Photos of Moi

Jenna was standing on her bed and took this photo of me. I had just done my make up, and I liked how it turned out. I don't like photos of me. I have gained a ton of weight (no pun intended) these past few years, and I usually look like Jabba The Hut more than myself. So this was a fun one. It reminded me that I was once pretty and possibly still could be if I lost some weight. Looking up is always a good angle. It hides the chin. Haha.

Building for Real

Our daughters LOVE MineCraft.  It is all the rage, and I have to say that the concept is great.  The kids can uses resources available to build houses and farms, and raise farm animals and crops.  They can mine for minerals and gems as well, and the whole thing is very creative.  We laughed when we first saw it because the graphics are so 80's pixel style.  But they love it.  The downside is that they can spend hours, and hours, and hours on this computer game.  On Friday, a non-school day for us, Heather and Jenna had spent a few hours playing on MineCraft when suddenly Jenna came and asked for the Lincoln Logs and blocks.  She and Heather got them out and started building.  Building for real is right up Kelly's inner-boy alley, and he joined in.  The fun continued later in the evening when Sarah came to spend the night.  She and Jenna built a log cabin and block tower together, and then had fun destroying the tower.  Even when the computer games are educational and have a great concept, I still get a much better feeling when the girls are engaged in play away from the computer.  I have to attribute that good feeling to the Spirit helping me discern between what is good and what is better/best.  I'm so glad my girls were the initiators today.  I hope they have the same feelings and continue to choose this kind of creative play on their own, or at least balance it with the computer play.

Essentials

I am a list maker, but often keep the list in my head. The past year has taught me that trying to keep a list in my head is going to result in many important things being forgotten. As I've really examined what's not working lately, it was very clear to me that I have some how got to remember the essentials. I love the definition of this word as well as those in the thesaurus:

es•sen•tial

adjective

absolutely necessary; extremely important. See notes at, INHERENT and NECESSARY.

essential

crucial, necessary, key, vital, indispensable, important, all-important, of the essence, critical imperative, mandatory, compulsory, obligatory; urgent pressing, paramount, preeminent, high-priority, nonnegotiable; basic, inherent, fundamental, quintessential, intrinsic, underlying, innate, primary, elemental; central, pivotal, vital.

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In order to ground my swirling thoughts and fix myself firmly to some kind of anchor, I have made a list of some essential things that I am not concentrating on and making time for. If all I accomplished during a day could be checked on on this list (see picture above), then the day would be deemed successful. I have further set the goal to be finished with this list by 9:00 a.m. with the exception of water as it will take the day to finish.

If everyone I know made a list, it would be different. These are the items I can't live with out, and those that are essential to my spiritual and physical well-being. I'm a dork, but the word and it's definition inspire me to embrace the meaning. How often are we reminded of the "essentials", and how often do we nod our heads and walk off forgetting. I've heard many of these words from the thesaurus countless times in the scriptures, in lessons and from church leaders. I am, apparently, slow on getting my act together.