Happiness...

Warning: this will be pretty mushy.

I love my life. Is it perfect? No, but it is very very good. My husband is wonderful, he's my best friend. We are goofy and weird, but we laugh a lot and we talk about everything. We talk about stupid stuff and serious stuff and everything that falls between stupid and serious. Some people have told me that we are still in the honeymoon stage, and that is why we get along so well. Maybe they are right, but I don't think so. Why can't two people just really love and enjoy being with each other? Is that really that far fetched?  I love my husband more because of the things we have been through, the tough stuff has brought us closer.

And then there is Camberlyn. She's pretty awesome. I know everyone thinks their kids are great, but I just can't get over how much I love this little girl. She has developed such a personality; She loves to be outside, she's super social, very very active and stubborn (Brynt says she gets the stubbornness from me, I have no idea what he talking about. ha ha). She has mastered rolling now, in fact she tends to show off now. She rolls everywhere, and if she cant roll to get where she wants to go she does this funny wiggle/army crawl thing... once this kid can crawl for real, I am in big trouble. She's a handful and a half, but she's so fun and funny. 

This little family of mine is great. Some days Cam is cranky, some days I am over whelmed, and some days Brynt is worn out, But we are here to help and uplift each other when one of us needs it. I love them, and I love this life that I am so privileged to live.

Happiness is not in things, it is in us.

Let's set the record straight here

So you know how on blogger you can see who visits your blog? Today I was looking through and noticed that I had a ton of visits from this one site, which I thought was weird so decided to check it out. Turns out it was an anti-mormonism chat room. Someone started a post saying " Friend of mine's post on how amazing it is to clean the temple", with a link to a blog post I had done about a temple experience Brynt and I had had. To which many people chimed in about how brain washed and pathetic I am, how sad it is that I don't know I belong to a cult, that I am a robot, that I am deluded, that I was married at 18 and brain washed into doing so, that I am dumb, that my name is too "mormony"(?), that I am uneducated and can't think for myself... and on and on.
I don't know who the "friend" was that posted my blog on the site. But obviously they don't actually know me. At all.
 I am a convert, I chose this life. I was not married at 18, I am not brain washed, my name is just my name and was chosen before I or my parents joined the Church, I do not belong to a cult ( I've done some research on those, pretty positive this is not a cult), I have lots to learn but I am 15 credits shy of my bachelors  so I consider myself at least somewhat educated, and I am not a robot because if I was I am sure my house would be much cleaner.  I am my own person and I do as I please. It just so happens that it pleases me to be a member of this Church. And you know what, I am happy.  And not a brain washed crazy person who thinks she is happy, I actually enjoy my life.

I respect other people's views. You don't like what I believe? That's just fine with me, It is a natural right to believe whatever we want. But don't make me the punch line of your jokes because of my religion. I won't do that anyone, because unlike you, my so called friend, I don't have to put others down about what they believe in order to feel good about what I believe.

2 Years ago

Do you ever wake up and go, " holy cow, a lot has happened in my life in the last 2 years". Maybe not that exact phrase, but something like that?
 Well this morning I did. which sent me back in time to May of 2010. At that time I was living back in AZ, working as a Physical Therapy tech at  Desert Hand Therapy and loving every minute of it. I love the field of physical therapy, it is incredibly rewarding to help people heal. I miss that job.
I was in a serious relationship with Brynt Barney, which in and of it self is a bit funny because I had said years before that that I would never date him. We were talking about getting married, and I thought that was huge. He had known for months that he wanted to marry me, but I wasn't sure if I was ready to give up my independence. But by the end of May, 2010 I knew I wanted to marry Brynt, I knew I loved him and nothing I ever did on my own would be as good as what we could accomplish together.

Now it is May 2012, I live in Idaho, I am a stay at home mom, I am married to the man I said I would never date (never say never right?), I have a three, soon to be four month old baby girl, and I love my life.
Things have changed so much in the last 2 years, it blows my mind. But I love it, every bit of it. I have learned that it is more important to make goals than plans. Plans get ruined... a lot, they have a set rout to get you to your destination and that's it. But goals are different, they give you a destination and let you choose the path you take to get there. Two years ago I had a lot of plans, most of which didn't come to be. Now I have a lot of goal, and I am excited to see what path my life takes to get to them.

