. I realized today how much I enjoy being around the people at church and that I really like the lessons now that I am older. I am excited to participate in some of the activities that are coming up this month and becoming closer to the people at church. I want to be able to stand up on fast sunday and share my testimony. First I just need to rebuild mine.

I hope you all enjoy my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Share Your World

Songs these days have started having more and more to be about relationships and alcohol. I am certainly a sucker for love songs. When it comes to writing about them, there is only so much you can say. I don't exactly drink so I can't relate to those topics and I think my love life needs to have some privacy with it. With that said I am making one last change to my daily blog for now.

I came across this writing challenge called Share Your World. Since blogging is an international activity, this blogger posts four questions every week so we can get to know each other better.
Click here to read more about their blog.

Here are the questions and my answers:

Have your blogging goals changed?
My goals have not changed thus far. I still write just to share my thoughts, the events in my life, and to make people smile.

If you were to perform in a circus what would you do?

I am not very big into the circus acts. Therefor if I had to choose I would probably be one of the people that does the tricks with the elephants. I think it would be so much fun to work with the animals. My daughter would love it too, considering her favorite animal is an elephant.

If you could go back and talk to yourself at age 18 what advise would you give yourself? Or if you are younger than 25 what words of wisdom would you like to tell yourself at age 45?

This question is tricky. If I have learned anything in the last three years it is that time flies by. Not only that but things can change in a blink of an eye. Since I am 21 I get the second part of this question haha. I would tell myself to cherish every moment. I often realize all my favorite moments are captured on camera. I am thankful to have these photos but sometimes it takes away the magic. I used to take a camera with me almost everywhere I went. Most times I will stop what I am doing just to get a good picture. We sometimes miss the experience by being behind a camera. Sometimes it is better to just live in the moment.

What is your favorite comfort snack food?

My favorite snack food is Double Stuff Oreos with Peanut Butter.

Bonus Question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

If you want to see what I am grateful for from last week read my Thankful Thursday post by clicking here. This week I am looking forward to researching stuff for wedding planning and meeting new people at some events this week.

Share your answers to these questions in the comments below.

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Five Minute Friday: Whisper

Here we are again for another great five minute friday post. If you want to know more about five minute friday click on the picture below.

This weeks word is whisper.

Go

I often wish the world would wiser. I was in a theater the other night full of teenagers and they were so loud. Loud enough to where I debated if I should leave or not. There are times when I wish everyone in the world would whisper. When we do little car rides to Denver the three kids in the back seat can get overwhelming. Sometimes I will turn the music up to give them a hint they are being to loud. Instead of quieting they just get louder. Whispering is something everyone should do now and again. We turn it into a game. It helps the kids still have fun but learn the advantage to not being as loud.

Stop

I hope everyone has a good weekend. Tell me in the comments what whisper means to you.

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Love...

This week I am thankful for the ability of love. For those who have not heard, I got engaged this week to my amazing boyfriend. I love him to death and I am so happy that he is in my life. I am also glad that my daughter has come to love him as much as I have. I am excited for what is to come. Love is one of the greatest feelings in the world. Always live in the moment and when you are in love take in every moment of it.

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Dialogue

This weeks photo challenge is to share to pictures that will form a dialogue. What story do they tell?

Can you believe that these two pictures are of the same little girl sleeping? Its been three years and it all seems like a blur. People always say that after you have kids you blink and they are 18 and graduating high school. I believe it. I can't wait for many more memories to come.

I hope you all enjoy my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

Name That You

This weeks topic from The Daily Posts book 365 Days Of Writing is: Name that…you! Do you know the meaning of your name, and why your parents chose it? Do you think it suits you? What about your children’s names?

I love this topic!!! I have touched on this one a little bit in the past but I can share more today. My name is Hope. It means great expectations. My mom had some serious health problems in the years leading up to me. To read her story click HERE. I was my parents "miracle child". I gave my mom hope for a brighter future. Some days I wonder if I live up to their expectation. Who doesn't think about that though... I can always do better and plan on working to be my best. My daughters name is Crystal. To be honest I had to look up the meaning of her name. Her name comes from a greek word meaning ice. I originally named her that because when I was growing up I wanted that to be my name. I don't know what it was I liked about it so much but I am happy that I could use it for her. She is my gem and I would not know what to do without her.

Tell me in the comments below what your name means.

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestion and thoughts.
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein

C is for Calories

Calories... a word most most people don't like to think about. In the past I have counted calories and worked out but never seemed to see much of a change. As I look back at that now I was eating my calories in foods that were not good for me. I started a new eating program today and it was tough. The program is called The 21 Day Fix. This program gives you healthy choices and helps you manage the amount of food you consume. It seemed like I was eating plenty during the day but by seven I was starving. My body was craving sugar and I didn't know how to deal with it. I am told that the first couple days are the hardest so hopefully it gets better.

Has anyone tried this program before and done well?

I hope you all enjoy reading my blog. Please leave comments with suggestions and thoughts.

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow." - Albert Einstein