Sweet 16!

Yesterday, Ginny celebrated her sweet sixteen. It is nearly impossible to believe that she is sixteen and old enough to date.  Thursday evening, we went to the Orpehum to try to get ticket for Ginny to see Wicked.  We did not get the lottery discounted tickets but were able to still get tickets.  She, Jake, Aubree, and Estella (Ginny's friend) went. They seemed to have a good time.  Last night, we had her a little party and she also officially was asked on her first date to Mormon Prom. I am not sure that Jake nor I are ready for this stage in our life but we sure do love her. She's a good egg.
According to you:
You currently want to be when you grow up a dental hygienist
Your favorite color is gray or pink
 Your favorite show is The Office always
Your favorite games are the ones I win
Your favorite toy or activity is softball
Your favorite girl is myself
You are really good at wasting time or cursive
Your best friend is Stella
You want to vacation to Europe
Your favorite ice cream is any kind
Your wish is to be a better person
Your hero is Jesus
Your favorite thing to do with your friends is play games or just hang out
Your favorite holiday is Halloween
Your favorite person in the whole world is me of course 
Your favorite song is throwback jams
Your favorite restaurant is anywhere not Mexican or pizza
Your favorite foods are: candy, haystacks, ramen, pineapple, or buffalo dip
 If you had $1000 you would buy an automatic car

Happiest of Birthdays to my main squeeze!

This good looking man celebrated his birthday on Friday. He stayed home from school, kept the boys home, saw a movie, and then started Will on his colon cleanse medication that he has to do for three days.  His colon is over 1/3 full of poop and there should be no poop at all in his colon. This man is my squeeze, my everything. He is the frosting on my cake, the chips with my salsa.  He makes me better in every way and my days are so much better with him in them. To my Jake- I love you more than words can describe.

What do I want from the Savior?

For some reason last night, I allowed myself to get very discouraged. I was not counting my blessings and comparing myself to others.  I had saw where someone that I know was surprised with a new car and I my mind decided to think "why am I not showered with gifts from Jake", "why is that I work so hard but am not fortunate to have exquisite things",  "why am I not beloved", and other crazy things.  Yet, as I laid in bed last night, I thought of all the wonderful things I do have and all the simple, small tokens of love and gifts that I am showered with from Jake.  He has a way of making me feel okay with who I am.  I love finding notes from him and gestures such as washing my car, vacuuming my car, holding my hand, a brush across my back, or simply re-filling my water bottle. I am truly blessed but what I find more ironic is that is seemed that the Relief Society lesson today was exactly what I needed.  Rebekah, my sister, taught it and the lesson was based on a talk from general conference last October entitled "Value beyond Measure" by Joy D Jones. I thought I would share some of the parts of the talk that stood out to me and lifted my spirits.  Often, I think there are times where we forget our divine worth or feel down on ourselves and need reminders. I have no doubt that today's lesson was exactly what I needed.
"...worth means to value ourselves the way Heavenly Father values us, not as the world values us....worthiness is achieved through obedience."
"No matter what, we always have worth in the eyes of our Heavenly Father.Despite this marvelous truth, how many of us struggle, from time to time, with negative thoughts or feelings about ourselves? I do. It’s an easy trap. Satan is the father of all lies, especially when it comes to misrepresentations about our own divine nature and purpose. Thinking small about ourselves does not serve us well. Instead it holds us back. As we’ve often been taught, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”We can stop comparing our worst to someone else’s best. “Comparison is the thief of joy."
"If we choose to focus on our negative thoughts and doubt our worth instead of clinging to the Savior, it becomes more difficult to feel the impressions of the Holy Ghost."
Oh and one more thing that stood out from sacrament today were two questions that were asked to contemplate: 1. What do I want from the Savior? and 2. What will I allow the Savior to do for me?

Spring Break 2018

This year for Spring Break we did not travel. Ginny had softball games and I was showing homes to some people coming in from out of town (they ended up buying in MS but that’s okay). Jake did take the boys on an overnight camping trip in AR. The girls and I stayed here for a game and I worked the softball game. He and Will have been training to climb peaks so they started in Arkansas because it was closest. After their hike and camping, they went to crater of diamonds to search for diamond. Chris wanted to find one so he’d be rich and could get his own in ground pool. The girls and I hung out here but I did allow them each to have a friend over. Overall it wasn’t as productive as I would have liked but the boys had a “man trip” and created memories with their dad.