Remembering Tender Mercies

Today was Fast Sunday. Within just a few moments of thought I knew what I wanted to fast for today. I started my fast and prayed for inspiration.

Since this is personal I'll try to keep it short and vague. I have a weakness that probably affects me the most of all my (many) weaknesses. It's deciding to stay clear of people who have hurt me before and deciding that from my limited and negative experience with that person that I now know that person is not one I want to be around. I guess that's the definition of a grudge right? I hate to write it, to see it in myself is painful, but I have had, on select occasions, to select people, a hard time forgiving. I don't dwell on whatever hurt me, but I certainly don't go out of my way to interact with someone whose hurt me either.

I know this is wrong. I know it's a manifestation of my own pride. But how is it that pride can be so difficult to shake sometimes? I could see the wrongness of my grudges but at the same time I couldn't force myself to change my feelings either.

I want to be filled with charity and I want to be a little more like my Savior. So today I decided to fast for charity, and specifically, for charity regarding those unhealed grudges.

Today I fasted for help in changing my heart.

Well, my answer happened unexpectedly and amazingly it was through two other people at church today, since nobody knows of these innermost struggles I've had I felt it was a tender mercy from Heavenly Father meant to help me.

Our Sunday School teacher was teaching the lesson when he asked a person that I've been fasting to feel charity and forgiveness toward to read a quote from the board. The person did and in the middle started to weep. Then this person bore testimony of their love for the Savior. Our Sunday School teacher stopped talking about the lesson for a minute while he shared with us all how much love and respect he had for this person. He shared that this person was a good person, who had a good heart, who had overcome much adversity. As he spoke I felt a healing calm come to my own heart. It was finally possible to forgive. As I listened I couldn't help but feel that our Sunday School teacher was inspired to stop his lesson to share his feelings about this person out loud to our entire class because I needed to hear it.

Next in Young Women a beautiful young woman bore her testimony. She said one sentence that touched me and again I felt inspired that this was the counsel I needed to follow in order to forgive. She said "Give them a break. They are just people too." Exactly what I needed to hear and remember.

I'm so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who gives me plenty of breaks when I mess up and then helps me repent and keep trying again.

Post Script: The person I was fasting about was just made my visiting teacher last week. NOT a coincidence! Of course, I'll get to know her so much better and we can finally become friends. Heavenly Father answers prayers, and he wants to help us with our struggles. This I know.

Two-ish weeks

There are about two weeks until Joey and I get to meet our youngest daughter. In two weeks she will come into our lives, and nothing will ever quite be the same again. She's going to change our world, just like the other three did.

 I want to give my beautiful children the best version of myself. I want to be smart and creative and organized and full of energy---but if not, on those days when I'm just not those things for whatever reason--what I want to be at the very least is a loving mom. That, the loving part, is what I want to be the most.

Two-ish more weeks, sweet baby girl! I'm ready. The kids are ready. Joey's ready. You come when you are ready too and we'll take you home and make you ours.

Y

I had a goal to hike the Y as a family this summer. I got the idea from Miles. One winter night as we watched snow falling onto our patio he asked if we could hike it. I promised him we'd try. As soon as the weather warmed up, we were on our way! Yes, I was 7 months pregnant. Yes, Clay had tiny legs. I was wondering how it would go...

 But, surprisingly we did it and had a GREAT time. We were happy and having fun together and talking all the way up. Clay even walked the entire way up!! Joey carried him on his shoulders on the way back down.

Hello beautiful me! :) 

Oh, man they are so cute!

Almost there!

View from the top

Sitting on the Y! We all touched it! Yay!

Goals are SO worth having! :)

BYU Women's Conference 2013!

This year I got to attend Women's Conference with my mom! It was great! I love being uplifted with activities like this. The speakers were prepared and inspiring and I wrote down lots of "favorite stuff." Thanks Mom, I love you!

Joey took two days off to take care of the kids while I was gone during the day. When mom and I came home each night he had made dinner for all of us and the table was set, the kids were already bathed and in pajamas, and laundry was done too! I had no idea that he had this "domestic diva" deep down inside of him just waiting for the chance to shine! ;) Thank's Joey, I love you!

Mom and me, May 2, 2013 (The day Amber's baby, Eleanor, was born!)

Our family out for treats, Grandma's treat :). 

Mom took this picture one night while we were playing outside. I thought it was cute. 

