Hooray!!!!

Yay!!! I did it!!!! I finally finished the Book of Mormon!!! I finished last night. It took me a day longer than planned I think because of the holiday and because Tuesday was an extremely busy day. But I finished!! It was a wonderful experience. I have learned so much and gained such an appreciation for the prophets of old; what steadfast faith, obedience, and love of the Lord they had. I think I was given a more eternal perspective of life from reading as well. Every time I may feel less hope or discouragement, I can remember that it passes and that the Lord has stretched out his hand in mercy to me.

I am so grateful for the fullness of the gospel that the Lord has blessed us with today. I am grateful to know that miracles, and visions continue today. My faith has been strengthened in the Lord and I know He loves me.

It's amazing how much free time I found that I have. I think this will also help me to be more productive because I realized how much time I actually DO have in the day. If anyone does want to do this though, I highly recommend getting plenty of sleep. lol. There were days that I felt like I was a zombie because I felt like I was just reading and falling asleep all day. Poor Ammon. Feeling the spirit a lot really takes it's toll on the physical body after a while. But what a blessing.

I am glad to be done though. It was an exhausting week. I think next I will read the Doctrine and Covenants(at a slower pace, though).

Marathon

On Monday night, Matt and I challenged each other to read the Book of Mormon in a week. Matt had read it in five days when he was 14 and that's when he got his answer from Heavenly Father that the Book of Mormon is true and that this is the true gospel. I am a little ashamed to admit that I have actually only read the Book of Mormon all the way through like maybe 2 or 3 times. I have always felt like I have had pretty good knowledge of the scriptures, but there were just a lot of times that I started at 1 Nephi chapter 1 and dwindled after a while...

So I was wondering if I would be able to do it because when Matt did it, all he did was eat, read, and sleep. I had to clean the house, take care of Ammon, and fix meals. Not to mention the fact that this week was pioneer day and I had to run errands. And Matt had to go to work everyday. But I felt like it was something I needed to do so we figured out how many pages we would need to read everyday: 76 pages a day to finish it in 7 days...

So far, it's been an amazing experience. We have about a day and a half left. I have learned so much, it has felt similar to my going through the temple for the first time before Matt and I got married. There is so much to learn!!!! And Joseph Smith's testimony is amazing. What President Hinckley promised about a greater portion of the spirit being in our lives and home is so true!!! But one thing I've definitely learned is how much I DON'T know, ha ha. But that's what's so awesome about the gospel: there is always more to learn and Heavenly Father really wants to give us more. I've come to realize how merciful the Lord is and how grateful I am for Nephi, Mormon, Ammon(of course), Moroni, and all of the prophets throughout the ages that were obedient in recording their teachings and the history of their people. So our goal is to finish tomorrow night. So that's why I haven't posted anything for a week. We've been reading like crazy people!!!!!

Friends

I have never really had any strong connections with any ward I've been in. I mean, I've met lots of wonderful and sweet people and have made good friends and had good experiences, but never like now. I'm so grateful for the ward I live in, especially for the women in my ward who have become my only friends outside of my terrific family(Matt's family included in "my"). None of my friends are married and they are all up in Logan and so it's hard to keep in touch.

We have been in the ward almost a year and a half now and like I have said to some people, it feels like I just moved in because I am just now getting to know people and make friends. I guess I'm a little bit more shy than I thought...Anyway, the girls in my ward have been so wonderful to me, welcoming me so warmly, inviting me to do things, and encouraging me to better myself. It's a rarity to find women nowadays who love spending time with their children, take time to make food(really tasty food, I might add), and who work hard to better themselves. I'm so grateful and blessed to have met and made friends(because I consider you all friends) with such wonderful women. So thank you to all you wonderful ladies who have supported me and reached out to me when I have been lonely for a friend. I don't mean for my sisters and sisters-in-law to feel that I don't cherish the friendship and love I have for them, because I surely do(and my fantastic mom and mom-in-law who are great friends as well) but it really helps to have friends that live close and attend church with you. I am really learning what it is to feel a part of a ward family, and I love it.

Ok, enough of my babbling on and on, I just really enjoy our ward and my new wonderful friends!!!!! I probably was really redundant just now, but I'm justifying by saying: this is my journal and that's how my journals have always been, unorganized and redundant. So....there you go!!!! Enjoy the journaling of Kathie!!!

Money, Money, Money!