A super classy bathroom picture of Brynt and I from 2010.  We've come a long way in two years, Ha.

Back Porch Garden Box

So Brynt and I love projects. making stuff, remaking stuff, its our thing.
Today we built a garden box for the back step, and its awesome. We live in a townhouse/apartment so we don't really have a yard that is "ours", its more like everyone's yard. But I really wanted to do a little garden this summer. Solution? This little guy.

This was honestly really easy. The side pieces are pre-made stairs that you can get at Lowes or Home Depot that we flipped over. We used 2x4's for the middle sections, it took five 8ft boards cut in half: two in the back of the top tier, two in the front of the bottom tier, one in the back of the bottom tier (laid flat ) and one in the front of the top tier (up right). We then covered the bottom of the box with screen door fabric... And that is it. Simple.

Then it was on to the fun part of filling it with dirt and planting! Yay! Here is the finished product.

Fits great on the back step and saves lots of room. I am a happy girl.

Dresser Redo

I have been wanting to get a dresser for the baby's room for a while now, but I just couldn't find one that was the right dimensions for her room. Then I came across this little guy at a thrift store the other day.

It wasn't exactly a beauty to start with but I saw potential.
So, First step : Sand it down. Just enough to get the finish off so the paint will stick.

Next : Paint! Brynt is the one who chose this wild green, but the rest her furniture is very colorful as well so it works. It took about 3 coats for it to really be covered.

For the drawers I had decided that I wanted to cover them in different colored fabrics. 

I found squares of fabric at the store meant for quilting that worked great. I made sure to Iron them first.

Then I removed the handles and applied Mod Podge to the drawer face.

 I then smoothed out the fabric onto the drawer, and covered with more Mod Podge.

To finish it off I trimmed the excess fabric, painted and re-atatched the handles and it was ready to go!

And I love it! It goes great in her colorful and crazy room :)

Well that was Awesome.

Things were going good this morning. I got to eat breakfast, I was in a good mood, Cam was playing and being good ... and then in a matter of seconds it all went down the toilet.
I was working on a craft while Camberlyn was playing in her jungle gym. Then I noticed the red eye brows, concentrated expression and yellow stain that was growing quickly. She had exploded out of her diaper. Awesome.
I quickly went over to assess the situation, craft still in hand. Did I mention the craft included a bottle with watered down, smurf blue paint? Well it did.
When I got over to the baby she kicks the bottle in my hand and gets blue paint all over her foot and the carpet. Double Awesome.
Now I have a baby with poo everywhere, a tiny blue foot and a lovely blue spot on the carpet.
I took a deep breath, laughed a little and got to work. I am still working on the carpet, but for the most part I got the disaster under control.

Words With Power

I am obsessed with quotes. I even have a little leather bound note book that I write all my favorite quotes in. I like quotes because they make me think, or make me want to change for the better.  I think I love them so much because word are powerful. Words stay with you long after they are said.
So, with that in mind, I would like to share a few of my most favorite quotes and why I like them.

" Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."~ Abraham Lincoln
I love this quote  because in reality that what it comes down to. Yes bad things will happen, and sorrow will over take us sometimes, but we have a choice. Each and every day we can choose to be as happy as possible.


"I believe in Christ like I believe in the sun - Not because I can see it, but by it I can see everything else." ~ C.S. Lewis
Christ makes it possible for me to see everything, but most of all he make it possible to see what is most important in life.
 

"Never, Never, Never give up." ~ Winston Churchill
If you are striving for something, if you are try to over come something, Never give up.  It is as simple as that.


"Opportunity is missed by most because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." ~ Thomas A. Edison
Don't underestimate the power of work, it has become far to undervalued in our society. One the many things I am thankful my parents taught me is that you can accomplish a lot in life if you are willing to work for it.

 
"A ship is safe in harbor- but that's not what ships are for." ~John A. Shedd
You were created with the potential to do great things, and although it is hard to cross the stormy sea of life sometimes, you will never know how incredible you are until you set sail and take on the adventures that await you.



Smile :)