Kaydon's Temple Tuesdays

Every Tuesday, Kaydon goes to the temple.

He usually goes to the Bountiful Temple.

It's his favorite.

Yesterday, he went to the Salt Lake Temple.

He was so eager to tell me about it!

There was a three hour wait, which has been normal for him all summer - no matter which temple he goes to. Long waits.

That sure says something about our youth, wouldn't you say?!

Yesterday, he had the opportunity to baptize a young man, Kaydon guessed around 15, who didn't have any legs.

Kaydon said it was the coolest experience.

I loved watching him tell me about it.

I am so proud of him for getting up and doing this every Tuesday.

He said that he couldn't believe that he had that opportunity.

I told him that I'm not surprised at all!

When we do what we are supposed to do, we get to have opportunities like that! 

The Good Stuff

Look at these two babies.

My mom calls them "The Toddlers."

I think I will always call them "The Babies."

They LOVE water!

And being outside.

And being outside in the water!

They are the good stuff!

On Sundays, after church, I go to the gym

I'm usually one of five people there.

My brain LOVES it!

The sensory stuff is so mild and I just do my thing!

I walked on the treadmill for 60 minutes, then did Yoga all by my dang self.

Except my 44 ounce Diet Coke.

On the weekends, I always have my Diet Coke with me.

People call me "The Diet Coke Girl."

I dig it!

It's the good stuff.

Sunday, after my 12-step group, I was having a HARD time.

Hard.

Like, wanting to drive to Idaho hard.

I drove up the street from the building where group was.

I parked where I could watch the sun set.

This is what I saw.

I talked out loud to God.

I told Him that I need His help.

I told him that I was struggling.

I told Him that I can't do this by myself.

And this...

This is what I would have missed had I given in to what I wanted to do instead.

This.

THIS is the good stuff.

Missionary Moment - Chile Vina Del Mar Mission

Buenos días!

That is right, ladies and gents more and more drunk guy stories are coming your way! But first, how is everyone doing? I hope that you are all doing well and working hard over there. And everyone seems to be rubbing in the warm weather up there so whats up with that!? Its friggin cold down here people, the wind is the WORST.

So the drunk guy chronicles continues. We were on exchanges for the day and I got to be with one of my good buddies Elder Een, he is like 6 foot 8 or something gigantic. But anyway, we were walking to the church to take a quick break and there was a drunk guy talking to some of the sisters and they asked us for help in english and we then walked the poor man home. BUT two days later we saw that same guy in the street and he stopped and asked us if he would prayer for him and then like headbutted me in the chest and stayed there and gave me a hug. I then decided that this is what my life has come to and I gave him a hug back and said the prayer while my companion kept his eyes open. I ended the prayer and he walked away with his little drunk guy hop. Fun times here people!

Love you all and have a great and productive week!

Elder Jorgensen 

Since my child stinks at sending pictures, here is the screen shot of him talking to me last week:

Weekend Date Nights

Friday night, Colton wanted a date night with Mama.

Okay!

Date night it was.

Saturday night, we needed to take Kaydon dinner.

Colton wanted a date night with Mama at Kaydon's work (and to get ice cream, of course).

Okay!
Date night it was.

This boy is everything good in the world.

He is smart and kind and completely innocent to the bad things in the world.

He loves to be with his Mama and with his Mama LaLa.

He loves to be with his brothers.

He loves to play with his nephews.

And, he LOVES ice cream which makes this mama happy!

P.S. Look at those bits of goodness Kaydon created for us!!!

Moving & Such

I am starting a NEW blog regarding my addiction/treatment/therapy/onward progression.

It's a bit depressing-ish to read about it on my family blog. 

We all need a bit more of the boys and dog and tortoise and such, if you asked me!!

So, in the meantime...

Here is a pretty darn good look at my feet last night at the gym.

It was back day.

Cardio day.

Sweaty day - which is every day that I am at the gym.

Happy Weekend, Loves!!!

Years & Years

Counseling was yesterday.

It was amazing.

She is amazing.

I am amazing.

We are all pretty darn amazing.

We talked about the difference between worth and self-esteem.

Worth is unchangeable. It is there no matter what we do. And, everyone's worth is the same.

Self-esteem has a lot to do with self-acceptance, personal development and the direction we are going.

It is ever-changing. It is a path.

This portion of our feelings can cause divine discontent.

Oh, the divine discontent.

What a powerful thing!

But, that comes from God.

Shame comes from Satan.

I have to re-program my brain now, after 35 years of image distortion. 

I have to continue to tell myself out-loud that I have worth regardless of the choices I make and that I am on the right track - going the right direction.

However:

I am pretty badass!

We all are. 

I am on the right track.

That feels so good!

It's a journey.

It's my journey.

The way things happened were the exact way they needed to happen.

My homework for this week is to delve into my weaknesses, write them down and start to go through that closet where I've been shoving stuff for 35 years!

Oh, fun.

Frisbee & Flowers & Meditation

Monday night, after the gym and while boiling eggs for the week, I took Doby out to work on digging his tunnel to China... which he does nightly... as if he's in Shawshank Redemption and is planning his prison escape. Poor tortoise.

Anyhow, when I took him out to work on his digging skills, these two were playing frisbee.

I love watching them.

They're pretty good at the whole throw and catch part of frisbee.

I tend to run away from the flying saucer as not to get hit in the nose with it. Safety first!

For about two weeks each year, this is my view from the bedroom window.

The rest of the however many weeks there are in the year, I just keep my blinds closed because the view can tend to be depressing.

However, these two weeks of the year, I have the window wide open and the blinds wide open and as I lay in bed at night, meditating, I look at these small wonders in the world and offer up gratitude.

I have changed up my meditation practice a bit over the last few days.

I am practicing being silent and LISTENING.

I have always been that girl who hurries through my morning and nighttime prayers and then hurries off to bed or to my car with the radio full blast to work. 

It's weird, isn't it, how I never feel that I receive personal revelations?!

So, I have really focused on being silent and listening.

After my nighttime prayers, I stay on the floor, close my eyes and focus on my breath for five minutes. Five minutes seems like way too short of a time, but I'm just getting started, People. Baby steps!

As I was doing this on Sunday, it came to my mind (weird how silence brought answers to my prayers) that I should drive to and from work with the radio turned off. No sound. Just me and my thoughts and breathing.

I can't report that I have had visions or heard voices, YET... but I can report that I am being faithful in this practice and that I know I will be blessed for doing it.

From my current book:

In our real lives, we are constantly hopping around to adjust ourselves around discomfort - physical, emotional and psychological - in order to evade the reality of grief and nuisance. Grief and nuisance are inevitable in this life, but if you can plant yourself in stillness long enough, you will, in time, experience the truth that everything (both uncomfortable and lovely) does eventually pass... instead of slapping and griping, what if I sat through the discomfort, just for one hour of my long life?