For those of you who don't know...I have NEVER been good with money. If I had money, I spent it, and I've never really had any savings to speak of, this is why I'm so excited. I'm sorry, but I have to brag because...Go Matt and Me. ha ha. Seriously though, we've decided to be a lot more careful about keeping track of our expenses and being smarter with the way we spend our money. We've been so blessed by having the finances we've needed especially since Matt doesn't have a degree yet and we need to show our gratitude to Heavenly Father by being wise and by making preparations for the future.

Our Plan: We have just gotten Quicken Online to help us keep track of everything we're spending and to help us budget. It's really cool software. We decided on a budget and planned a certain amount of cash each pay period to have for eating out, entertainment, gifts, etc. And that's all we can spend on those things.(That'll save us a ton of money alone). We also have begun putting away a specific amount to savings, and a specific cash amount for emergency savings. Yay!!! I'm so excited. Some of you may be thinking..it's high time you decided to do something like that. But we're still young and learning the ways of adulthood, marriage, and parenthood. And it's exciting that we're becoming a new family together and building righteous traditions in our home.

Another fun thing: Matt and I are going to China tonight!!!! ha ha. My mom had a really good idea for a fun activity that's cheap: check a movie out from the library on a chosen place, and eat dinner from that country while you watch it. We're getting panda. Ha ha, I know, not way authentic, but fun, and that's what we're looking for. I'll let you know how the trip was when I return!

Potential Flake

Ok, so I'm supposed to get up and run tomorrow, and I totally plan on it. Just a fair warning to Melissa though, if I'm not there tomorrow morning, I left my phone at my mom's house so I don't have your number to let you know if by chance I can't come, Ammon woke up to eat at that time, and I have to have a shower, take Matt to work by 8, and go grocery shopping . So I'm going to do my best to come...but if I don't make it, please don't hate me.

Exercise and Motherhood

I've been getting up at 6:30 three days a week to go run with Melissa, Hannah, and Stephanie-well mostly 3 times a week. It's hard to wake up if Ammon has a bad night!! Or if I stay up late....I felt so bad for not getting up this morning to go running, but Melissa made me feel much better when I found out that she didn't go either..ha ha. I've come to the conclusion that it's just going to be that way, and if I don't get up early to go run, I'll just need to make up for it later in the day by taking Ammon on a walk. He loves being outside so it's a good thing. I never liked exercising much outside of the activities I was already involved in in high school and college and so making working out a part of my regular schedule has been new to me. But I have found that when I make it a priority and just do it, I am happier, more energetic and I notice that I am losing at least inches(if not pounds right away) and that has a way of making me even happier. Another plus is that I get to spend at least 20 minutes with good company and I need to be around people!!!!!

I hope to make this a life-long habit for myself and to pass it on to my children as they grow up so that we can all be happier.

My Daddy is My Favorite Pal

ok, I tried posting this last night, but the pictures wouldn't upload...but here it is...

Daddy's certainly have a special place in the hearts of their little ones. As I was finishing up the dishes tonight, Ammon was sitting on the couch next to his daddy and was just chilling there for like 10 minutes. It was so sweet, I got done and went in there and Ammon was resting his head on Matt and just snuggling. So here are some pictures, but they don't capture the sweetness as well because he knows something is different about the camera and always stares at it blankly when I pull it out. But they're cute nonetheless....

Beyond Words

How Firm a Foundation

3. Fear not, I am with thee; oh, be not dismayed, For I am thy God and will still give thee aid. I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand, Upheld by my righteous, upheld by my righteous Uphelp by my righteous, omnipotent hand.

7. The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes; That soul, through all hell should endeavor to shake, I'll never, no never, I'll never, no never, I'll never, no never, no never forsake!!!

I think this song is my favorite hymn right now. I was listening to the arrangement that the tabernacle choir sings this morning before church and I started crying. I don't cry all that much at those kind of things. But that song has always been really powerful to me. Our bishop in sacrament meeting today commented on music and how it can bring the spirit into our hearts in ways that nothing else can. I've always felt that way. Music is so powerful and I'm grateful for that beautiful gift from our Father in Heaven.

I'm sorry, I know, every time I post I post about a million things. Things just tend to happen in clumps in my life I guess, ha ha. Hey question for the lovely ladies in my ward: does anyone know when book club is this month?

