I've been cumbered about

If you live up to your privileges, the angels cannot be restrained from being your associates.

--Joseph Smith

Sometimes I really feel like I fail at this. There are many days when I'm running from one obligation to another, falling into bed at the end of the day without taking one minute, even just a small moment, to be still and listen for that quiet voice, those whispered thoughts and impressions. I wish I took more time to really contemplate, meditate, and ponder in order to let the Lord really guide my life. I know he could do more with it than I am.

I'm so afraid I've missed some great opportunities simply because I've been more Martha-like and cumbered about with much serving . . . in my family, in my calling, in my neighborhood, in my circle of friendships, with my pet projects. It's good to serve but even better to be more like Mary who came unto Christ and sat at his feet to be taught of him. Life is incredible busy but there should always be time for things of eternity.

When Kiersten turned 12 and entered the Young Women program, I thought it would be awesome to complete the personal progress for my second time with her and then again when Ashlyn turned 12 since there is 6 years between them.

Well Kiersten is now 14 and I haven't made any headway. Once in awhile I'll look at it but not in depth and certainly not to set any goals.

Tonight was New Beginnings, and ironically as I sat there during a talk by one of the leaders, I thought, "Oh well. I'm a little late getting started. I'll just try again with Ash." Shouldn't new beginnings be about starting over, a fresh start, a new perspective no matter the season, the time, the stage of life.

Our bishop then referenced a talk by Elder Uchtdorf titled "The Best Time to Plant a Tree."

An old proverb says, “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.”

There is something wonderful and hopeful about the word NOW. There is something empowering about the fact that if we choose to decide now, we can move forward at this very moment.

Now is the best time to start becoming the person we eventually want to be—not only 20 years from now but also for all eternity.

After hearing that I had a new vision with fresh thoughts. Sure I feel like I fail a lot at a lot of different things (like not getting started on my personal progress). But that doesn't matter. I can start NOW to be different, to do things differently, to move forward.

I left that meeting tonight with a renewed commitment to start and hopefully finish with Kiersten. I'm going to have to play a lot of catch up since she has got a smidgin of head start on me. But that is no reason to fail and quit. I feel like as I sat in that quiet room, the environment was perfect for the Holy Ghost to tell me what I needed to hear.

Book Battle

For years Nathan refused to participate in the Book Battle* at school. And I never understood why. He loves to read and has great memory recall. Finally, he agreed to do it last year and loved it. This year he was all over it.

Except there was one tiny problem. This is 6th grade which means this is also the last year to compete. The previous years the same boy has won first place ever since 2nd grade. Nathan said there was no way he would try to beat Landon. And he didn't. He took 2nd place

with his twousin** Levi taking 3rd.

I'm still trying to convince Ash to do it. I think she would rock it.

*The Book Battle is a yearly competition where the kids have to read certain books, take a test to see who makes it into the Book Battle (there's only 12 from the entire grade) and then they face off with each other with buzzers and questions. It can be intimidating for these kids since they compete in front of their peers, but I think such a great experience.

**That's a made up word we have for our Gomez family; technically the kids are Tyler's cousins, but since they are our kids age we call them our twousins.

I have to include this photo. The way Nate is standing reminds me so much of my brother Matt. That is such a Seamons stance. You can tell he is really listening and I love that.

Young love

A classic picture of young love.

When our family got together for the Christmas holidays, we had a white elephant gift exchange. Thankfully my little nephew agreed to an exchange. I had to have this picture of Ash and her cousin Cohen playing on Uncle Matt's motorcycle. It sits in our family room and brightens my day every time I see it.

For now I have to endure this photo of a photo until I can get Matt to send me the digital copy he has.

DOC workout

When we were home for Christmas, my sister Katie mentioned a workout that can be fun and change things up from the norm.

Deck of Cards Workout.

She first described it to me and I thought it seemed fun but maybe a little wimpy.

Two weeks into the new year I decided to try it.

Oh. My.

I woke up this morning and could barely move the top half of my body. It was a good indicator of where I need to work out more.

It is definitely not for wimps.

So here's how you play . . . 

1. Get a deck of cards or any set of cards with at least 4 suits.

2. Assign each suit a different workout. Yesterday hearts were burpees (HATE THOSE!), diamonds were jumping jacks, clubs were sit ups, and spades were push ups. You can really do anything you want. Add some squats, lunges, planks. Whatever floats your boat.

