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Their Proper Place

The past few months have been exciting for me. I have made a lot of changes in my life in an attempt to truly find joy in my journey. My journey of motherhood. My journey of teaching. My journey to being the healthiest and happiest version of me I can be.  After each of my three boys were born, my body has obviously changed a lot, and my depression has become more prevalent. Over the past several years, my autoimmune disease has played a fairly big part in my health, and anxiety kept creeping back into the forefront of each day. While I have (and had) a wonderful life, I was becoming overwhelmed on a daily and sometimes hourly basis with...everything. All. of. the. things: My kids, my house, my body, the noise, projects, papers to be graded, lack of focus, feelings of inadequacy and failure, pure exhaustion, back problems, lack of energy, constant bubbling anger, guilt for constantly blowing up at my family...I felt out of control all the time. Before marriage and kiddos:
Recent posts

You're Eyes Are Beautiful!

The other day, I was wandering around a health fair that David had a booth at for our business. (Music is good for your health, okay?!) Anyway, I was chattin' it up with people I knew and meeting some people who had recently joined our music studio. For awhile, I just walked aimlessly following my kids as they went from booth to booth collecting goodies. Out of nowhere, this lady walks right up to me, a little too in my bubble for comfort, but says, "You're eyes are beautiful!" And then walked away just as quickly as she came. I stood there for a second maybe wondering if I had just imagined it. It was so quick that I didn't even respond. I just stood there. In spite of the randomness of the moment and the briefly uncomfortable feeling of being confronted, it put a smile on my face and I am still thinking about it almost a week later. Be kind to other humans. Even if it makes you a little weird.

To Do: Love God and Love People

In my church, ordinary members are invited to speak to the congregation each week during our Sacrament Meeting.  This past Sunday was my turn, and I've had a couple people request my notes. So, herrrre goes. I ad lib a lot when I speak, so I will try to type out the details I didn't write down originally. :) Helping Families Keep the 1 st and 2 nd Great Commandments Family Introduction David and I met in the fall of 2009 through a mutual friend. My mission companion, Cathy came to visit me in Provo and had a dinner date with a bunch of her BYU-I friends in Salt Lake City, so I tagged along. Cathy and David ran cameras together in the AV department on campus. We became Facebook friends that night, and the rest is history.  I moved up to Rexburg after I graduated, and w e got married in 2010. I was hired to teach elementary school up in Saint Anthony, but had a whole summer with nothing to do before school began, so I took on about 10 piano students. David started as a

Choose Your Hard

I've recently started a new life chapter. And let me tell you...some days it. is. hard. Things that are hard for me lately: Three kids! We are really loving on Beckett and his sweetness. He adds so much to our family, and we adore him. But...have you ever tried to get out the door with three kids and all their junk? Two kids in diapers for awhile more is special. I wipe so many butts. Eerrrrryday, people. So so so much poop. The shoes are always missing. The five-year-old is always having some kind of early-life crisis. The two-year-old always needs fruit snacks opened and his blanky to be found. The babe wants a boob. It's busy. Gav Man, 2 years old Beck, pictured at 2 months, 5 months currently Hyram, age 5 The Brothers So many boys in this little family of mine! Photo Cred: Dash Photography Back to work! I returned to work again after taking off several semesters. I actually do enjoy working with my students and being on campus, but...work. G

It's Just Meat

This is something I've been thinking about a lot lately.  I've been getting increasingly worse at doing this over the past...maybe three years?  I think I used to be more thoughtful.  I hope I was, at least. The author of the article below wrote about what's been in my head; I could have written this word for word.  Woman Realizes That She’s Been Accidentally Abusing Her Husband This Whole Time... Wow. POSTED 6 DAYS AGO My "Aha Moment" happened because of a package of hamburger meat. I asked my husband to stop by the store to pick up a few things for dinner, and when he got home, he plopped the bag on the counter. I started pulling things out of the bag, and realized he'd gotten the 70/30 hamburger meat - which means it's 70% lean and 30% fat. I asked, "What's this?" "Hamburger meat," he replied, slightly confused. "You didn't get the right kind," I said. "I didn't?" He replied with his bro

Project Live Happily

Here's to the highly motivated phase of the new year. 1. Live Happily So far, I have read chapter one in Living Well Spending Less, and I love it so far!  I feel like I am reading a book that I could have written myself in a lot of ways.  She was so much like I am.  We even spent a lot of our childhoods doing the same activity: planning dream houses. Secret #1: The Good Life is not what we think it is Here are some gems I took away: -where your treasure is, there will your heart be also -more is never enough -pray for change -don't define happiness by what you have, but by who you are -the good life and financial stability go hand in hand 2. Nourish & Strengthen Our Bodies Here's my visual so I can remember to follow through with all of the goals I have.  For week 1, my goals are: -Eat 2 different fruits or vegetables at every breakfast, lunch, and dinner meal. -Work out 5 times -Drink 64 oz of water each day 3. Be Nice This week, I'd li

Living Happily...

Oh, New Year.  How I have missed you.  Thanks for reminding me to get it together, old friend. This year's theme ideas: Enough. I have enough. I know enough. We make enough. It's time I start to believe it. WOW 2015! ( Word of Wisdom reboot) Simplify...everything... Stop Spending All The Money, Denae...Shopaholics' Anonymous? Be nicer. Okay...so I have a lot I want to work on.  Isn't that what January 1 is for? Here's what I've decided, and then I'll tell you how I got there: Theme: Living Happily Goal #1: Prioritize People and Memories over Money and Things Goal #2: Nourish & Strengthen Body Goal #3: Be Nice The past couple of years have been interesting and exhausting and nothing that I imagined they would be. I don't know if it's because I became a mother, or if I am just facing that mid(ish)-life panic--that people talk about--of wondering where I went wrong, but I've been struggling.  Church. Organization. Feeli