my weekend

Yesterday was a good day. i had the opportunity to participate in the 7th annual NAMI (national alliance on mental illness) walk with my good friend gigi, her husband dave, daughter gwynne, and gwynne's dog chloe. it is a 5K walk that raises money and awareness for those with mental disabilities. so many people are affected, either directly or indirectly, by mental illness and i am grateful for organizations like this that shed light on these diseases and those who suffer from them. it was a great thing to be surrounded by people who are empathetic, supportive, loving, and who are passionate about a really great cause.

Then last night i watched the general relief society broadcast. all the speakers gave great talks but man... dieter uchtdorf is amazing. he talked about forget-me-nots (those tiny blue flowers) and used their five petals as metaphors for five things we should not forget to do. two points that stuck out to me... 1- (in his words) "Be patient with yourself. God knows you’re not perfect, and God also knows that person you’re comparing yourself is not perfect, so stop punishing yourself. Don’t forget your tiny successes — God doesn’t." and 2- Don't forget to be happy NOW. don't put it off until the 'something' that you are waiting for to happen happens. there is a lot of happiness to be found in the random little things & everyday moments that make up our lives. while it is important and essential that we have faith in good things to come and work towards those things, we have to try to see & experience all the beauty that is around us now, EVERY DAY. both of these are things that i struggle with A LOT. some days are more discouraging and overwhelming than others, but i am almost always comforted and reassured in knowing that i will be ok... that i can do better- that it can BE better- if i continue to have faith in God and to acknowledge His presence in my life and the blessings that he bestows upon me and my family every day.

(here's his talk. he says it way better than me.)

and one other worth-mentioning thing that i did this weekend was ate at the dodo for the first time. our friend eric is their accountant so we got a lot of really great food... for FREE. because i LOVE food- i feel it is important to include what i got there. first- the appetizer- hummus with feta cheese & greek olives and delicious pita bread; then the main dish- a blackened chicken salad with tons of good stuff in it and a really good orange vinaigrette dressing; and, the best part of the night- a chocolate almond mousse pie with a nutty graham crackery crust and heaps of whipped cream. wow that thing was good. fortunately for me, or maybe not, bret was sick and so i got to eat like 80 percent of it. (we were good and shared something.) oh and i also got a diet coke with lemon... something that i rarely do but i was really splurging on this outing.

despite the fact that today was a rough day for me- i'm getting sick and am feeling a bit down- it was a really good weekend. i'm grateful that i was able to be immersed in so much love and so much good.

(there were a few good things about today... one being the fact that luke kicked it all day in his soccer uniform and church loafers.)