Happy Halloween

  The best part of Halloween is the joy it brings to the kids.  Who needs all that candy, but kids?  
Here are some funny and creative costumes.  These are so cute.  Happy Halloween!

Wacky Wednesday-college grads

The plight of college grads these days.

Tuesday miTunes-Summer Again (a song about Fall)

I really like this song by The Afters because it talks about summer becoming fall and the changing of the seasons.  I like the part of the song that says, "gravity begs for one final kiss.  She drops it to him as she gives in.  As she falls, I try to catch her, for one last touch of warmth from summer.  As one thing leaves to become another..."

Monday Messages-Beautiful Autumn video

This is an incredible video of the changing season.  I like how it shows the green leaves changing before your eyes and the majestic camera shots of vivid colors of Autumn from above.  I cannot watch this without acknowledging the creative beauty provided annually by a very loving Father in Heaven.

Sunday Blessings-changing seasons

I am grateful for each season for different reasons.  Fall is probably everyone's most favorite, but it seems that it is the shortest to me.  Sometimes we enjoy touches of Fall into December on days when a light sweater is warm enough and the windows can be open.  I like those long Autumns.  The beginning of Fall seems busy but by mid-October things have settled down a bit.  (Perhaps the calm before the Holiday Rush).  My senses love the things of Autumn.  The colors of the season are magnificent and brilliant.  The smells of the season are warm like pumpkin and spice.  The sounds of crackling leaves, the silence of kids in school, and the sound of children laughing with Halloween fun.  The tastes of warm soup, hot chocolate, everything pumpkin flavored and crisp apples.  These are all things that help me appreciate that Fall comes every year to enjoy for a bit and look forward to again as the seasons come and go.
Fall Harvest is a time to enjoy the fruits of our labors.  Traditionally, Fall is a time to gather and enjoy the bounty of ripened fruits and vegetables.  It's also a time of Thanksgiving for all of our blessings.  It is also a time to prepare for the winter, which is fast approaching.  Autumn passes quickly, so it should be savored and enjoyed and appreciated.

Saturday Quotes-Autumn leaves

Friday Favorites-Fall

Here's my list of favorite Fall things:

Red & Yellow Leaves
Pumpkin Bread
Pumpkin Decor
Apple Cider
Sweaters
Scarves
Fall festivals
Corn Mazes
Apple Cider
Cinnamon Scents
Thanksgiving
Pinecones
Acorns
Harvest Vegetables
Pumpkin Patches
Hayrides

Thursday Tips & Tricks-congestion remedies

Being congested is the worst.  It interferes with two of my favorite things-breathing and sleeping.  the only thing worse is having a baby who is congested.  So here's two ideas to help:





1.  Put a tablespoon of Vicks and a tablespoon of water into your Scentsy warmer (or other wax scented warmer).



2.  Make these homemade disks with essential oils and put them in the bottom of your shower to melt and the vapors will help with congestion.  Here's the recipe:  Homemade Vicks Shower Disks

Wacky Wednesday-misuse of the word "literally"

My daughter loves watching Studio C on BYUtv and one sketch is called Captain Literally.  It's actually pretty funny.  Here it is:

Tuesday miTunes-Just Breathe

Monday Messages-Conscious Breathing

This video shows the benefits of deep breathing.  Seeing the animation helps me breathe more consciously and deeply.  A few times a day, this type of breathing will lower your overall stress level.  When anxious or nervous, deep breathing will remind your body of the relaxation you have felt when doing the exercises.  Mindful breathing can also help you get to sleep faster.
Another way of breathing deeply is the 4-7-8 technique where you breathe in for 4 seconds, hold it for 7 seconds and then breathe out for 8.  Here's a cute video illustrating how to do it:
4-7-8 Breathing Exercise by Go Zen

Sunday Blessings-breathing

Sometimes I do take for granted that my body takes 12-18 breaths every minute without me even thinking about it.  I am so grateful to have good lungs and clean air to breathe in.  I am also grateful when my sinuses are clear.  Breathing delivers oxygen and releases carbon dioxide and is so important that it is a natural reflex.  It is interesting that one cannot choose to stop breathing.  It is so vital to our life that if a healthy person were to hold their breath long enough, they would pass out and then resume breathing while unconscious.  Conscious, deep breathing can be very relaxing and can be a form of meditation.  Tomorrow we will talk more about this.  Today I am grateful for the miracle that is breathing.

