Inadequacies

Have you ever tried to avoid something because you feel like you aren't good enough or smart enough and you fear failure if you attempt to do that certain thing?

OR
Have you ever looked back on your life at something you used to be good at and thought, " I'll never be good at that like I used to be."?

WELL, I DO THAT ALL OF THE TIME!

And I'm here to tell you that it's
coming to an end, my friends.

Let me tell you a story.........
5 years ago, I decided to continue to pursue my education after I graduated high school. Why wouldn't I? Jim was on his mission still and I had nothing better to do. (Yes, this was the poor, crummy attitude that I had about school). So I enrolled myself in some courses that would route me to an Elementary Education degree. And guess what? ...........................I thought it was dumb. Sad, but true story. I kept my grades up just enough to pass with all A's, but truly, my heart was not in it. I just wanted Jim to come home so we could get married.
SO, my wish was granted and now, 4 1/2 years later, I feel like I am living the dream. I live in a beautiful state with a home that I love, a loving husband, and 2 beautiful children. I feel like the last 4 years have been so good to me and indeed, I AM BLESSED.
The last few months, however, I have had a few nudges.......this little voice keeps telling me that I need to go back to school. I tried to ignore it. Besides, I have way too much on my shoulders right now like my full-time job called CHILDREN. Still, this little voice persists, and now I am putting up my flag of surrender and saying,

"Alrighty then! I guess it's time!"
SO, I am heading back to complete my degree in Elementary Education at UVU, hopefully this Fall Semester, if not, Spring Semester.

Do I want to be an Elementary Teacher?
I don't know yet, but I know that is what I am supposed to do.
Do I feel like my brain is completely fried and all I know are my ABC's and 1-2-3's?
Yes. That's all I'm going to say about that.
Do I feel overwhelmed and concerned about the time I will get to spend with my children?
Definitely. In fact, this has been the hardest part about making this decision. Yet, I know that the Lord will make sure I am able to give them all of the love and attention they need from me as their mother.
Does the light at the end of this tunnel seem pretty distant?
You better believe it!
Am I going to do it anyway?
Yes.
This is what the Lord wants me to do, so I am going to put my faith in Him and trust that He will help me with this.

Wish me luck! (I need all the luck I can get).
P.S. Here is some pictures of the ones who help me
"keep the faith".
Jim, you do too. I love you. :)

Here we go.....

Okay. Here it goes. Deep breaths. I am blogging today after 6 weeks of not doing so. The last few weeks I will walk in my office ready to blog, but then I think of all the events that have taken place this summer and I start to feel.........well......a little overwhelmed. Too many pictures to download, too much information to jot down, and oh,

SO LITTLE TIME!

But today on this beautiful 4th of July, I am feeling relaxed. My kids are napping, my husband is napping (he should be working on the storage room), and the house is now

QUIET.

I am ready to blog and hopefully maintain my blogging on a regular basis.

Here we goes!

Let me start by saying that I am LOVING THE SUMMER. The weather here has been gorgeous. I am pretty sure it's only been 90 degrees like 3 times so far the last month. Hence, my reason for going on a walk with my kids every morning.....well, almost every morning. My good friend, Kassie and her two boys tug along with us. We love it. Last month we took them to the park and they were in heaven!

Also, can I say thank heavens for trampolines?! Braddock, and now Emma love to play on it. I always let them jump for a good half hour before nap time because then they are

OUT COLD.

The end of May, I and the babies (not Jim because he was at a UFC fight) headed to good ole' Worland, Wyoming for Jim's cousin's wedding. Let me repeat myself. Yes, this is Jim's cousin and YES, he was at a UFC fight. Okay, I'll shut up about that, babe.

Anyhow, what a treat! The night before, the groom's parents treated us to a tasty Mexican food dinner. I, as a lone mother with two children, was so happy they did this outside because my children don't do so hot at restaurants (that's another story).

But don't they look like they are having so much fun?

That's because they were.

They found the dessert table.

Braddock & Katelynn

My cute little niece, Brielle. Gotta love the chocolate face.

Do you know how practically impossible it is to take a picture of 5 kids at one time?

Here we are the next day at the wedding. I am pathetic because I didn't get any pictures of the bride and groom. Let me say though, that they looked JUST BEAUTIFUL and HAPPY.

The ceremony was so nice and the wedding luncheon was amazing. Once again, I loved the whole outdoors idea.

Here is one of Braddock and his Grandma, who he calls Ba-Pa (????)

Emma being Emma.

Braddock being a bear. He is now obsessed with bears and killing them. Last week, Jim drew a picture of a bear on our ward program during Sacrament meeting. I won't even go into detail of what happened, but we had to exit Braddock out of the chapel because he was roaring and growling so ferociously.

Next on our list, we got camping. Did you know that I live 15 minutes away from one of the most beautiful canyons in Utah? It's true. And I camped there. Payson Canyon, it's called.

We went with our friends, Kassie and Joe and their two boys.

Braddock in the pickup.

Emma and Dad at the campfire.

Cute little Aaden and Braddock being boys.

Jim's aunt posted this picture on her blog and I stole it from her. Thanks, Aunt Jeana!

This was taken on Jim's parents farm a few weeks ago and I love it. I don't know why. Maybe because my husband looks.......stunning?

So this is all I have for now. Actually, I downloaded a lot more pictures, but they somehow disappeared, so I think I am going to call it quits for today. Stay tuned because there is lots more!