Here are some of the things that were shared at Women's Conference that inspired me:

*Use scripture stories to teach life lessons to children.

 I have a really sweet experience from using this advice just this week. We had an FHE on Sunday about prayer so we read Enos chapter 1 and then watched the same scripture story on friend.lds.org. Well, last night Miles was reading quietly by himself---I walked into the room and and my eyeballs almost popped right out of their sockets when I happened to glance at what he was reading by himself---Enos Chapter 1!! WOW! He has never decided to read scriptures completely on his own before that I know of! I just turned and quietly walked away and tried to keep that room quiet for him, hoping and praying that as he read he might start to grow his own little testimony.

*Remember the tortoise and the hare story. Consistent and persistent is most important when it comes to reading the scriptures with kids. Don't worry about being fast or reading huge chunks. 

This is great for me to remember because with my personality ((recovering perfectionist)) sometimes I get burnt out and have an "all or nothing" mentality. Small and simple is doable for me and gives me the best chance to NOT get burnt out or feel overwhelmed.

*"Be faithful in the small things, for it is in them that your strength lies."-Mother Theresa.

The older I get the more this rings completely true! I am all about small, doable, simple, easy, tiny things. I can't think about eating an entire elephant all at once or I'll freak out and think I can't do it--but I can do it small bite by small bite over time, and voila, it is all gone eventually. Not that I would eat an elephant... :)

*Heavenly Father always sends angels to get you through adversity. Usually those angels are you and me helping each other. 

I have seen angels in my life. They are the people who acknowledge me and love me. Those who take the time to be a true friend are some of my greatest treasures. I am SO grateful for true friends! I have been treated oppositely too. And because I am still learning not to wear my emotions on my sleeves (toughen up girlie!) I have shed tears after some of those encounters. I guess we all know what that is like too. I thought about this and hope to be a better angel myself. I don't want to cause others pain or sorrow because of my actions or words. I would hope to know I lifted others and was not vindictive. If Heavenly Father would like to put someone in my path that I can reach out and help, I want to be ready and willing.

*We can expect God to help us as we keep our covenants.  

I am so thankful for the blessings of the temple. I love to go!

*Children stretch us and help us realize that we have more capacity and ability than we realized.

Yes! That rings true at 2am when I am helping a small child puke into a bucket and it feels like my eyeballs are too dry to even open more than a crack and then the toddler down the hall starts crying and it's already starting to be a long day hours before the sun comes up... But it is good to remember that those moments make me better in important ways. They are not fun moments, but they are important to my eternal growth. Apparently I have some growth that needs to take place in the dead of night at times :). 

* You should sit quietly for 20 minutes every day unless you're too busy and then you should sit for an hour. 

(Pefect advice for somebody like me that loves to run around doing "stuff" and "fluff"! Soon life just seems too busy and crazy and I'm going and going and going...for what?? Fluffy stuff usually---good stuff, but not essential stuff. Just sit down, Tiffany, and listen and think and read and do what you need to do mentally to keep an eternal perspective and be aware of those goals I have inside of me...and then I will feel a little less like a chicken without a head running around!) 

*Act on the prompting to connect. Create human moments. Love each other. Be the answer to another's prayer. 

I love the idea to create human moments. That's what makes life great, when we show others that we can care and can love. 

*Sing to your babies every day. 

(This was just for me I think. A lot of different speakers talked about the power of song. Most nights before the kids go to bed I sing them each 1 song as part of our bedtime routine. I feel like this is such a simple and easy way to teach them through the words of those songs and I felt like as I listened to those various speakers that I should continue to do this, and so I added it to my notes. Yes, my almost 7 year old is still my baby deep down in my heart, and he will probably still be that to me when he is 87...)

*Adversity, and our mistakes that we have learned from, can refine us and make us even more beautiful.

*Choose to walk in the light! Choose to love!

My mom took a picture of the inside of the Marriott Center. It was filled with about 15,000 women at the general sessions. The first general session we attended we sang an opening hymn and hearing 15,000 women's voices sounded so angelic that I had to stop singing and just listen to it. It was really beautiful and inspiring. That many women singing all together sounds SO pretty!

Another year older and wiser too!

I had another birthday! Yippee! I am grateful for my many blessings!

