Elder DeCow had a Baptism!!

 

 

 

 

October 2014 Visiting Teaching Message

 

Thanks from the help of pinkpolkadotcreations.com I was able to make this cute handout for my wards Relief society email!!!

 

My Missionary

Elder Scott DeCow is on his mission!! He is in Plainfield, Indiana. He loves it. His letters are amazing and each week it seems to get easier not having him home, knowing that he is happy and loving his work. I was not prepared for how emotional this would be. The best present this year was being able to skype with him for Christmas!! It was awesome and very reassuring that he is happy and safe.  Letting go is the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I know he is in the right place and doing the right thing.

Lessons learned in 2013

There are a few thing I have learned this past year.
First of all,

It really is possible to fall through your deck and when you do, no one will care, but when your husband gets the shingles, oh the sympathy he gets and dinners brought to him. Hell, I could barely walk and my husband was in Hawaii!
Iv'e learned I can be a little dramatic.
When someone asks you if you need help and you say no and you really do, it's your own dang fault!
No one can really care about you but yourself. Oh, some people may say they will, but ultimately your on your own.
Maybe, some people care about you for awhile. ok, I do have a few friends that I know care and I love them for it.
There are very few people I trust and even fewer men I trust.
You can't rely on anyone to make you happy, or to fix your problems. Its all up to you.
Never put people on a pedestal they will only disappoint you.
No one is perfect and if you think someone is look harder because they are not.
Sometimes bad things just happen.
No matter how hard you try and prepare yourself for situations or for things to happen, it never goes the way you think it will. sometimes its better sometimes its not.
No one tells you the pain and heartache that comes with being a missionary mom. (actually my sister did about 2 months before my son left). It is still hard.
You have to try and focus on the positive and remind yourself to do that many times a day.
Always go with your gut feeling, because it is usually right!
You can not make someone do something they don't want to do even if its the right thing to do.
Prayers can not make someone change their heart.
Think before you speak.
Writing in your journal helps vent out frustrations.
Some problems will never go away.
Sometimes giving up is better.
You may never get a "sorry" from someone who hurts you so bad.
Sometimes you should just keep quiet and deal with the pain.
People get tired of you and give up on you.
Some people just do not listen.
Some people will treat you like you are inferior.
Road Rage doesn't fix the bad drivers, it just makes you even more mad and frustrated.
Listening to The Piano Guys makes everything better, for the moment.
Nicholas' hugs are the best!!
Girls Night Outs are AWESOME and are truly needed to survive!!!!

This year I have to change, I have to change my way of thinking and be more positive. Make peace with the past and move forward as best as I can. Some things will just never get resolved without causing more problems.

Revised once again

Ok, its been four years since I made this list and two since I revised it. Lets see what has changed.

Hmm... I found this Christmas list from two years ago, lets see what has changed.


A clean house.. That I didn't have to clean :) Still want this for sure!! Still wanting this!!
The dishes done and put away. Does this ever happen?
My carpet cleaned.......we put in wood floor and I love it!! Best decision ever!
Nicholas to be potty trained :)Yes!!! Finally Will the Dog ever be potty trained?
The kids quit telling me that they are bored. That will never happen!A bigger kitchen, where I actually have room for stuff ....Bigger kitchen, just a bigger mess right? I need a bigger kitchen..I can dream right?
Someone to make dinner other than me! Take out!!
The laundry done for at least more than a day.
Shawn to actually think and care about getting me a Christmas gift before Christmas Eve! well, its Dec. 18th and he is starting to plan his shopping day...on Christmas Eve! At least he got me something
Shawn to write me a love letter instead of worrying on Christmas eve about getting me a gift.
The dog to not have any accidents in the house!! :( No dog...he got ran over. New Dog!!
A new kitchen table. I really want a new table!
Donny to be my friend and actually know who I am....At least I got to see Him in May!!!! Had tickets to Christmas with Donny and Marie last year!
Donny to sing to me no, don't want this. it would be embarrassing
My sister Lori to come and visit me!! Well, she moved closer..she's in Texas now.
She's in Vegas now! even closer!
My kids to stop saying that I am the worst mom in the world or that they hate me. They are teenagers, what do you expect. One day they will know what a good Mom I tried to be! Whatever! they can think what they want.
To be 10 years younger. Who doesn't want this? How abot 15 years younger
My 20 year high school reunion not to be in 6 months Didn't go..no one missed me anyway.  wished I would have gone.
To be out of credit card debt.
My hair to stop going grey so often. I just get to buy hair dye more often!
My kids to realize I have a life that isn't centered around them, oh wait I don't have one
This year I would love.....
Shawn to keep his job. He didn't now works with a friend
Me to keep mine! I didn't School closed
Scott to finally get his Eagle and Driver's license. YES!! and he's on a mission!
**you know what, thats it!! After a couple of rough years, I'm grateful for what I have!! I have my family, we are all somewhat healthy, and a home. To some I may have it all!
I guess you could say for Christmas this year I am asking for a miracle! Well, maybe I'm a little closer to a miracle....then again, maybe not! ok, I just don't want it to get worse. Last year and a half were horrible and I'm losing hope. I'm going to try hard to have a positive outlook, but its oh so very hard.

