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Monday, May 7, 2012

Forget Not to be Happy NOW

Last week Doug and I were invited to speak to the Young Men and Young Women, however, as it turns out, the Young Men had obligations at the Care Center and I ended up speaking to just the Young Women and they came back in time to hear Doug. My part of the assignment was to ta about being happy despite bad thing happening to us. As I was preparing, I felt like I needed to share some of the experiences I had in Jr High and High School. I was reluctant because I didn't want anyone feeling sorry for me or thinking that I had this really awful time. However, I felt strongly that I needed to do this, so I did. I sometimes wonder if one of the reasons I had these experiences was so that I could empathize with others who might have similar problems, and also, to show than that it doesn't need to 'ruin' your life.

 So in case you are wondering what those experiences were, without getting too elaborate or mentioning names, I had a hard time because some people called me names and generally didn't treat me so well. I had a wonderful mother who kept encouraging me to "be a friend, to have a friend" and to be happy and smile. When I finally followed her advice, I realized that I could be happy, even when bad things were happening. Looking back, I see a lot of blessings that came from that bit of adversity.


I became really close with my Dad, who bought me a beautiful registered quarter horse named Showdown, and took me riding whenever he could, and taught me how to saddle and take care of him, so that I could ride anytime I wanted. I rode all over the farm and explored and fantasized about how wonderful my life could be. I loved that horse and he loved me. My dad and brothers even complained that I could get him to do whatever I wanted and they couldn't. I had the run of the farm and could go down to the creek and do whatever I wanted. I learned to love Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn (much to the dismay of my children).


My mom let me take piano lessons, and when I got good enough we would play those great songs together, her on the guitar and me on the piano. Other times we would sit out on the step in the summer and she would play and sing "I a turned 21 in Prison" and "Beautiful, Beautiful Brown Eyes" and lots of other wonderful songs by Jim Reeves and Eddy Arnold. We went camping and fishing in the Pryors and the Big Horns. One time, we decided to drive down into Shell Reservoir (back then it was a really rough 4-wheel drive only road) and by the time we got down in, it was pitch black because we had had some trouble with the pickup (maybe a flat tire or something), so since I was terrified of the dark (that's another blog post) my brother decided to tease me about the bears and cougars that were around there, even going so far as to make some bear noises. Needless to say I was completely terrified. But, I still remember how fun that trip was. I even hung on to the tail of a horse just to climb up a steep trail to go fishing. Another time, we camped up on Sheep Mountain Road and rode the horses down into Little Horn to fish. That's where i learned to gut a fish, because my dad said that if I was going to catch a fish I had to gut it as well. Yuk. Sometimes, my dad would get home from a truck run and say, "let's go camping" and Mom would pack the food and Dad and my brothers would pack the horses. We had some great times.


So, even though sometimes, I thought I didn't have friends, I really did, they just weren't who I thought they were. My life was and is really blessed. I got to do a lot of things that I might not have done. I have wonderful friends,  in my family and out! I learned that my happiness is my responsibility, not anyone else's. it's much easier to be happy when you look at the little blessings that Heavenly Father sends you everyday. I know that He loves me and blessed me with adversity so that I could learn and grow and be the Daughter He wants me to be. I'm still working on that and learning!

Monday, April 18, 2011

That Thine Alms May be in Secret

As I was reading in 3 Nephi 13, I was struck by the Savior's words on doing alms to the poor and how sometimes we do alms In order to be seen of men. So I started thinking about all the things I do and wondered at the reasons I do them. I think that sometimes I have thoughts in the back of my mind that as I do these things, I am waiting for others to tell me what a wonderful person I am for doing all these things. It made me stop and think, "why am I teaching this lesson"' "why am I teaching my children?"... Am I spending so much time on this lesson so that in will receive compliments and accolades from the students and everyone will know what a great teacher I am, or am I doing so because I want the girls to feel the Spirit and learn the same truths that on have learned from studying this lesson? Do I want my children to be good people and have strong testimonies of the Gospel because I want others to think I am a wonderful mother and teacher or do I do the best I can because I love them and know that they are heavenly Father's children and I want us to be together forever with our Heavenly Father? I would like to think that I do it for the right reasons but, I think that sometimes I do those things for the wrong reasons. So it made me stop and think and examine my motives. I know that I do the things I do for good reasons and sometimes bad, simply because I am human. I also realized that my Heavenly Father loves me and wants to teach me and that he did so through the scriptures. That is why it is so important to study the scriptures so that He can teach me and help me to become more like Him. I know I will try harder to do things for the right reasons.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Random Ramblings

I wish I had the gift of gab like my daughters who seem to be able to blog about anything and everything, but I don't, so I will quit wishing for something I don't have... ha ha fat chance! I have been trying to keep a journal lately because as a presidency we set some goals to do PJS on a personal level (Prayers, Journal, Scriptures) everyday. I have been working hard at doing that and it has been going pretty well. So I think I will just share some things from my journal lately:

March 12: We went to the temple today with our youth. It was really nice. All but one of our active girls were there, so that was cool. We had set a goal to get everyone there, so we came pretty close. The kids had donuts and milk in the cafeteria afterwards and seemed to enjoy that, even when they dropped a chocolate donut on the carpet. Yikes! Good thing we had Mike Grant to clean up.