Saturday Quotes-Fatigue

This was such a great talk by Elder Holland in LDS General Conference.  I know that when I am tired, I don't think as well and I tend to eat more to give my body some energy.  Sometimes, it's not a sleepy tired I am feeling, but a stressed tired.  So I always have to have a little something that I'm looking forward to, even if it's just a lunch date with myself.  The most amazing thing for replenishing is in studying the scriptures-really studying, like to teach a class.  Challenging my mind and pondering replenishes my spirit and gives me strength.  The entire talk by Elder Holland can be found at lds.org and is called Like a Broken Vessel.

Friday Favorites-Pumpkin Bread

 I love Pumpkin Bread.  Great Harvest Bread makes a great Pumpkin Chocolate Chip loaf.  Recently, they were out of it when I wanted some and got their Pumpkin Roll as a second choice and it was also great.  But if you want to make Pumpkin chocolate chip bread at home, here are some good recipes:

Pumpkin Chocolate chip Bread from Our Best Bites

Pumpkin Bread in the crockpot from Wannabite.com

And for those who want a quick box mix, Krusteaz is a good one.

Thursday Tips & Tricks-Balloon Ping Pong

Balloon Ping Pong-great for a rainy day

Wacky Wednesday-Punctuation social personalities

I'm definitely a semicolon I think.  But in my mind I'm...

Tuesday miTunes-What Makes You Beautiful

Lip-sync by a group of Utah boys of the One Direction song.  So I know what you're saying-yesterday I said you need to believe that you're beautiful and today the song says "you don't know you're beautiful...that's what makes you beautiful."  So I would say, we all need to believe we are beautiful inside and let that inner beauty shine through, without being conceited or vain or even obsessed with looks.  And smile-it's the fastest way to improve your beauty.

Monday Messages-You're more beautiful than you think you are

This is a fascinating video where women describe themselves to a forensic artist, who draws a sketch based on how they describe their facial features.  Then he does the another sketch of the same person described by a total stranger who had been asked to get to know that person moments before.  The results are amazingly similar in that the strangers describe them more favorably than they do themselves.  Another great video to watch is Johnny Lingo about him finding a wife and choosing the ugliest girl in the village but paying the highest price ever paid-8 cows and how she turns out to be beautiful.  He says, "it is how she sees herself that makes her beautiful."
One more note on the women in this video and all women I have ever met-I think they are all more beautiful when they are smiling.

Sunday Blessings-a body

How wonderful is it to be alive?  To have an actual body of flesh and bones?  I obviously can't say what it's like to be a spirit just wishing to have a body, but I can imagine.  I believe that we lived as a spirit before coming to earth to get a body.  A spirit does not have the magnified abilities that having a body brings.  Even when we are frustrated with our bodies and the pains, limitations and imperfections that each body has (especially as we age), we can appreciate the miracle that our body functions, repairs itself and fights disease and infection mostly without our even being conscious of it all.  I appreciate all that my body is capable of and most especially all the fully functional senses that make life so joyful.  I love to smell things, to taste good foods, to see the beauty in the world, to hear music, laughter and words that teach and inspire me and to touch and feel softness, warmth, and especially the affections of loved ones.  These are all things enjoyed by our spirit but only through the miracle of our bodies.

Saturday Quotes-Miracles

Friday Favorites-smells, tastes, sounds, sights, things to touch

Favorite smells-fresh baked bread, fresh flowers (especially roses and gardenias), any kind of cologne on my husband's neck, a wet clean washcloth, lemon verbena, mint leaves.

Favorite tastes-warm chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin bread, fresh bread, real BUTTER, good cheese, cilantro, raspberries, garden fresh tomatoes, avocados, salmon, chocolate chocolate cake.

Favorite Sounds-babies laughing (especially my granddaughter), beautiful music ( I love acoustic guitar, piano and a cappella men's groups), ocean waves, children singing.

Favorite sights-Waterfalls, peaceful ocean scenes, happy children, blue skies, sunny days, white capped mountains against blue skies, daisies, sleeping babies (especially my granddaughter)

Favorite things to touch and feel- the skin of a loved one, velvet, silk, baby fine hair, kittens, warmth of a fire or the sun when it's cold, cool breeze and cold drink when it's hot.