I decided to set a few goals to accomplish by my next birthday. Here they are:

1. Train for next summer's Marana Splash n' Dash races (we are moving to Utah soon (I'll do a post on that sometime soon) but I'm sure we'll come down sometime to visit family and I am going to try to coordinate to stop by and participate in one of these races when we're visiting.) I have already started running and swimming and have already found a couple indoor pools in Utah to "train" at during the winter. I started swimming 32 laps (that's how many laps they do in the race) recently, but I am SO out of breath when I'm finally done so I need to keep it up and get stronger and better. :) I'm also going to look for 5K's to participate in up in Utah. Gotta keep this OLD body healthy!!
2. Learn how to make DVD's of home videos of our family memories (I can't tell you how excited I am to get this under my belt!)
3. Read my scriptures for 365 days straight. Gulp! Ok, so I am sporadic at this, but this is my new goal---so even if it is just for 5 minutes. 

So there you have it, my 3 goals for the next year. I thought I'd better keep the list nice and simple so I don't get in over my head. I LOVE life and am so grateful for another year to learn and grow.

TOFW

Laura, Sheryl, Leslie, Lindsey, Lisa,Tiffany, Cherece, LeAnn

I went to TOFW (Time Out for Women) this year with the Hancock ladies. :)

Here are a few things I loved:

Laurel Christensen talked about faith in Christ. She explained the difference between having faith in an outcome and having faith in Christ. I loved learning about that. A couple quotes she shared were: "Do the thing you think you cannot do." -Eleanor Roosevelt and "Don't you dare be the only thing standing in your way."

Brad Wilcox talked about faith and testimony. One thing he said was "I used to think the 'ultimate' was seeing Christ but the more I study the scriptures and learn about the gospel I realize that the 'ultimate' is not seeing Christ (since we will all see Christ) but the real ultimate is Christ seeing Him in us." He was quoting a missionary who shared that with him in Chili. He also talked about the miracle of Christ changing water to wine and how to him that story is important because it is an example of how Christ can change the impossible.

Mary Ellen Edmunds talked about remembering who we are as an individual. She talked a lot about the power of pure love. She said, "Do you know how many people in this world are never treated as real?"   That struck me.

Hilary Weeks is a great singer! And a pretty awesome speaker too :). I was laughing and crying at different times listening to her.

The Eyres (mother and daughter) are always some of my faves too. They mentioned that tribulation can make us bitter or better. We choose which.

Another speaker, Matt Baldwin, talked about the problem with conformity. Loved it! I think sometimes we can feel like as long as we conform to the "right" stuff we are good to go--but Heavenly Father wants us to be individuals and choose to do what we do because we have a testimony.

It was great to hang out with my in-laws too! We stayed at a hotel while hubbies stayed at home with kids. Reed and Sheryl paid for all of us to attend and have a weekend together--so generous and kind!!

Other fun pictures:

Tiff, Lindsey, Leslie

Lisa, Sheryl, LeAnn, Laura

 

Cherece and LeAnn

Laura

Lisa

Cherece with Shawni Eyre Pothier (one of the presenters)

So pretty :)

Random Sunday thoughts

My five-year-old flipped over the back of the pew we were sitting in in church today. I watched it happen and hoped that he would hit his head. Last Monday night for FHE we went to the church, filled into the chapel and practiced sitting reverently for extended periods of time. No flipping occurred that night.

A distant relative recently died. His name was Ted, he was married to my grandpa's cousin, Devona. Whenever I was in Utah I would go visit Ted and Devona. They were a kind old couple and really enjoyed our company. Ted was one of the nicest people I knew. I put his small newspaper obituary in my scriptures--it felt like a good place to keep it because he seemed to have so many of the good, Christ-like qualities I want to develop. He and Devona were some of those rare people you meet who truly radiate love.

After church I made my five-year-old practice being reverent by sitting on our piano bench--in hopes that no more pew flippings will occur. Later on I read a huge stack of picture books with a kicking (and luckily cooing not crying) baby on my lap and the two kids by my side. The house was still looking messy even after everybody cleaned up a little. And when bedtime (7pm) rolled around I was relieved. Goodnight #1, goodnight #2, breastfeed, burp and goodnight #3! I was tired and frazzled and had deliberately, painstakingly kept my cool at several different times tonight.

