A Little Something Called WILLpower...

You heard of it? Yes? It may sound vaguely familiar to those of you, who like me, find it to be a fickle friend.

Today I went to lunch with my oh so smart writing friend (and her two spunky boys) at Flour Girls and Dough Boys. Oh, and spunky Lucy came along too!

(Are you kidding me with these Flour Girls and Dough Boys cupcakes?! No willpower when it comes to these!)


And I realized over a delcious cob salad (ok, and a huge sugar cookie) and fabulous conversation with lovely Ms. Ransom, that my life can be boiled down to one delicious word...well, sometimes not so delicious, nugget of wisdom: WILLPOWER.

Willpower To:
1. Eat right (gasp)
2. exercise (gasp gasp)
3. write (sigh)
4. wade through the nonsense of life and know what's most important (yes!)
5. clean the toilets (if I have to)
6. be patient and smile when two-year-old pees all over bathroom floor (smile)
7. mop the floor that the 2-year-old peed on...(smile harder)

Okay. You get my point. The list it endless....

So. Here's to willpower...may we all have it in abundance, to get what we really want, to always take the high road, and to be brave and take the road less traveled (or at least the road you are inspired to take!)

Here's to willpowered us's ...and to our abundance of being able to tell ourselves what to do and how to do...and then to acutally follow through.

And this is me...declaring to the world that I will have self-control. Yes. Right now, I'm doing it. :)

What's Really Important

I just got back from Girls Camp with our ward and also a family reunion with Adam's family. Whew. But over this week I was reminded of what's really important...The Gospel, My Testimony, My Family, and My Friends. How lucky am I to live in this world, surrounded by truth, love, and security?

Truly Lucky.

And I'm grateful I have moments where I remember what is important. When I can lift my head from the mundane things of life and realize the beauty around me. Thank goodness for moments of clarity. If only I could always be aware of my blessings and live in a constant state of gratitude.

Check out this Morman Message, My-New-Life , it reminds me of how good life really is, and how lucky I am to be a mother.



xo Jen

Did I Mention I Have a Two-Year-Old?

To all of you with two-year-olds, I say bless you. I am one of those fortunate few...and yes it is mostly delicious to be a mother of a wonderous, inquisitive,and determined child.

BUT

Today. Well, yesterday too. I just wonder...

So I have this cream. This very expensive eye cream that I keep in a very special place, for my very special 37-year-old wrinkly eyes...(pathetic, huh?) And I relish this cream. And I love it because when I put it on it makes me feel like the magic is working, smoothing out my getting-wrinklier-by-the-day-undereyes.

And today Lucy found it.

And now it is no more. Spread all over her hands and the counter and smeared all over terracotta tiles which do not particularly enjoy magic-making-eye-cream. For the tiles, it's just something greasy to clean up. My under-eye area was very sad. And so am I.

Boo-hoo.

So I'm Trying to be Sneaky...

So I'm trying to be sneaky about this whole Easter Basket thing. Yesterday I took the baby with me while I purchased a few little odds and ends for the Easter Baskets. And I was determined to get something in particular for Lucy and then she found this:

Yes. Nemo. She is obsessed with Nemo. And the whole time at Target she would not let him out of her hot little hands. She traded everything she ever threw into the basket (because she does that now, we get all sorts of things in our basket) for the swimming Nemo (and it does say for 5 years and up, but really how could a Swimming Nemo not be for a 2 year old? Tell me how?) So...had to smuggle Nemo into the house...without disturbing the axis of the earth.

And I was successfull. REally. I was. And I hid it perfectly in my dresser drawers that are empty since I reorganized my closet. No one EVER looks in those dresser drawers.

Until today.

Lucy had Nemo ESP. How did she know? And I couldn't get it out of her hot little hands. Maybe the Easter Bunny should just come early? I am on Divert Lucy Mission #2. And I need a new hiding place!

(Oh and totally destroyed Sophie's dreams of the REAL Easter Bunny, because she wondered what Lucy was doing with a Nemo...oh and, she heard me talking to Adam on the phone about "getting all the Easter stuff done." Whoops).

My Non-Florence Nightengale Syndrome

Okay, So have you ever had a day or a week where you realize something about yourself that is not that great? I consider myself quite compassionate, sympathetic, and nice. In general, I think I'm pretty nice.

But this whole taking care of AW 24/7 has thrown me off my game. Granted, he is a lovely patient. Very sweet. Alot of "Could you please's" "So sorry to bother's" and "Thank you very much's". I mean, he couldn't be more nice. But it has been hard to take care of the family (without his help, mind you) and to also take care of him.

Sigh. So it turns out,I'm really not that nice.

I hate to admit I've been tired, grumpy, and longing for the days of a daddy who can climb stairs and give babies a bath, or even a daddy who can bathe, get dressed, and fix himself a meal. And for the times when I could sneak away to Target without worrying the entire time whether AW needs meds, or food, or maybe he has fallen and cannot get up.

Really. Wish I were better. And my hats go off to all of you who have taken care of someone, or who are still taking care of someone. I've been thinking about a few friends and family who are doing just that. Bravo. You really give Florence Nightengale something to be proud of. Me? I'm nothing to shout about.

Lemon Cake and Surgery

You'll all be happy to know I am no longer HUNGRY. Whew. That was rough...and let's just say my 11 day diet turned into an 9.5 day diet. Sorry. How could I resist a decadent slab of lemon cake placed on my door step by my practically gourment neighbor for my birthday? Well. I couldn't. At that point my willpower was practically non-existent.

AND.


AW just had his knee surgery...and trust me that has been enough to drive a girl to eat (In-N-Out is my new BFF). Not that he's a bad patient--- he's just a 38-year-old-male-patient. Last night I felt like I had a new born again with all the getting up in the night. Sigh. But he will get well. Hopefully sooner than later.

Hunger

Have you ever just had one of those days when you were HUNGRY? Not just: hmmm, I think I'd like a little nibble of something. Not: I might like to share a dessert with my husband after dinner. No. Nothing like that.

I mean serious HUNGER.

Like: I want to eat this entire ice-box cake by myself, with no helpers, no sharers. Me. Only me.

So.

I may have felt that way on occasion...

Like, NOW.

I have been on this 11 day diet thing for 7 days. Today is day 7. And people, I am HUNGRY! And I'm supposed to be writing my book, but all I have been doing is surfing through my favorite cooking blogs noting recipes I will try once I can actually eat again...in 5 days. Actually. On my birthday. So people, this is the birthday cake I want. Doesn't it look divine?

If you too are HUNGRY...check out the Smitten Kitchen and I guarantee you will find something that will satisfy. No calorie counters, fiber percentages, fat caloric notes in sight. This is a serious cooking blog that creates food that will satisfy.

And tell me what you ate. I'm totally into living vicariously through other happy eaters. Yesterday I made Adam tell me in detail what he had for lunch at The Olive Garden.