His and Her Pedicures

I went and had a pedicure and Shawn decided that he wanted one too, whatever, so he came with me.  I love getting pedicures, my feet loves them too!!

February Update

Oh My!! February went by so fast, I'm not to sure what happened. Shawn was home from Hawaii the first week in Feb, then left for San Francisco about a week later. He sent me some pictures. He was working a lot there and he did not enjoy it like he did Hawaii. Valentines and went, Madison and I made some chocolate dipped strawberries. Shawn brought home Madi a dozen roses, but not me. He is a weirdo.  My beautiful cousin Alyson renewed her vows and I must say, it was one of the most fanciest and beautiful wedding celebrations I have ever been to. I loved every minute of it!!

January Update

Wow, a lot of stuff happened in January. Shawn lost his job in december and has been working for friends here and there. He went to Hawaii for 2 1/2 weeks in January. He worked really hard over there, but managed to get some time in to snorkle and fish. He came home and said he wanted to move over there. hahah, if only. While he was gone in paradise, we were freezing here! It was so so cold, so much snow!! One day we had a freak ice storm and everything was iced over! I couldn't even walk accross the street to get Nick from school!!

Blog vs Facebook

I use to blog alot. I would blog about the happenings of my life and add a few pictures, really blogging was kind of like my journal. I think with a lot of thing, things come and go. Blogging was once all the rage and everyone was writting. Facebook has come along and changed that, at least for me anyway. I post a lot on facebook, mainly beacause its so simple and fast. I put one line comments and add pictures. One thing I know for sure, NO one reads my blog, but a lot of my friends will read facebook and "like" my status or even comment. I need to continue to blog as well though. I have noticed that blogging really helps me out more than anything. Its good to get things out and to write about your feelings. It is fun to go back and look at the things you have written and see how things have changed. I need to put some of the things I have put on facebook on here as well. I havent written since January and now its march! I need to update!

A Dream Come True...............

So it has always been somewhat of a dream of mine to see Donny and Marie. I have loved them since I was 7 years old. My sweet husband surprised me for christmas with tickets to see their Christmas Show in Salt lake !!!  What is even more amazing is that he planned this way back in september!! Usually he waits till Christmas eve to get me anything. Wow maybe hes getting better!! Love ya Shawn thanks!!!! ps we had awesome seats!! 3rd row just down from Elder L Tom Perry!!

Jan 2013 VT message

My Eagle Scout

YIPEE, FINALY!!! We are done! We have managed to get Scott's eagle court out of the way!! Yes, I say we. If it wasnt for a nagging pain of a mom, he wouldn't have even cared if he got one. Well I won't be bugging him about it anymore....now we will start bugging him about scholorships and missions!! It was so nice of my family to come up for it. Chad hutchings made a video picture of scotty and all his years in scouting. It was fantastic. He also said some pretty nice things about him too!

My kids got Talent!!!

Well, Surprise surprise!! Yes I got Madison to play the piano a the ward talent show!! She played "Waterfall" by John Schmidt. She loves "The Piano Guys"!  She did awesome.  I think everyone was surprised when she got up to play and they were all shocked to hear how well she plays! When she was finished everyone yelled and clapped for her, I was so happy for her. Scott did a fabulous job as the Emcee for the Talent show. What a voice he has. Its funny though, he has so many different voices and I hear them all. At church he speaks in his deep voice. Sitting next to him while he is singing is quite funny. I'm not sure he know if he should sing, soprano, alto, tenor or base...I hear them all. Its funny and I try hard not to laugh.

NIcholas

Wow, it has been a while since I've posted. I missed talking about Nick's birthday. My baby turned 6!! No way! It doesn't seem that long ago. He loves to play with the puppy we have. what a cutie, I can't imagine life without him. Sometimes Nick is the only one who keeps me going. I understand now, why Heavenly Father sent him to me!! I love him!!

a renewal....

My mother in law called me up the other day and asked me if I would like to go to the temple with her. I tried to find excuses why I couldn't go, but she was not taking no for an answer.I knew I had to go. There has always been an issue with me and the Temple. I have never really felt worthy to go. I have been working on some issues I have and with some help, I remind myself that I am worthy. No one is perfect, we all are here trying to improve ourselves as best as we can. I did have a panic attack. The Temple scares me, I feel like I do everything wrong. This time I had some encouragement and felt like I can do it! I went and we did initiatorys. I did have a peaceful feeling and felt like a renewal, a new beginning.I think I may have a new outlook on going to the Temple.I really needed to be there and to hear those things. It truly was wonderful!