When I walked into our bedroom I noticed a little piece of paper with a smiley face on it jaggedly cut out with a little pair of scissors. Several months ago Miles had a primary lesson about service and received a smiley face to leave in place of a secret act of service. We used the smiley face several times around the house as we did service for each other before it was lost. Tonight Hailey did an act of service for her brother and dad (she put their shoes away for them) and wanted to make paper smiley faces to leave for each of them. I had helped her get out the crayons, paper, and scissors. In the craziness and exhaustion of the early evening before bedtime I had forgotten all about it. But now, in the new quiet of the night I found the smiley face on our bed. My feelings of annoyance and fatigue were replaced with love for my kids. It made me SO grateful that I had so deliberately kept my cool when I was frustrated, exhausted, and feeling overworked. It was worth it. It will always be worth it!

I think I'm going to keep this sweet little smiley face paper in my scriptures too...to remind me of the goodness of a little girl and that those Christ-like attributes I desperately want to develop might sometimes have to be developed one painstaking moment at a time when it is tempting to do otherwise. I really hope someday I can be as nice and kind as Ted was.

The "Tiffany" feeling

Joey and I went to the temple on Friday morning. We left our kids with some friends. The drive up was nice and relaxing--I was sitting in the passenger side of our car letting Joey take care of the driving while I had no children or responsibilities to worry about. I tried to think about the last time I had felt so relaxed and couldn't remember.

We got to the temple and the whether was warm, but not blazing hot, so it felt great to be outside. We parked across the street in front of a big tree. Strangely I had the urge to just sit under the tree and take in the beautiful day for a few minutes. I don't get those urges very much now that I'm "grown up" and I felt happy and peaceful. It had been so long since my mind had been cleared of all worries, problems, responsibilities and distractions.

As I walked to the entrance of the temple I noticed seedlings in the flower beds. Even the seedlings with no flowers on them were pretty.

I entered the temple and went to the dressing room. In my locker area, as I changed into my temple dress, I quietly enjoyed the "Tiffany" feeling. At that moment I wasn't "Momma" or "Mrs. Hancock" or any of the other roles I have in life.  I was simply Heavenly Father's daughter. I was simply myself. I felt loved.


As I spent time in the temple I felt recommitted and energized. It was as if Heavenly Father was reminding me, "Don't forget who you are. And don't forget what life's all about." I had some reminders that I need to be better in some very specific ways. I felt encouragement. I went away with new commitments. It didn't take an inspiring talk or lesson or sermon or any other kind of persuasion to give me those feelings and reminders--it only took some quiet time in the temple.

Now I'm back to being "Mama"--the house is a huge mess, we have no fresh food in the fridge, Joey is at work until 5 tonight, and I'm wondering if Miles' extreme grumpiness this morning was due to staying up too late at night yesterday or due to my lack of mothering skills...yep, life definitely waited for me to get back :).

That's ok, because even when I get so caught up with life and forget to remember myself Heavenly Father never forgets who I am and I'm glad he gave me such a great reminder yesterday.

25

Recently, I turned 25--which means I am a quarter of the way to one of my life goals--to reach the ripe old age of 100. May I remind Joey at this point that I have made a goal for him to live to be at least 106, since, of course, we are six years apart in age.

Actually, I don't care if I live to be 100, although it might be nice. Nicer still would be if Joey and I could be guaranteed to always be together no matter how wrinkled our skin gets. (Ooops, somehow I have fast forwarded 75 years ahead, let me come back to being 25 again.)

I have been thinking about how blessed my life is at this point. At this very point in my life. It is good and I want to remember the good, and savor it. Take it all in. There will be bad moments I know. They will pass like they always do and the good will return just like it always does. But, right now, there seems to a lot of good to soak in.

My kids are happy and I enjoy staying at home with them each day. The hot weather is slowly melting away into fall. Joey and I have been able to spend lots of time together. Our health is good. So is the health of our friends and family. We have many friends and family who would help us out in a heartbeat. Our home is comfortable and beautiful. We have peace in our home.

I can't think of anything better than all of this. I want to pass the good along to others. I want to volunteer, and donate what we can spare. I'm even feeling in the mood to donate blood! And that's not common for me!

Thank you to everybody who makes our life what it is. Thanks for being our friends and our family and loving us despite whatever may sometimes make us a little less lovable. Thanks for all the kindness.

I didn't think much of my birthday this year. Maybe I've finally grown up enough not to care so much. I was too busy with life I guess. But the day came and the phone didn't seem to stop ringing and the love didn't stop showering all day long. I didn't need it all, I would have still had a great day without it I think. But, all the kindness meant a lot to me. Each one was like a small gift! It was unexpected and it was nice. I'm not perfect, but it's obvious I've got friends and family who love me anyway. Thanks guys!