Answer to Prayer

At Ammon's check-up on Tuesday his dr. said that we could try not giving him his acid reflux medicine for a couple off days to see how he would do. He still needs it...Last night he literally screamed for about 4 hours with the exception of about 30 minutes of sleep because he was so exhausted. He wouldn't eat(it had been almost 6 hours since his last feeding) he couldn't get to sleep and stay asleep and I was at my wits end. I didn't know what to do. I went into my living room and knelt down and asked Heavenly Father to help me know what to do, and immediately the thought came to mind for me to give Ammon his reflux medicine. I'm the sort of person that tends to over think things a lot, and so I often confuse myself when Heavenly Father gives me inspiration worrying that it was all in my head. But it was very clear that Heavenly Father was answering me. I went in to Ammon's room and he, of course, was screaming. I gave him his medicine and picked him up and with a couple of minutes he calmed down, ate, and fell asleep. I was almost in tears and overwhelmed with gratitude to my Heavenly Father for answering my prayer first, and for helping me to recognize it for the answer it was, second. The spirit testified to me that Heavenly Father cares so much about me and about Ammon and he wants to help in any way he can. Such a simple event, but like so many other simple things, it had a profound effect on me and reminded me of Heavenly Father's love for His children.

Something that gave me another witness was Tiffany's lesson in primary about Faith with works and how Joseph Smith read James and asked and received. She taught that our testimonies cannot grow unless there are actions to go along with our faith. I had faith that Heavenly Father could answer my prayer, the next step was to listen for the answer and obey. Thanks Tiffany for listening to the spirit and helping my testimony to grow. I love primary...

New Discoveries

Ammon has oficially discovered his tongue. He spent about 45 minutes last night sticking it out and sucking on it. It was hilarious, and when I would laugh at him he laughed back, it was great. Here are some pictures of how he greeted my mom and sisters last night.




Another miracle that happened today during church was that he sucked on a binkie! Matt and I were amazed. The most he's ever done with a binkie was chew on it. So maybe there's still hope in him taking a bottle after all...

Jumped the Gun

So ummm...I spoke a little too soon: Ammon had a horrible evening. His legs were in pain, his mouth was hurting, and not even orajel, tylenol, and lots of holding helped which is highly unusual. I hope that he sleeps well tonight and tomorrow feels refreshed. I feel so bad for the poor little man, but even when he's sad, he's so cute. One of these days I'll get a picture of his huge pouty bottom lip. It's heartbreaking...

Emergency Preparedness

Having my home catch on fire and living through a natural disaster the likes of New Orleans are probably two of my biggest fears: trying to get Ammon out and having what we need to survive. Matt and I have decided to begin preparing. "Ye hear of ^awars in far countries, and you say that there will soon be great wars in far countries, but ye know not the hearts of men in your own land.

30 I tell you these things because of your prayers; wherefore, ^atreasure up ^bwisdom in your bosoms, lest the wickedness of men reveal these things unto you by their wickedness, in a manner which shall speak in your ears with a voice louder than that which shall shake the earth; but if ye are prepared ye shall not fear" D&C 38 29-30.

We are going to start building up our food storage(with the little room we have), put some cash aside and make 72 hour kits. Ever since I talked to my mom about it today, I can't get the fear out of my head. I assume it's only human to try to ignore things that scare us. Take me, for example, if I don't have food storage or a 72 hour kit, nothing can happen right? WRONG!!! I just need to put my fears aside, prepare as the Lord has told us to and then I'll be ok. As long as our family follows the counsel given us by preparing, the Lord will take care of us and I just need to focus on that. I'm the sort of person that wants to have everything right now-like, if we need food storage, we need to get it little by little everytime I go to the store, and we need to put aside cash every paycheck, not all at once. I really need more patience....ha ha.

Anyway, sometimes it's hard growing up, but we were put here for a purpose and men are that they might have joy. I'll just keep that in mind and go forward with faith.

Life at 6 months

Life can be tough when you're a baby. When you're hungry, tired, sick, or hurting all you can do is cry and hope that people know what you need to make it all better. What trust Heavenly Father has put in us parents to send us such helpless little angels to care for a raise. I'm so grateful to be a mom. I've wanted to be a mom all my life, and I love little Ammon, he brings so much joy to my life, and because of him I have learned so much about our Heavenly Father as our eternal spirit Father.

Ammon had his 6 mo. check-up last night, and it went so smoothly, I was so happy. I've never liked shots, needles have always scared me. In fact, when I went to the doctor at age 11 for a check up or something, the doctor had the nerve to spring on me the need to have my immunizations. No time to prepare and be scared...right then I had to walk to the room where they would inject me. I was terrified and let everyone in the building know by screaming and trying to run out of the building. Sorry mom, that must have been so embarrassing, because I remember not trying at all to be quiet. So I'm very proud of my Ammon, as young as he is. When he got his shots he cried only for about 5 seconds and then snuggled with his blankie and went to sleep in the car ride home. And no fever or extreme whining today, amazing!