3. Shuffle the cards and draw the first card. Whatever appears on top is the exercise you do and the number is how many reps you do of that exercise. So a 9 of hearts would mean 9 burpees. The jack, queen, king, and ace were all 10, but you can assign those numbers as well . . . jack = 11, queen = 12, king = 13, ace = 14 or even make them higher depending on your fitness level. Sometimes you draw several cards of the same suit IN A ROW and then it gets tough.

The goal is to get through all 52 cards within 30 minutes. I had most of my kids playing along with me so we didn't keep track of time, but I do know I gave up at around card 28 or 29 and went for a jog around out neighborhood. So much easier :)

Priesthood

Today was Nathan's priesthood preview. He doesn't turn 12 until July, but under the jurisdiction of the Primary, a meeting was held for all those boys who will be turning 12 sometime during this year to give them an overview of what the priesthood is and what their responsibility will be.

As the deacon's quorum president, Erik had to give a short little talk outlining the duties of a deacon. I was impressed with him. He did some research, wrote out a talk, practiced it for me, and actually presented it well for a 13-year-old boy.

Brother Douglas, a member of our bishopric, also gave a short little discourse. He said something that made me pause for a moment. I've always known the priesthood, which is the power to act in God's name, is used to bless the lives of others. He mentioned how these boys will one day receive the Melchizedek priesthood and be able to lay their hands on others to bless them. He then took his own hands and put them on his head and said that the priesthood is not used to bless ourselves. How that rang true to me. Hands are always laid on others.

Priesthood Lesson Notes (from a Relief Society lesson I gave 8 years ago)

Alma 13:8

Now they were ordained after this manner—being called with a holy calling, and ordained with a holy ordinance, and taking upon them the high priesthood of the holy order, which calling, and ordinance, and high priesthood, is without beginning or end.

Order: to put in proper sequence
Ordain: the process of putting things in proper relationship
Ordinances: the ceremony by which things are put in proper order

Priesthood Authority (comes through ordination)

Priesthood Power (comes through righteousness)
(there are limits to priesthood power than can only be unlocked with the proper keys) 

Priesthood Keys (unlocks the authority over certain jurisdictions or stewardships; pertains to the priesthood workings in the church; no keys are given for priesthood in the family; keys are conduits of power and revelation) 

Analogy: Priesthood Authority is likened to having a driver's license. That license gives the driver the authority to drive a car. In order to drive a car, the driver must have the right key to unlock the horse power that is under the car's hood. Without authority and the right key, that power is useless.

keys of sealing authority
keys of resurrection
keys of eternal life
keys of commanding the elements
keys of the gathering of Israel
keys of the Abrahamic covenant
keys over a mission, temple, stake, ward, branch, district, quorum
keys of translation
keys of presidency
keys of the dispensation of the fulness of times 

(only the president of the church has the authority to exercise all the keys at one time)

Melchizedek Priesthood (Alma 13)
*The power of the Melchizedek Priesthood is to have the power of “endless lives”; Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg. 322
 
*The Melchizedek Priesthood holds the right from the eternal God and not by descent from father and mother (not patriarchal or handed down from father to son)

*Administers in spiritual ordinances made with an oath
 
*Must have to be in presence of God (D&C 84:22)
 
*Within this priesthood are the offices of Apostle, Seventy, Patriarch, High Priest, Elder (Angels are an office–Moroni 7:31)


Patriarchal Priesthood (D&C 107:40-57)
*Patriarchal authority (handed down from father to son)

*Has reference to the Abrahamic covenant. In Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith he says, “Go and finish the temple, and God will fill it with power, and you will then receive more knowledge concerning this priesthood.” (sealing ordinance)

*Is an appendage of the Melchizedek priesthood


Aaronic or Levitical Priesthood
*Administers in temporal or outward ordinances made without an oath

*Prepared for the Melchizedek priesthood

*Within this priesthood are the offices of Deacon, Teacher, Priest, Bishop

*Levitical order does not function today but its privileges and authority are embraced within the Aaronic for whatever future use the Lord may direct; has reference to the tribe of Levi and their priestly duties surrounding the temple 

*****

The fulness of the priesthood can only be acquired by keeping the commandments and obeying all the ordinances of the temple. The culminating priesthood power is that of sealing families together. You can only receive the keys of exaltation in the temple.

