the brown's day to day

Thursday, September 24, 2009

thursdays thoughts

i have been printing photos and getting frames for the wall downstairs. the budget is low so i have had to be creative. when i get done i will post some pictures. (cant wait to have my house back together)
mckena stepped onto the scale the other day she said "crap I am still the same age!" i figure that this works out great! the bigger the number the better we look.
ella has been hanging on my leg for the last 3 days crying mama. i love the girl but seriously enough is enough. i cant even go to the bathroom alone. either the teeth have to pop through or josh needs to come home or i am going to have to be committed.
i love to listen to peoples laughs. have you ever been in a store and you hear someone laugh out loud? i always get a kick out it. most of the time i cant help but let out a little chuckle of my own or i think, wow is that real?
i have done a lot of thinking while josh is away. learned a few things about myself, a few things about my kids, and few things about others. i was really surprised at a note i had posted to my door the other day. it was from a couple of ladies that i know but wouldn't consider close friends. they wanted to let me know that if i need anything while josh was away they would be happy to help. i thought it was really sweet of them to think of me when they were not obligated (no they are not my visiting teachers) this made me think. sometimes i have a tendency to be selfish. sometimes i find myself thinking too much about myself and not enough about others. i don't want to be the kind of person who only cares about someone when my life is going well. i want the people i come into contact with to know that they are important to me and that i care.
i am TOTALLY and COMPLETELY in LOVE with the almond sugar cookies from the smart cookie company. not good!!! i would take a bath in the frosting if that were possible. so stinkin good. i try not to even drive over that way because they SCREAM for me to buy them.
so HAPPY that josh is coming home tomorrow. missed him like crazy. he is my best friend and when he is not home i am lonely. plus i don't sleep well without him:)

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Dear PJ -

I thought that I would send you a note of my token of my appreciation for all to see (Double Brownie Points:o).

I know that I have been the absentee parent physically, emotionally, and spiritually for the past few years. I know that it has taken it's toll on our kids, on our relationship, and on you personally. I want to thank you for holding on.

While I was in D.C., I thought of a statement after one of our presenters made a comment about sacrifice. I really can't remember what she said specifically, but I had this thought cross my mind. "The sacrifices we make for things that are most important... shouldn't be sacrifices." I don't say that to diminish the sacrifices that you have made - let me try to explain.

You have sacrificed a lot for our little family - I mean a lot. When others are going on trips and buying new furniture, you write out another 'fat daddy' check for tuition. When others are off to the movies on date night, you are home putting all the kids to bed, putting the house back together again, and watching a show (just for the sound) to accompany you as you fold clothes.

When the world "SCREAMS" that the work of a mother is not as important as many of the other things that you could do, you listen to your inner voice and sacrifice again. I know, hands down, that I have the easier job because you have always been there to sacrifice more - more of your time, more of your resources, more of your dreams, desires, and ambitions.

What I am trying to say is that through all of these sacrifices, you have done them because they were important to you. You saw them as your "duty," your "responsibility." Why? Because as you have said, "If you don't do it, who will?" But I think that it is more than this.

I believe that it is because it is part of your nature to sacrifice and not question. I believe it is because you know what you want, what your family needs, and you are willing to sacrifice for it.

I think about where we have been... what we have gone through... and you have always been there. I love you for your dedication and devotion to your commitment of sacrifice. You are an example to me... not because things are least important but because they are more important and therefore not a sacrifice at all.

You are my best friend. You are so beautiful. I am so luck that I have you has my companion to continue to sacrifice together. I love you and miss you.

{pioneer trek}

This summer I had the opportunity to go on a hand cart trek with the youth. It was an AWESOME experience. My family was the swinging singles. Can you say FUN!? My brothers were Jeremy, Steve and Rob. Our job was to bring up the rear and make sure there were no dead bodies (Rob was our medic) I know the pictures are small but I had to download from FB. This is us pulling out on Thursday morning.

We trekked 22 mile in 2 days. It was the end of JULY so it was stinkin HOT. The kids did surprisingly well and we had no dead bodies!