Thursday Tips & Tricks-Conference printables

We have loved using General Conference printables all over the house in frames, on the fridge or you could even post them on your kids mirrors.  I made a flash drive and printed them out at Walmart as individual pictures.  It's a great way to see regularly the things that we need to remember. You can get them at ...And Spiritually Speaking.

Wacky Wednesday-General Conference

Tuesday miTunes-Because We Believe

I love the songs of Andrea Boccelli.  This song starts in Italian then goes to English.   I don't know what the Italian words mean, but my favorite part says "Like stars across the sky, we were born to shine.  All of here because we believe."  I believe that before we lived on this earth, we lived with the Father of our spirits-God.  He presented a plan for us to gain experience and eventually become like Him.  He knew we would be tempted and it would be hard and we would fail sometimes so he provided for His firstborn son in the spirit (Jesus Christ) to provide the way for us to repent and be able to come back clean.  Some of those spirits did not believe and they do not have the opportunity to be born and gain a body, but every person who believed in Christ and heavenly Father and this plan is or has or will come to earth.  All of us are here because we believe...

Monday Messages-Patterns of Light

This message is fascinating about light.  I love the idea that even the smallest bit of light chases away the darkness.  But darkness cannot "overpower" the light.  Darkness is more like the absence of light.  This video is part of a 3 part series and each video builds on the last.  Elder Bednar talks of revelation not coming in an instant light turning on a lightbulb, but more gradually, like the first rays of light in the morning and the gradual lighting of the day.  What a relief-for me revelation is most often little by little and is almost imperceptible.  The way he puts helps us realize that we can all receive inspiration and revelation.

Sunday Blessings-a prophet of God... Thomas S. Monson

A prophet speaks to God.  His role is to also listen to God and tell the people what God wants them to know.  It is just good logic that God still cares about all His children on the earth and would provide a living prophet.  After the dark ages, God restored His gospel during a time of enlightenment and that same church is one the strongest, fastest growing.  And it is true.  I know that the Church of Jesus Christ was restored through Joseph Smith, another prophet.  Today and yesterday (and last week for the women) we have heard the words of God.  This man is Thomas S. Monson and as the Bible says, "by their fruits, ye shall know them..."  he doesn't seek the praise of the world, he doesn't care about money or power and his life has been filled with acts of charity.  I know he is a living prophet of God on earth and we should listen to him and follow his counsel because it is really the counsel our Father in heaven is giving us.  I am so grateful for him today.

Saturday Quotes-cottage rules

...and Read lots of books.  Really, most of us cannot live this life all the time, but it would be heaven to have a cottage by the sea to escape to now and then.

Friday Favorites-Gift From the Sea

This is a book I read over and over again and pull out something new every time.  It is such a short book, you can really read it in one sitting, but i like to savor it and ponder it.  It was written many years ago but it still applies to me and I love the idea of simplifying our lives and learning lessons from the shells found in the ocean.  She was the daughter of Edward R. Morrow (famous Broadcast Journalist) and wife of famed pilot Charles Lindbergh.  She had plenty of stresses including the much-publicized kidnapping of their first son at only 11 months old.  But the book doesn't dwell on any of those things.  It is merely her musings on what we can learn about the beach, the Channeled Whelk, the moon shell, the Double-Sunrise, Oyster and Argonauta.  For some great quotes from the book, click here. 

Thursday tips & Tricks-OK Seriously...How to fall asleep faster...

Some other tips are to tighten your muscles and release little by little, starting with your toes, then your feet, then your ankles, etc.  You can also try visualization techniques of something simple, like the beach.  I even take this one to another level by thinking of only one syllable words describing everything about the beach.  Sea.  Sand.  Sun.  Sky.  Waves.  Gulls.  Wind.   Surf. Shell.  Blue.  Foam.  Spray.  Rocks.  Boats.  Pier.  Kids.  (Okay don't think of kids if that makes you stressed, but you get the idea).  Like I mentioned in Monday's blog post,  matching your breathing to the rhythm of the ocean waves helps, whether you are listening to an ocean wave audio or just imagining ocean waves and breathing in rhythm.  

Wacky Wednesday-How to fall asleep faster.....

Tuesday miTunes-a lullaby

I love this instrumental by George Winston.  He does great piano music.  This piece in particular is very relaxing, but not boring and not sad.  It's a perfect lullaby for me.