These are ma babies

And I love them lots and lots.

Please ignore my silly face. 

Convert

Today I finally caved and got a Smart Phone. 

 You have no idea how big of a deal this is for me. All I need in a phone is to be able to text and make occasional calls. Unfortunately, those phones are purposely made to be very, very ugly so you will not want them, thus forcing you to buy the expensive pretty ones. 

Michael is very proud to have a wife who is no longer an owner of a phone with bling on it. 

 

I Really Liked This

As I mentioned before, Carlie was set apart to go to on her mission this past week. I was able to be there and listen to the wise words of her in tune stake president. Before he set Sue apart, he told my family a story about someone in their stake and I want to remember it for the rest of my life. It was so good and was such a special experience to have with mia familia.

There was a high school boy who was on the dive team. He was amazing at performing the Swan Dive, like really really good. So were the other boys on his team. They would practice and practice, and had it down to a T.

They went to a competition and everyone performed their dive absolutely perfectly.

One kid went up to perform his dive, and he did a weird swirly thing a couple of times in the air, and then... he  belly flopped.

The thing is though is that kid who did the belly flop, he was the one who won the competition. The others on the team were dumb founded and asked the coach why on earth that kid won, when he belly flopped?!?

The coach replied and said, "Degree of difficulty."

How cool is that? Each and every single one of us are experiencing our own "Degree of Difficulty." We all experience different things in our life that help mold and shape the way that we are. Our experiences are what make us who we are and determine how we act.  What is difficult for me maybe easy for someone else. If we were to hold everyone to the exact same standard, not bringing into consideration their experiences, both big and small, awesome and crappy, we would not be able to properly function. By having that mindset, we are not utilizing the Atonement to its full capacity. I would be no where in life if it were not for the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  This story was something I needed to hear, something that I need to remember when I think about my family or others and am not satisfied fully. As long as we are all striving to do our best, we will succeed in the long run. Because of our loving Father in heaven, we will be blessed in ways we did not ever think possible.

So ya, I did get that personal on my bloggity blog. I love my family. I love the gospel. I love the power of an in tune stake president who helped me refocus my eyes.

Oh Canada! Oh Canada!

Sue left today to go to the MTC. The past 24 hours has been such an amazing experience for my family, and has brought us even closer together. I can't decide how deep I want to get on this blog, so we will put those thoughts on hold for now. If you want to be able to keep up with the little chicka, you can follow her blog at:

sistersuebeardavis.blogspot.com

When you say Sue Bear, it is meant to be sung in a  voice similar to Pooh Bear, Winnie the Pooh Bear! Micah dubbed the nickname and it has stuck. But seriously, you want to sing it that way or it will not work. 

CARLIE IS A MISSIONARY!

#24

Isaac had a Jr. Jazz game a few weeks ago and most of the family went to watch. It was so fun to cheer him on and watch all the little ballers play. My favorite picture is when Michael is ready to take on a three year old because the three year old almost hit me in the face. I loves my husband.

Work

I deal with a lot of meanies at my job, meanies who forget that I am a human being with feelings and who proceed to say really nasty things to me. Take example last Friday, I was trying to help out a customer and thought in my opinion that I was giving her some dang good customer service, despite her being absolutely horrible to me. I came into work today and had this in my inbox.

P.S. Sorry about my having been such a collosal JERK last Friday to you. No excuses – I was just plain rude. No idea what came over me.. chalk it up to low blood sugar madness, it being late in the day & me not having had lunch yet. Yeah… that’s the ticket. (Not!)

But seriously, sorry about that. I work in IT too, and why I unleashed on another tech chica is beyond me! I was ashamed of myself all weekend. Anyway, wanted to apologize.

Toodles.

It made my day and gave me hope in the human race and reminded me that we are all in fact human. 

The End.

Strengthening Families

I am currently working with a program called Strengthening Families with DCFS. This is my second session with the program and I just love it. The program was originally designed for drug abuse in teens and targeted working with the teens and their families to help them over come their issues. I love the concept of starting with the family to help solve a problem. If one were to have issues with drugs or alcohol, and that individual goes through treatment alone, and then re enters into their old environment, their success rate is not too great. By working with the family unit, one is grasping the bigger picture, and is only going to improve that family's dynamic. Drugs, truancy, violence are all outward expressions of an inward problem within the family, such as lack of communication, expectations, and family unity. Strengthening Families works on getting the families to relearn or learn the basics, and it is just an amazing thing to see the families graduate and work better together as a unit after completing the program.

One fundamental aspect of SFP is that the families sit down and have dinner together. They share a meal, and have an opportunity to go over their day and share their hopes and dreams. Eating dinner as a family may seem like an unimportant thing, something that does not really matter. In my book, it is just as important as saying your prayers and reading your scriptures daily. When I personally do not do these things, my family suffers. When I do do these things, my family grows closer and we are happier. Even though it is just Michael and I now, I want this to be something we do with our children, even with all the juggling we will have to do with our kids who will have swimming practice, football practice, and gymnastics. (Yes, we have already decided what sports our kids will play, don't judge.)

Another thing I love about SFP is principle of My Time and Child's Game. My Time is for older children and parents to do together where the kid decides what they would like to do with their parent one on one. It is not meant to be an expensive thing. It is meant to have quality time with your child and become more aware of your child's interests and goals. Child's Game is for younger kiddos and parents to do. The kids picks out something to do, like coloring or playing with blocks. The parent is then to sit and observe what the child is doing out loud, without any critiques or judgments. It is simply just saying what they are doing which sounds kind of like a dumb thing to do. It rocks though! By giving that little extra effort to show that you see what your child is doing, and giving them your undivided attention WILL strengthen your family. It is pretty dang cool to watch families learn and apply these principles and then see what a difference it makes in their life. 

At times, I feel a bit silly in what my degree is. I am not a parent, I have not had to stay up late at night worrying if my kid will come home or had to stress about making sure their every need is taken care of. I do however know that the family is the most important unit and by improving that unit, it will over flow to other aspects of life. I want people to succeed, I want families to be proud of who they are and to realize that each and every family has their own set of issues and dynamics. What makes a difference is how they face those issues and dynamics. Do you see the domino effect? Do you see why family is so  important? Do you see why I went into Family Studies?

Though the website is a bit ghetto,  Here is the link to the SFP program if you want to learn more about it. 

This post is totally out of the norm, but I wanted to be able to look back and remember this time in my life, so sorry for the word vomit.

Loves it

Going from going to school full time, working full time, doing two internships to just taking two classes and working full time has been an adjustment for me. I feel lazy, even though I am still being productive. I have decided to take up a hobby, I just have to figure out which one I want to try first to get the ball rolling. In my quest for something to take up my time, I have discovered many a thing I would like to have in my grown up house, thus the previous post on the bathtub and now, low and behold, this really pretty stove.