For those who are interested and for documentation purposes....here are his measurements from yesterday's appointment:

Height- 27.3 inches= 75%
Weight- 17lbs= 50%
Head Circumference- 43.5cm= 50%

He's doing really well, except he's teething and at nighttime he gets pretty miserable. I don't know if you can see it in the picture, but his chin is soaked and by the end of the day, so are his clothes. We can't feel or see any teeth cutting, but I'm sure he feels them really well.

Milestones!!!!!!

We are so excited!!! When we got home from church today Matt put Ammon on the floor with some keys and he rolled onto his tummy!!! Yay! I think he's known how to for a long time because he's done it twice before, but the keys were the right motivation to get him over and over consistently. Go Matt! I was so excited. Here's a video, it's really dark, so sorry, and I'm out of breath because I ran to get the camera.


On another note, to add commentary to my principle of the day, I learned something today in Sunday School. The past couple of weeks, I've kind of been struggling with my calling in primary: Feeling unorganized, not fun for the kids and totally inadequate. In Sunday School we talked a little bit about weakness, and the spirit taught me something I needed to hear.

I have a lot of experience in playing and teaching music and so you'd think you could call it a strength. But this calling of doing senior primary music has really helped me to grow. I believe the principle of the Lord making our weaknesses strengths is true even in areas of our lives that we think we are pretty good at. Me feeling weak in my calling has allowed me to be humble and rely on the Lord to help me reach the kids. I think I was getting comfortable and not letting the spirit direct me. I need to turn my heart over to the Lord and listen to what the kids need and allow Him to do His work through me. I'm grateful to know that though I am so inadequate in so many ways, the Lord can perform his work through me if I make myself a worthy vessel and allow him to. "Now ye may suppose that this is ^afoolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by ^bsmall and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise." (Alma 37:6)

4th of July!!!

We had a really fun 4th of July weekend. We spent it with my family and we were able to get a lot of really cute pictures. Have any of you ever heard of a stay-cation? Matt and I heard it on the news over memorial day weekend. A lot of people stayed home and did things like sleep in tents in their backyards, set up obstacle courses, etc. because gas has been so expensive, so they called it a "stay-cation" Well, ever since, Matt loves them, ha ha. So we had a stay-cation with my family in their living room, it was so much fun.

Friday we went up Big Cottonwood Canyon to Redman campground for the day. It was Ammon's first trip to the mountains. He absolutely loved it!!! I don't think he cried once that day. Amazing!! He was so mellow and content. He loved looking up at the trees, it was so fun to watch him.

Saturday morning we went to Village Inn for breakfast and Ammon sat in a booster chaird for the first time and played at the table, it was really cute, he's gotten so strong. Everytime I took a drink of water he tried grabbing it and one time I tried giving him some water out of the straw, and it was hilarious!!! He gripped his mouth shut, and when I kept trying he spit. We all laughed.



He was pretty worn out last night and took a really long evening nap. But we had a lot of fun and laughed a lot. It was so nice to spend the hottest day of the year so far up in the mountains.

Stuck in the mud!

That was always my favorite version of tag. Anyway, Rachael tagged me so it's my turn to give 5 goals and 4 places I've lived. Here goes...

1. Read Jesus the Christ. I've started it twice and just get distracted because my brain has to think harder to understand it. I really want to though.

2. Be a better wife to Matt. He's so wonderful and so easy-going that I think I get lazy. I want to do more to serve him and let him know how much I love and appreciate all he does and who he is.

3. Lose weight. Ammon is 6 months old, I really should have lost all this baby weight a long time ago, but I have a hard time being consistent with exercise. Who doesn't, right? Well, I've always had a really hard time with it, because I only liked to exercise when it involved an activity, like marching band in high school or swimming, you know fun things...ha ha. Plus I've never had to work so hard to be in any kind of good shape, so this has been a challenge for me.

4. Establish righteous and fun traditions in my family. Matt and I have set three goals so far: to wake every morning and have scripture study and prayer before he goes to work, go to the temple once a month, and have weekly family home evening. I also want to find traditions that we enjoy around the holidays that, as our children grow up will create lots of warm fuzzy memories.

5. Find a hobby(besides blogging) that I love. I mean, I like reading and I can sew, but not enough to do it all the time. I am on a quest to find a Kathie Hobby...


Places I've Lived:

1. my house growing up in Riverton
2. my grandma's house in Holladay
3. my apartment up at USU
4. my apartment now in Murray

Ok, I believe almost all of the people that I know have been tagged except for Janelle, Shauna, and Melissa. If I'm wrong, I'm sorry!!

You Know You're a Blogger When...

