Mashed Potato Coma

Oh man - there are not many dinners I like better in this world than a delicious plate of mashed potatoes smothered in gravy. Unfortunately, I also can't stop eating them when placed in front of me and now I'm in a coma of sorts. So not helpful with losing the baby weight but still wonderful at the same time. 

This has been a pretty great Sunday. Bryan and I are too exhausted for words, so I'm grateful for a day where I am literally supposed to rest and do nothing else. :) Apart from Ellinor keeping us up plenty, we have been working on the house almost nonstop. Any free time that we can muster up automatically gets assigned various projects - painting, hanging pictures, cleaning this or that, weeding, etc. It seems like home ownership takes on a life of its own. But, I love that all this work is for our very own HOME. Our place is really starting to come together. I can't wait to renovate the kitchen in July, and Bryan has some pretty large plans for the backyard and deck. I will make sure to post some before and after shots. Here's to hoping we can pull all these projects off without breaking anything too expensive - including any body parts. 

On a separate note, I need to come up with some hobbies to keep myself entertained. I love being home with Ellinor, but with only one baby to take care of I have a decent amount of time to kill during the day before Bryan comes home. I'm starting to pick up my piano playing again and I really should work on my culinary skills - currently they are slim to lacking. Ha! But I would like to find something else that I really enjoy doing. Guess I will have to pick ideas at random and try them out. There are hundreds of hobbies out there - one of them is bound to stick!

Loving Reminders

"Desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices and choices determine our actions. The desires we act on determine our changing, our achieving, and our becoming."

Elder Oaks talk this last conference was simply wonderful. I was reading my copy of the May Ensign this evening and I was struck by the above quote. I started to wonder about my desires and whether I am focusing on the spiritual aspects of my life enough. With all the changes that have taken place in my life recently I have considered myself busy enough to neglect my scripture reading, to turn down opportunities to serve, etc. Reading this talk caused me to pause. What are my true desires for my life, for my eternity, for my family? Of course I'm not too busy to serve my fellow man, dedicate time to studying the gospel each day, focus on my relationship with the Lord and so on.  I would absolutely write all those things down on the list of important things to do in my day, but at what number on the list?

I know what kind of woman, wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend I want to be. Life has a way of making insignificant 'chores' take on far more priority than developing the spiritual and personal aspects of myself. Now that I have Ellinor here with Bryan and I why would I let those parts of me falter? As an example to her I need to make my eternal desires the top of my To-Do List. I'm so grateful for General Conference and the tremendous church leaders that we have been blessed with. Thank goodness I have their loving reminders every 6 months to whip myself back into shape - in every facet of my life.

Blogging

Hola my friends! :) I'm going to try this blogging thing out. I find myself reading various blogs lately - loving seeing cute pictures and reading entertaining anecdotes. My life may not be full of rapture, but I tend to think it's pretty great. If anything I can use this blog to record those little happenings in life that I don't want to forget - since I'm lousy at keeping a journal. What can I say, typing is so much faster.

I don't really know where to start though. There are those blogs out there with awesome DIY tips, creative craft ideas for kids, hilarious stories about jumping out of planes or being chased by clowns in the zoo that is then cleverly turned into a life lesson when written about - you know, those blogs that attract hundreds upons hundreds of readers. My blog may top out at 10 readers but I think it's worth doing anyway. Who's to say my harrowing adventures to obtain large quantities of Diet Dr. Pepper or the diaper leakage incident that led to new sheets isn't entertaining?! ;)

Thought for the day: Cuddles from my baby make everything in life look so much rosier. I'm one blessed gal!