Sweet is the peace

I am so grateful for the gospel in my life. I am grateful for the perspective that it gives us. The time here on the earth is so fast, so fleeting. I have been so overwhelmed with projects and assignments that will be done in a matter of weeks, and it will all be over. I need to enjoy every day and minute that I have here - so why should I let anything drag me down? I am happy today, filled with the sweet peace that is found when I realign my priorities to what really matters. What a beautiful day!

My Adventures... Revisited

Paul's Birthday (We also had a party for him later, but I'll have to get those pictures on another time.)

Paul got to take a friend to the football game!

It was pretty sunny and hot.

Isn't she just adorable??

So this morning I set out thinking that I had the day pretty well planned. I was getting ready in a timely fashion, the kids were dressed and eating breakfast, I had even had a chance to read my scriptures. When all of the the sudden (Oh NO) I realize I have a quiz this morning that I had completely forgotten about!! I quickly look up all of the songs - which I am supposed to have committed to memory by now, and ruch to listen to them and try to pick out their defining qualities. We all run to the car, because now I'm 15 minutes behind schedule, and at every stop light I manage to get one more song, composer and date memorized. I run Paul into school and then it's back to the apartments to drop of Daven and Ruthie. I have to quickly feed the baby, while I'm furiously trying review the crammed info from the drive there and back. Once the kids are settled at my wonderful and amazing friend's house - whom I dearly love and don't know how I would survive without her! - I rush away again to get myself to campus before class starts. Of course there is the usual traffic on the way there, but then there is this guy in the parking garage who takes FOREVER!! I'm so close - SO CLOSE and yet so far. I know we won't find a spot until we get to the 4th or 5th floor, but somehow he thinks that just around that next corner is going to be his lucky spot, and he doesn't want to be going to fast to miss it! I find a spot on the 4th floor of the garage and I sprint in to my class and somehow I make it on time. I take the quiz, after class I take a midterm, the it's off to run some paperwork to the pediatrician, clean the car, pick up the kids, meet a lady from Craigslist, pick up some vitamins, get home, feed the kids, do the laundry, bathe the kids, and finally... FINALLY it's bedtime.

This is my crazy life, and really... I'm pretty happy. :-)

Confessions

I'm tired. My house is a disaster, and it's driving me nuts. At night, I'm not as nice of a mom as I should be. I don't want to do anything productive, I just want to sit and be lazy. And honestly, I feel a little lost as to why I'm still in school right now.
It's hard to keep doing something that is so hard, and you keep getting the answer to your prayer - keep going - and yet... you have no idea why. Somewhere deep within me I gain some strength by thinking that I'm bending my will to the Father's. That I'm not giving in to the "natural man" in me that wants to say "ENOUGH!" But nights like tonight, when I'm all alone, I really wonder how strong I am, and how long I'm going to be able to keep back the tide. I feel like I'm the little Dutch boy with his finger in the wall, just hoping that the ocean doesn't come crashing through. He had strength... can I be like him too? Do we all feel like him? Finding ourselves in a spot where it takes some superhuman strength to do what we are asked to do? Oh how I want to be strong. I want to be strong like the women around me who love what they do, and find ways to do what they have to do even better. I understand that no one is perfect, but everyone is strong at something, and their strength gives me courage.
I hope you know, I am talking to you. You, who is reading this. Can I draw from your strength? Can you stay the course just one mare day, so that I can gain courage from your efforts? Because tonight... I am tired.