25 has come, and it is good and beautiful!

My first garden

I started my first garden this year!!

I was thrilled when my seeds and plants didn't die and even more thrilled when they actually began to grow! And then the moment of truth--we began to get produce!! I was shock that it actually all worked! I actually got things to grow!!

Here's an inventory of our entire "harvest" this summer:


1 cute little pumpkin


5 watermelon


8 eggplants


Many patty pan squash (didn't keep count)



Almost too many yellow squash (no count)


WAY too much zucchini--we were giving bagfuls away!


And lots of tomatoes (but you can never have to many tomatoes!)


My first couple of "harvests" were exciting enough to take a picture. I still was in shock that I got things to grow!!

Working in the garden became one of my favorite things to do. I loved working the soil. I loved the way the plants smelled. I loved watching the veggies start out as tiny green buds and then day by day grow into something bigger and edible!

I also enjoyed watching the little "ecosystem" that developed in our garden. I didn't want to use any pest control and watching the "wildlife" was actually kind of fun.
Lizards loved our garden and were always in it. I don't blame them. It was cool and wet and had plenty of grub!


This little guy made our garden his home. I saw him many times. I guess I could count him and the "guy" below as my pest control for the smaller bugs...


I saw this BIG guy out in the garden a lot too. He made a massive web in between the leaves of the tomatoes. We made a deal, as long as he left us alone and stayed on his side of the yard then I'd leave him alone too.

All in all it was a great experience. It was really fun and I feel like I learned a lot. I am really excited for next year's garden!!

I'm a gardenin'

I started a garden this year. Our FIRST ever!

The squash, zucchini, eggplant, and tomato plants are thriving---but my watermelon and pumpkin plants are barely surviving!

Way back in February I planted seeds. After a month of no seedlings I gave up and bought plants. In the last few weeks my seeds have been sprouting like CRAZY.

I didn't know how much fun I'd have working out in the garden. It is a lot of work, but a lot of fun and I'm learning a lot about the science of gardening.

I found some local gardeners to help out. They will work for food. Specifically graham crackers!

On youth

My entire life I've always been young. Go ahead and laugh at that first sentence!

I was always a year younger than everyone else in my grade. I was also the smallest kid.

I moved out of my parents house to attend college 3 months after I graduated high school.

I got married earlier than you! I'll bet you I did.

I graduated with my bachelors when I was 21. I gave birth to Miles three weeks later.

I'm 24 years old. And I love being 24. I have no aches or pains. I can run after my kids all day. My knees never crack. I don't forget things (I think). If I make a mistake I can always say to myself, "Oh well. I'm young..."

And I'm 5 feet tall. I like it.

But here's my problem: I get LOTS of comments about my size and how young I look. From old people a lot of the time. And often from strangers. And many times the comments are just embarrassing.

Like the time an older man blurted out in front of our church marriage enrichment class "You look like your 14!" when I was 8 months pregnant with Hailey sitting next to my husband. Please, please, please don't tell me that...because there are 14-year-olds who get married; and that makes headlines; and it's just plain weird....

When taking Miles to swimming lessons last summer I was asked about "being a teenage mother." I stood there in stunned silence. When I get these kind of comments I'm usually taken completely off guard so I don't have a response.

Yesterday someone greeted me with "Hello little girl!" Apparently I look that young. Oh, boy. And looking this young can get old.

Most of the time the comments are not meant to be offensive. And I'm not sensitive about it and I just get on with my life mostly. But honestly, I get these comments on a regular basis and I've been thinking about it. Like last Tuesday, "You look like you're in Jr. High." I answer, "I guess I'll love it when I'm fifty!" That's all I could think up on the spur of the moment...

Just for the record and because I'm letting off steam here...I want to tell those total strangers and those other acquaintances (none of which read this blog)....if you want to come up and tell me my kids are cute please do! Let's talk about the beautiful weather or how your family's doing. Let's talk about whatever. I'm not hypersensitive about my size or age so if you really want to talk about it that's fine. But keep it in good taste. If you think I look like a Miamaid please don't mention that. I've already heard it before. I don't want to be clumped in the "teenage mom" category even if it's a joke and I have way too many responsibilities to be called a "little girl" anymore.