The highest order of the Melchizedek Priesthood is patriarchal authority" and that "the patriarchal order of the priesthood is the right of worthy priesthood‑holding fathers to preside over their descendants through all ages; it includes the ordinances and blessings of the fulness of the priesthood shared by husbands and wives who are sealed in the temple. (Daniel H. Ludlow)

Priesthood is an eternal principle. It is everlasting and has been from the beginning.

“It should not disturb either men or women that some responsibilities are bestowed upon one and not the other. Duties of the priesthood are delegated to men and are patriarchal, which means “of the father.” From the very beginning this has been so. The scriptures plainly state that they were “confirmed to be handed down from father to son. … This order was instituted in the days of Adam.”—Boyd. K. Packer, Tribute to Women, July 1989 Ensign

Al's a winner

Every year our county newspaper hosts a coloring contest. Rather the merchants in the county submit a coloring page with their own rewards to the newspaper and the newspaper puts together a coloring book that is distributed to the elementary schools. It is then the kids' job to color however many they would like and turn them in by a certain deadline. The businesses then choose their winners and contact them.

We came home from grandma's house after Christmas to find a message for Alex from Papa Murphy's. He was the 2nd place winner in his age category and won a free one-topping pizza and cookie dough.
I did convince them to swap out a cookie dough for a cinnamon wheel because seriously, do you think we need more cookie dough?

That's everything we scored this Christmas. I think everyone know us too well . . . we like chocolate chip cookies. We even did a taste test to see which cookies were better, Pillsbury or Nestle?

Pillsbury had a better looking and tasting cookie; Nestle's cookie dough tasted better. Yes, I know we should not eat the batter. Frankly, I've been doing it for years and haven't died yet. It's definitely the best part of baking.

When we picked up the pizza they couldn't find Alex's coloring page anywhere. I was a little bummed. I really wanted to see what his page looked like since I'm sure it wasn't great. His coloring lately is to try his hardest to not stay in the lines and to use pretty much one color.

But who am I to critique. He won! And he was very excited about it.

Savings

I came across this fun little savings activity awhile ago on Facebook and actually did it this past year.

There were some months when our bonus check would come and I had to play catch up. But I have to say it was kind of fun to have an "extra" $1400 dollars at the end of year.

I wish I could say I did something fun with it like buy a treadmill or shelving or a fun get-away vacation, but with two kids in braces, Christmas, and debt to pay off, I think there is nothing left over. Actually now that I think about it, a good chunk of that went towards helping others with some Christmas cash and in my opinion that is the greatest fun you can have.

Beginning today I fully intend to do it again this next year, but I might switch it up and do it backwards. We are considering another Disneyland trip in a year and this would certainly help defray some of the cost.

A recipe mishap

With some of my other projects completed, I'm focusing on my recipe book. The format I've had is years old and I don't even use half the recipes anymore. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that revamping my recipe book has been in the works for several YEARS now. Not days. Not weeks. Not months. Years. And with the onslaught of Pinterest I've just got that many more recipes to put somewhere more accessible. I know, some people like using their computer or tablet as a recipe book. Not me. I spend so much time in front of a computer doing other things that I actually need a little technology break. Plus I can be messy when I cook.

Here's a funny story regarding that old recipe book. The other night Kiersten put herself in charge of making dinner while I was napping with Alex. After discovering some hamburger buns in the freezer she decided to make Tuna Burgers.

My recipe as written on the recipe card:
1 can tuna
2 T. onion
1/2 c. salad dressing
2 T. pepper
1/4 lb. cheese, grated
2 chopped pickles 
3 eggs, hard boiled and chopped
2 T. celery

Mix together and place on hamburger buns open face up. Heat under broiler until cheese melts.

My recipe might have been interpreted a little differently, thus the final outcome wasn't even anything edible. 

When I appeared on the scene, Kiersten was just finishing up except it didn't look like it was supposed to.

Her first question: "Do you really put salad dressing in this?" as her eyes wandered to the bottle of Lighthouse Ranch Dressing.

I guess I've failed to teach her that Miracle Whip is also referred to as salad dressing.

Her second question: "Do you really put that much pepper in there?"

Um, there shouldn't be any pepper. That recipe should really say BELL pepper. 

Next time she knows to question a recipe anytime it calls for 2 tablespoons of pepper.

She and Tyler took one bite and disposed of it immediately.

This could be a really good analogy for miscommunication and misunderstanding.