March 13: We had Ward Conference today. Bishop Hyde talked about tithing and how important it is. He told us of the blessings of paying tithing and some experiences of paying tithing. It was a good talk. President Caldwell talked about being pure and making good choices. President Steenbakkers talked to the youth about dating and relationships. He had some really good information about it. We had a good time visiting with the kids tonight. I am really blessed with wonderful kids! They have such a good grasp on the Gospel and I can see their testimonies growing each day. I am very thankful to the Lord for sending such great children.

March 14: Keesha and Sean have been home for Spring Break. Keesha decided to paint a mural on Savanna's wall with a BYU theme (big surprise there). It is looking really good. Sean did the BYU logo, which turned out really good. I'll post a picture of it when I get a minute. For FHE, we filled out March Madness brackets and Doug gave the lesson. He talked about enjoying life the good times, because we all know there will be bad times so that we can grow and become stronger because of our weaknesses. That kind of worries me a little, because our life is really good right now, no major problems or anything like that.

March 20:  Mat has been playing little league basketball and having lots of fun. They haven't won any games yet.

March 21: Today was kind of boring.

March 22: I didn't do much today.

March 23: We had mutual and the kids practiced their skit for the Stake Talent show. I think it is going to be good. Not much else is going on.

I can see by some of my entries that I need to do more so life won't be so boring. I'm sure I bored all with this, but I thought I should say something on here once in a while. Well, life is good and I hope it stays that way for a long, long time!

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Goin' to the Zoo...

A long, long time ago... in the age of summer, the Savage family took a trip to Colorado to enjoy some fun with the family. We went to a Braves/Rockies game which didn't turn out so well! but, we did have lots of fun watching and enjoying the family. The next morning before driving home, we went to the Denver Zoo. The kids had a great time and the weather was just right... not too hot, not too cold.




Coming into the BIG CITY :)


Coor's Field


J-Hey


I think they are very intent on the Game...


Our awesome signs


A.J. thought it was great :)


Jax not so much...


Ranee` and Jax


The ever picture happy Mat...



These are just pic from the Zoo...











Wednesday, October 13, 2010


The Middle School had a lip sync contest last Thursday night.... I just wanted to share what my very talented daughter and her friends did to earn a 3rd place finish. Let it be said, that 'I' think they deserved 1st place, however, to be fair the other acts were good.... :) I don't think anything else needs to be said.... Let the video speak for itself :)

Friday, October 8, 2010

My Post

I would post some awesome pictures of our trip to Colorado.... but someone lost my memory stick adapter, so I have to wait til the new one comes.... But, we did have a great time! :)

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Homecoming :)


Well, it's finally time to blog again… I've been waiting the mandatory 2 months J

Seriously, though, we had a great time going to the airport to pickup Sean. It was great to see him again after 2 whole years. He didn't change much in looks, (he told us he was fat) but, I saw a huge change inside him. He had to speak to the missionary prep class on the Sunday following his return and I'm not even saying this just because I'm his mom… But, he gave the best talk I have heard in a long time (at least since one of my other boys came home from a mission). He gave a great lesson and talk. After he spoke, Brother Simmons ask doug and I to say a few words about how Sean's mission has affected our family. All I could say was that everything was good. I also told them that this was NOT the same boy I sent out… I had sent out a boy and a man had returned. I'm sounding too much like a proud mom, but hey… this is my blog and I can say what I want J







We made t-shirts that spelled WELCOME HOME on them… Sean was kind of embarassed…





"Is he really coming? He'd better not pull a Jordan!"


Cheering, clapping…. I think I was a little shakey when I took this pic…


And here, too… J




He's looking a little embarrased by the t-shirt show…





"Can I get back on the plane and go back to Indy?"




"Who are all these people, anyway?"




Now, that's a great smile…




"Ok, mom, you can quit taking pictures, now"




He still has the laugh…




It has been great having him home. He has the usual missionary preachiness… ha, ha, but I think we'll keep him.