I was so impressed with the youth there was very little complaining and everyone helped out.

IMPRESSIVE!

One of my favorite days had to be the women's pull. It was about 1/2 mile long hill in freshly plowed sand. Since I was the only women on my cart, one of my girls came back and help me out. It was SERIOUSLY tough. My sweet Ari did such a good job. She has asthma and had to stop a few times for her inhaler but she never gave up. I told her that maybe she should push instead and she said, "I will not leave you Sister Brown" Such a sweet girl! It was a silent walk so the boys were allowed to walk beside us but not allowed to touch the cart or say anything. Such a POWERFUL experience for everyone.

My next favorite was the pull through the water. As we were waiting for our turn I asked the brothers, "are we walking or running?"

Running of course!

Here we are at the end, wet and stinky, but we had a very memorable experience!

THING TO REMEMBER...

taping the feet with duct tape (above)
trying to brake down the boys tent with Jaimie :)
watching Sister Burt put curlers in her hair every morning
almost losing a toe nail (still black)
big girl panties
the shade and water the brother provided after the women's pull
the GRASSHOPPERS! (cured me of my fear)
the swarms of mosquito's and sunburns.
the women i walked in memory of. Elizabeth. Walked all the way to Utah with her 3 boys. Her husband died and she was determined to finish the journey. During the many snow storms they encountered her boys got frostbite on their feet. Elizabeth knew she need to do whatever it took to save their lives so she took their boots off and cut the black parts off their feet with her scissors. Although they were cripples for the rest of their lives they all made it to the salt lake valley. This was the price they paid for the freedom to worship how they chose. I will never forget their sacrifice.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

{RUDE}

So what is up with {rude} people?? Let me tell you my latest encounter with {rude} people.. On labor day the young women were in charge of putting up the flags. The sweet darling girls showed up at 6:30am. Dedicated huh? Well when we were done I tell them to meet me at Kohlers for, you guessed it, DONUTS!!! I do this for 3 reasons. 1- i like the girls to think I am spontaneous (not really it was put in the budget months ago, shh) 2- i earn brownie points for doing stuff like this:) 3-lets face it i just really like donuts! SO any who- we get to kohlers and we have to wait a few minutes for them to put the freshly baked YUMMINESS into the case. in the meantime i notice a gentleman in the back waiting to get donuts also. we make our selections and and girls are just hanging out while i count them up. i quickly realize that if we get 1 more donut that we can be charged for a dozen instead of 11. being the thrifty soul that i am make my way back to the case. i ask the gentleman if i could sneak into the case and grab 1 more. he says sure. as i start to open the door i realize about a second to late that he has set his donut box on the lippy thing and it is falling to the germ infested floor. i reach out to save the life of these precious donuts and MISS them. shoot 4 donuts on the floor! of course i am mortified and start apologizing up one side and down the other as i am picking them up off the floor! i said things like"oh my gosh i am so sorry" "please let me help you get some new ones" etc... this man looks at me and said, " i knew i should have just gone somewhere else! i have a lot of donuts to get!" now my mind is just racing. i am saying things to him like "for the love it was 4 lousy donuts!" "how about you get a grip?" and my all time favorite, "well mister pissy pants maybe you should have gone somewhere else!" but i didn't say any of those things. i am sure the look on my face was "are your seriously throwing a temper tantrum? how old are you anyways?" i turned back to the case and grabbed the donut i needed and went to the register. now in defence of my self and trying to be Christlike i thought for a second about buying his dozen as an apology but quickly got over that. as i thought about this experience i have wondered about myself. have i ever acted this way? i try really hard to be kind to everyone. i know that there are times when i could have been kinder so i am going to try harder. these are the things i have learned from this experience...
1- before opening your mouth ask this ? "is what i am about to say kind?"
2-most of the time the thing that is making you upset is not really worth the effort
3- mistakes are mistakes so let it go!
4- NEVER place your donuts on the lippy thing.
5- i know i know, i should have bought "pissy pants" the donuts. probably would have helped his mood!