For those of my family members that remember when I learned ubbi dubbi (remember Zoom!?) you'll know that I practiced so much that I began thinking in that language, lol. Well, you know you're a blogger when you think in the form of a blog post. I was thinking about some things this morning and I expressed my thoughts in a manner that I would write them to inform and entertain my readers. It's probably because this blogging thing is so new to me and I'm excited about it, so everything I do right now I think about how I could write about it or incorporate into my blog. Am I alone in this experience? Somehow...I doubt it.

The Tortoise and the Hare

I guess you could say that I have joined operation STMT(for those of you who don't know what this is, it's stop the muffin top; as in the way I look when I put my pants on) I went running with Melissa and Hannah at 6:30 this morning, and I'm so out of shape. I'm pretty sure that my pregnancy was the period of least physical activity I've ever had in my life! No wonder I feel so old and tired all the time, ha ha.

So I'm a morning person, I like to sleep when it's dark outside(weird huh?) and I like to wake up early and get things done. However, that doesn't mean I've been doing that since Ammon was born. Matt can testify that I've basically been a zombie for the last 6 months when he goes to work in the morning. But we've set a goal to wake up every morning at 7 and study scriptures and have prayer together. We were really good for a few days and then I got tired...so yesterday Melissa invited me to go running with her and Hannah, so I went to bed early(early for Matt, on time for me:)) last night so that I would be able to wake up. I ran with them and almost died!!! Lol, well, I guess that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I was reminded why I hate running outside: the air flying past my ears(because you see, I'm faster than a speeding bullet) makes them hurt which gives me a headache, which then makes me feel like I'm going to throw up. Matt was sweet and kept telling me how proud he was of me to start doing this and reminded me that it would get easier. After about 30 minutes I felt more normal and could handle thinking about doing it again. Pretty pathetic huh?

Anyway, to get to my point in writing all this, Heavenly Father taught me another principle today which is where my "principle of the day" came from: I tend to do this in all areas of my life, when I want to improve something I want to be perfect right from the start so I do more than I can handle and then get overwhelmed and can't keep up with it. I was reminded of a talk by Elder Oaks who spoke at a Ces Fireside a few years ago about being 100% saints 100% of the time and not go through periods of doing 150% and then times of 50% "what we need “is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime”. This is a challenge that I think I will deal with my entire life, but it helps to be reminded, that if I go at a steady, but sure pace; not pushing myself with exercising too hard the first day, not cramming my schedule and then sleeping the whole next day, For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon ^aprecept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn ^bwisdom; for unto him that ^creceiveth I will give ^dmore. (2 Ne 28:30).

And like the scriptures in my principle of the day, if I endure at a steady and sure pace, I will win the prize. I'm so thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who is merciful enough to remind me that I don't have to be perfect and that he will help me be better as I do my best everyday.

A mom's Opinion

Isn't he adorable? I'm probably just a tad partial, but I think he's the sweetest cutest little boy in the world.(sorry all you moms, I know you feel the same way about your kids). His hair is getting so long, and no matter what I do, it always sticks up, ha ha, he inherited his dad's hair genes I think.

Hence....Simple

As I was thinking about what to name my blog(it's hard for a person like me with little to no creativity) the word simple came to mind. I knew Melissa's blog is "my simple life" and I am not trying to rip her off, I just thought about how simple my life really is and a really special principle I learned my first year up at USU. I worked really hard to develop good scripture study habits my freshman year because I wanted to literally have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost and I felt like it was possible. So everyday I would pray that I would feel the presence of the spirit through out the day. There's a scripture that says "...for it was given unto them what they should pray, and they were filled with desire."(3 Ne 19:24) I feel like the spirit led me to pray for that because Heavenly Father wanted to teach me a principle. I found that as I worked to study the gospel and pay close attention to the spirit, I found that he was communicating with me all the time. I found so many small, and simple miracles everyday. And thus, it really is the simple things in life, in the gospel of Jesus Christ that make our lives wonderful and help us to keep on keeping on when we don't know if we can.

Deadly Carrots

I think Ammon is allergic to carrots. Carrots!!! I mean, they are so mild! But last week I fed him carrots and the next day he got hives, but I thought that it was the barley, so I took that away and waited a week and then gave him carrots last night. He developed a rash around his mouth. Right now I'm not looking forward to his future diet........

On a happier note, last night we were at my parents' house and right before we left, Ammon was a little bit fussy, and my little brother would come in and the second Ammon saw him, he started laughing. Instant change! And he did it over and over again! It was so cute! I bet it made my brother feel so cool to get a reaction like that from his little nephew.