Scott's Eagle Project

I have been bugging Scott all freakin year to get his Eagle project picked out and done. Well we found one, A Bike Rodeo for Columbia Elementary!! IT was a lot of work, but Scott did great. I was impressed that he was able to take command at the Bike Rodeo. I am just so glad that it is done and all the dang paperwork is done and we have 5 days to spare til he is 18!!

My cute Pumpkins!!

I grew two pumpkins this year in my garden!! One pumpkin, (in front of nicholas) was growing on top of the fence! For weeks when it was so little I wondered and wondered how it ever got up there and started to grow. It grew bigger and bigger, finally I said Shawn go get that pumpkin that grew on top of the fence and put it down before it falls and breaks. He finally told me that he was the one who put it on top! When we went to get it, it was stuck. It took alot of pushing to get it off!! Silly Shawn!!

Taking out the garbage............

 So this summer seems to have been quite the rough one for me, at least emotionally. With the news of a couple of loved ones who are going through rough times, it seemed to make me look into my own life and realize that I just can't live like this anymore. There was some "garbage" that I have been keeping and I decided it was time to "clean" it up and take it out!! I have kept these things to myself for so long. I tried several different times with different Bishops to take care of this issue but every time I chickened out. In fact this time I did too, however the 2nd counselor called me at home and told me to come back and like the good little girl I always do as I am told, I did. It was one of the most difficult things I have ever done. Talking about yourself is not as fun and easy as you may think, at least not when you have "garbage" to deal with. It took a couple of visits to very, kind, loving and patient Bishop, but I managed to "rid" myself of a lot of "garbage" I have. I don't even know if "rid" would be the right word. I still have it, but it feels so much lighter and not as stinky! It did feel as though a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Finally someone who knows and who can help me "clean" it up. Someone who can help me understand it and help me feel better about it. I did feel so sorry for the Bishop whom I decided to unload or dump my garbage on. I guess that's what they are there for right? I must say it took a lot of convincing from the Bishop to go see a counselor or therapist to "heal" myself. Funny thing is, I thought I would go once and be done. Yeah right! Who was I kidding. Going to the therapist has proven to be so beneficial to me. No, it hasn't been easy, No, it hasn't solved all my problems. It has helped so much just to talk about how I am feeling and how I have been looking at things. The therapist really has a way of knowing exactly how I am feeling and what I am thinking. He has helped me to see the ways I've been thinking and how it may not be right. He has helped me to validate things that happened and to realize how young and vulnerable I really was. I blamed myself for things that I didn't even fully understand or had no control over. Although, getting rid of some of the "garbage" seemed to bring up a whole set of different issue I had not ever validated or realized. Still, it has been a very good experience and extremely helpful to me. There are things that still seem so hopeless to me and at times I feel so down. I am realizing that I am in charge of how I feel. If I want to, I can sit and wallow in self pity, or I can feel happy, irritated or angry. I am the one who is in charge. I am the one who decides. I think I have always looked to other people to make me happy. I need to learn to "BE" the one who makes myself happy and to "BE" the one who loves me. How can you expect someone to love you if you don't even know how to yourself? That is what I hope to accomplish and learn, because right now I don't.

Lucky or Blessed?

The other day I just happened to get on facebook at the right time! I saw a contest on FM100. It said like this page and email us for a chance to see "The Piano Guys"!!! Wahoo. I had actually entered the contest weeks prior but didn't win them. Here was another chance. I didn't think much of it because I never win anything! Well, I entered and I won!!! I won two tickets for "The Piano Guys" concert that was playing that night!! Their concert was even being filmed for a PBS special that will air in December!!
Here is the really "Blessed" part of the story. I have been depressed (that's no secret if you follow my blog) I have been walking at night to help clear my thoughts and to help me feel emotionally better. The only music that I would listen to were "The Piano Guys"!! Their music just seemed to calm my spirit and help bring peace. Madison loves The piano guys too! In fact she is the one who told me all about them. She has been practicing the piano so hard to learn to play "Waterfall" by Jon Schmidt. Her therapist just told me to do whatever I can to get her to a Piano Guys concert. I'm thinking, yeah right! I don't have money for that! Hello!!! We were so lucky or blessed to have won these tickets!! The concert was so awesome! I loved it!!! It was at the Red Butte Gardens. I had never been there so I was unprepared for how cold it would be that night. Luckily, Shawn's uncle was there and he gave me a blanket to use! How sweet was that!! It was such an amazing night, one I will never forget!! Thank you!!!
*Sad thing is, we totally saw Steve Sharp Nelson at the opening of City Creek and we didn't even know who he was! That might have been our only chance to see him up close and personal...bummer.