Ok. There. I said it. Now, if I could just print this off and hand it off to people when they tell me I look like I belong in Jr. High...Not really, I'm not going to do that. I guess I'll just keep smiling and saying stuff, "Sure will be a nice trait when I'm fifty..." But sometimes I'll probably still not know what exactly to say...if only I could come up with a witty but non-offensive response every time I get a comment like that....if only I could do that then I probably wouldn't be writing about all of this on my blog!

A list of gratitude

In honor of Thanksgiving the shortlist of what I am thankful for.

Joey*Miles and Hailey*parents and siblings*nieces and nephews and cousins to my kids…I’m glad they’ve got good examples and friends like you*aunts and uncles (shout out to Aunt Leslie, Aunt Lindsey, Uncle Dave, and Uncle Josh)*Extended family*grandmas and grandpas*Dr. Bean we like to see you, but it’s too bad we see you as often as we do*modern medicine*health it’s so precious*nursery teachers*dear friends old and new*good neighbors**the gospel*Jesus Christ*my education*BYU*All those teachers who kept me busy and enlarged my understanding*Joey’s job*A husband who works hard for the success of our family*the luxury and opportunity to stay at home and raise and teach my kids how I want to every single day*a best friend who happens to be my husband too*a house*a backyard (thanks for doing all the hard work on it dear)*A live in fix it guy who can fix just about anything in our house*naps—for the kids and for me *sleeping in once in a blue moon*ice cream*when Miles makes it to the potty on time without prompting*a clean house once in a blue moon*scented candles so if my house isn’t clean at least it smells good*books*General Conference*sleeping through the night*winter in Arizona*summer vacations not in Arizona*holidays*Paid holidays*Joey’s Fridays off*dates*babysitters*grocery shopping without kids*running errands without kids *the park*story time at the library*when Miles tells me he loves me*Joey’s help at home*Nicos taco shop*reading books to Miles*Hailey’s snuggles*snuggles with the Mr.* 7pm *walks*movies*the newspaper*Costco and Target my very favorite stores*very quiet moments by myself*very quiet moments with Joey*phone calls from Joey*Miles’ cute sayings*a clean fridge (when it actually happens)*financial security*being debt free--except for the mortgage*the peace of mind that comes from living within a budget*on the same note, the peace of mind that comes from following the prophets and living the gospel*love emails from the mr.*Cold Stone*the chance to breastfeed—the best things in life are free!*people who inspire me to be better like President Monson, President Hinckley, Nie, Amber the list goes on and on*NPR when there’s no good music on they never let me down*birthdays and I don’t care if they eventually make me old*Primary*Moms who inspire me over and over again with their love of motherhood*those who give me the benefit of the doubt *when I’m able to overcome myself *positive attitudes—those who have them and share them with me thank you so much!*smiles from my kids*a husband who thinks I’m pretty even first thing in the morning*4:45pm I’m so glad when daddy comes home!* *good haircuts (they are worth every penny and I never feel guilty for spending a bunch on a good cut!)*pants in the women’s section that actually fit me*every once in a while getting brand new clothes that make me feel beautiful*people who stop me to tell me I have cute babies*courteous drivers*motherhood*marriagehood*my country—I’m about as American as they come*smoothies *people who can make me laugh—like our old home teacher*to be alive what a gift!

6 quirky things

Chrissy tagged me and asked me to name 6 quirky things about myself.

1. I get light headed at the sight of needles. I can't watch my kids get shots and whenever I get a shot/I.V./ or blood test I faint about half the time. The last time it happened I was pregnant with Hailey and getting a blood test. I woke up on the floor with a pillow under my head.

2. Joey and I don't have T.V. right now and haven't had it since February. Do I miss it? Not anymore.

3. The books I am reading right now are: Potty Training for Dummies, The Potty Training Answer Guide, and New Moon by Stephanie Meyer.

4. When people ask me where I'm from I never know how to answer. I honestly don't feel like I'm from anywhere. When I was growing up my family moved from state to state pretty often. Instead, when I think of home I think of the gospel. That's the one thing that's stayed constant in my life no matter what.

5. My favorite thing is to get dressed up and go out on a nice date with Joey--sans children.

6. I like going out for walks and I try to go on walks with my kids every day.

Tagged!

Lynette tagged me...here are the rules! Describe your life in SIX WORDS, then tag 5 people. Here goes:

1. Happy
2. Children
3. Marriage
4. Busy
5. Learning
6. Love

I'm pretty bad at responding to tags usually so I don't think I deserve to put anybody on the spot. If you read this and want to do it then consider yourself tagged.

Prego picture

I'm ready to pop!