Friday Favorites

I absolutely LOVE getting a little insight into other families and their lives. Blogs and instagram have introduced me to so many fun ladies. I thought I would share a few of my favorites today. I tend to gravitate towards people in similar stages of life. I like lifestyle blogs and hearing people's day to day. These women are all creative and give me fun ideas of things to do with my girls. I also love all of them because they are fun and have a happy outlook on life. Life is hard and I know everyone has their hard times, but we don't need to hear about every awful thing out there. I would much rather read realistic but happy moments in other's lives. Each one of these moms are fun to get to know. Go check them out!

Favorite Blogs:

He & I | Little Baby Garvin | Mr. and Mrs. Powell

Favorite Instagram Accounts:

@merricksart | @allisonwall | @socanary

Guest Post from a Missionary

Hey everyone! Who doesn’t love a guest post? My name is Jamie! I am Kelsi’s younger sister (favorite I might add wink emoticon ). I’m new at this, but wanted to share a little something with you. A little about me- I love dancing, food, and everything Hispanic. I laugh and smile a lot and I’m a Mormon. I served a mission for the Mormon (LDS) church in Chicago IL speaking Spanish for 18 months. I got home 5 months ago and miss it so much! I learned the language while I was there by studying my buns off and talking to everyone I could. Right now I am working until January when I can go back to BYU-Idaho to graduate, hopefully next fall (crossing my fingers).

I was reading in the Bible and reminscing about my mission. I was thinking of all the things that I had learned and that I had been taught; the things that changed me and the things I wrote down. A lot of being a missionary is trying to be “your best”. I have to admit, being “your best” gets confused with trying to be “the best”. How many times does that happen to all of us, missionary, mother, employee, student, etc., it happens! My point is there is council out there to us, ALL of us. Where ever we are, in whatever situation. We have people in our lives to help guide us in how to be “our best”! Reading a little of the counsel of Paul got me thinking of the many attributes Christ wants us to acquire. That is one of the reasons He came to earth- to be an example. He showed us SO many attributes that will only make us happier. Here are a few I picked out of 1 and 2 Thessalonians…
• Love others • Purity • Honesty • Humility • Meekness • Confidence • Hope • Faith • Compassion • Patience • Grateful • Positive • Service oriented • Supportive • Obedient • Integrity


I know this is a lot but all we need to do is take it slow. Focus on one or two at a time. I am going to try to work on 3 this week.
1. Humility 2. Compassion 3. Gratitude
Here is my plan… Every time I think of doing something for myself, think of 2 things I can do for someone else! Also to think of other people and ask them meaningful questions instead of telling them all about my life. Be more interested in their lives. Try to understand how someone could be feeling and try to sympathize with them! Lastly, I will always have a prayer of gratitude when I get in my car. I can be overly aware of when people do any type of service for me or others and acknowledge it. What are you going to work on? If we are not progressing, we aren’t standing still… we digress. If there is nothing to work on than how can we improve. 2 Thessalonians 3:11 “For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.” How many of us are just like this? We are so so busy but with “stuff”. We do so much but nothing that really builds you or others up. We can say all we want that we are going to do this and that but how many times are we like this scripture? I promise you that if you take my challenge and work on an attribute, you can start to understand who the “best you” is! You might even be able to help others on your way. Pick an attribute and work on it… I dare you!

Serving Others Blog Hop

Happy Friday! I have been dying for the weekend. It's been a long week and I feel like my patience is running on fumes. It looks like another of McKinlee's molars is coming in and she has had a few accidents this week which is really frustrating (but understandable). I'm just excited to have some husband support this weekend ;)

So I shared with you the Valentine's that McKinlee and I made and sent out this year, but I wanted to revisit that post and share with you a little back story. Stafford and I have been extremely blessed to have all of our grandparents still here. We have been able to travel and visit them on multiple occasions and they have all met McKinlee which I love. 

Early this month, my grandpa had to undergo open heart surgery for the second time. We were a little concerned going into it, but it had to happen. There were complications and after a long day in surgery it sounded like he wasn't going to make it. My mom flew out immediately to be with my grandma at the hospital. The next morning we got news that he was stable and even though the problems weren't all fixed, it looked like the worst was over. My whole family was an emotional wreck. I have never experienced loss and it was such a difficult thing to deal with. After many prayers and a long week of recovery, my grandpa was awake and could communicate more and more. I couldn't believe the 180* that took place. I'm so glad my mom was there to help support my grandparents. I wish I could've gone to visit, but that wasn't very realistic for us. Since I couldn't be there in person to comfort my mom and grandma, I decided a nice card/drawing from McKinlee would be nice. *Cue Valentine post*  

A few days after his first surgery, I dug out some art supplies and let M go to town. She is obsessed with stickers and once I showed her the stamp she went a little crazy. I glued on some hearts and wrote a note to my grandma and one to my mom on the back of McKinlee's artwork. We put it in a cute envelope and sent it out that afternoon. This wasn't a huge project and it took less than a half hour, but I know it lifted some spirits at the hospital.

 

Grandpa is getting better each day. He's still in the hospital with new problems that pop up, but they all appear to be fixable so far. My mom finally flew back home for a little bit and things seem to be settling down. I'm sure my grandpa will be back to shooting his guns and planting his garden soon enough :)

With it being early on in 2015, goals are still fresh on my mind. Something that I have thought about a lot lately is service and bringing joy to those around us. When I take a minute to think about what service I've done lately, I'm amazed at how consumed I am in my own life. Being pregnant with a toddler is hard work, but thinking of others doesn't have to add stress- it can actually  be a relief of the crazy hectic life we have! I've met with some other lovely bloggers who share the same feelings on the topic. Go check out what they did to put a smile on someone's face, then let me know if you have any fun things that you like to do for others. I know it's after Valentine's Day, but let's keep spreading the love!

Kallie: www.kalliethroughalens.blogspot.com

Alexa: www.alexamariezurcher.com

Sue: www.susanstange.com

An InLinkz Link-up

Valentines Style

Valentine's Day is only a couple weeks away! We will be gone the week before Valentine's day, so I'm debating getting out all of our decorations or not. My normal self would be all about it, but my pregnant self is not so motivated, ha! Regardless of home decor, you know we will be rockin' some festive outfits. Here are a few cute things I've found for M.

Pajamas / Skirt / Headband / Heart Shirt / White Jeans / Shoes

Is it weird that I wish those pajamas came in my size? I don't think so. What are your plans for Valentine's this year?

Recommitment

I read a little something today and it reminded me how much I've always wanted to be a mom and a good wife. Sometimes we have so much going on in our lives that we just get pulled too many directions or we focus on other things for a little bit. I will tell you that pretty much since McKinlee's birth, there have been times that I've felt a little off my game. I kind of just let life happen. I love my life and my little family so much, but I've recently realized I haven't been proactive in my roles as a wife and mom as much as I would've liked. I LOVE taking my little girl out to parks, or getting in our bathing suits and taking a bubble bath together. I need more of this in my life. I want to keep her days filled with wonder and joy. I also want our house to be a home for my husband. I want him to want to be home. I want him to feel like he can relax instead of doing the list of chores I couldn't get to. So this is me recommitting to my life's goal of being a great wife and a fun mom.

LDS Living