Why...

Some days I just have to wonder why...
Why do we think we can actually have the house perfectly clean and the laundry all done when we still live in the house and are wearing clothes. (I am pretty sure that they even have laundry in nudist colonies:)
Why do we resist so hard to do the things that do us the most good.
Why don't we listen to those little promptings that would save us so much anxiety and relieve others at the same time.
Why do we think chocolate will make us feel better!

I came across this quote by President Ezra Taft Benson again. I think I have found it many times in my studies so it must be important for me.
"We live in an age when, as the Lord foretold men's hearts are failing them, not only physically but in spirit. Many are giving up heart for the battle of life...As the showdown between good and evil approaches with its accompanying trials and tribulations, Satan is increasingly striving to overcome the Saints with despair, discouragement, despondency, and depression.
"Yet, of all people, we as Latter-day Saints should be the most optimistic and the least pessimistic. For while we know that 'peace shall be taken from the earth, and the devil shall have power over his own dominion,' we are also assured that 'the Lord shall have power over his saints, and shall reign in their midst.' (D&C 1:35-36)"

So how do we try to be perfect, and not despair over the impossibility of achieving it even for one day?
How do we not become discouraged over the immensity of the tasks to be done?
How do we stop ourselves from the despondency we feel when we feel overwhelmed and inadequate?
How do we stop feelings of depression when we look at the world around us?

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf said this,

"My dear brothers and sisters, aren’t the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and our membership in His Church great reasons to rejoice?

Wherever you live on this earth and whatever your life’s situation may be, I testify to you that the gospel of Jesus Christ has the divine power to lift you to great heights from what appears at times to be an unbearable burden or weakness. The Lord knows your circumstances and your challenges. He said to Paul and to all of us, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” And like Paul we can answer: “My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Corinthians 12:9)."

(President Uchtdorf is usually speaking directly to me:)

Oh that we could be more like Paul! If we could just be better at allowing the Savior to lift us up instead of trying to do it all ourselves. If only we could "glory in" our weaknesses, and allow the "power of Christ" upon us.

I am probably not going to publish this post until it is buried under others. You can ask my husband and he would agree that this is way too personal a subject for me to be capable of sharing with others.

So I am going to switch the laundry, take a shower, say another prayer, and put on my happy face. I just can't wait for a temple to be closer because if there was I would be on my way right now! I quess today is a survival day. I just wish I had more thriving days.

Compromise :)

I actually went 4 days without SUGAR!!!
That may be a record. Jason and I decided on a compromise. We each get to pick one free day a week and then we both get that day free. That way we go 5 days without sugar for me and soda for Jason, and then two days that we allow sugar and soda in moderation.
This should at least save me from sitting around when I have a chance to read and snacking on skittles or jelly beans. My great downfall in life, snacking while I read:(
Speaking of reading...
What to read next
Fablehaven 4
The Thirteenth Tale
Brisingr
River Secrets
The Hunger Games
I have them sitting on my shelf, I just cant decide which one to start with. Any suggestions?

Something Funny!

Just a little something to get a laugh.

So we went down to Lee's Summit to watch conference at Jason's parents house this past weekend. Something about spending 6 hours at the church to watch Conference with Sydney just didn't compare to relaxing at the Furnell's and spending time with Grandma and Grandpa:)
So while we are driving around Jason turns to me and says something along the lines of "I bet you can't go without sugar for a month". For those of you that know me well, I know you are already laughing. In fact my sisters text in response was, "LOL".
Jason first said that he would give up Mountain Dew also. No no no that was not nearly good enough. He would have to give up soda completely!!
Unfortunately, I am also very competitive by nature and can't bear to lose a challenge.
And a challenge it will be. Here is how the month of April shapes up for me on the dessert front:
-youth fundraiser this Friday that includes a dessert auction (which I will be making lots of treats for)
-Easter
-Caleb's birthday and Baptism (which he has requested about 4 different desserts)
-My birthday
-trip to Arizona

Maybe I can just make it through the day...

Cinnamon Rolls

Here is my favorite cinnamon roll recipe. Its my favorite because it is so easy and always works out:)

4 1/2 cups of flour

1 package yellow cake mix

2 packages of quick-rise yeast

2 cups warm water

In mixing bowl, combine 4 ½ cups flour, dry cake mix, yeast and warm water until smooth. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Roll each portion into a 14-in. x 10-in. rectangle.

Cinnamon sugar mix (per half dough)

3 Tablespoons of Butter melted

½ cup brown sugar

3 teaspoons cinnamon

Mix together. Spread over dough. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side. Cut into 12 slices (I usually cut them into 15 that are not quite so big); place cut side down in greased pan.

*Cover and let rise until almost doubled, about 30 minutes.

or

*I almost always make these the night before. You put them in the fridge overnight right after you cut them in rolls. When I do this I put them straight in the oven in the morning and then turn it on so they are in during preheating also. 350 for about 25 minutes. They may not look like they will fluff when you first put them in but they do! Because who wants to get up that early to make cinnamon rolls hot and fresh out of the oven:)

Last but not least...

Frosting (enough for both batches)

4 Tablespoons butter softened

3 cups powdered sugar

1-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 to 3 tablespoons milk

Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla. Add enough milk to achieve desired consistency. Frost.

ENJOY!!

For Fun

For our Relief Society Birthday dinner I volunteered to make a cake. So I looked around on the internet to find a cute idea and this is what I came up with.

What you don't see is that there is one white cake and one chocolate cake. And that they are three one inch cakes layered together. The chocolate one even had mini-chocolate chips in the layers. Oh and it is obviously not sand but crushed graham crackers:)

I don't need another hobby but this was fun. I wonder what would happen I knew what I was doing instead of making it up as I go!

My Sister's Book

The Adventures of Marcy and Sara: Book One: The Magic Mole by Martha Kehr

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I must admit that I was a little nervous reading this book. My little sister wrote it and I really hoped it was good but since it is her first book I didn't know what to expect. It was very creative and interesting. I won't give anything away but I totally thought I would find out about the letter in this book. I guess I will have to wait for the next.

Anyway the book is about two girls that come across a magic way to travel and the adventures they have. They travel to a fantasy land and their adventures get a lot more exciting. I really liked the creativity of Arcadia! Overall it kept my interest and I can't wait to read the next two. It was a great setup for bigger and more exciting adventures.

There were a few typo's and misplaced words but it is a self published book.


View all my reviews.

It was one of those Mondays...

It was one of THOSE days. It started with a great plan to get some spring cleaning done and run a quick errand. It ended with me physically and mentally exhausted collapsing in bed. It went like this: My van needed a little tune up done and the mechanic I use is way done south near Lee's Summit. My in-laws just happened to be leaving for a weekend trip to Florida, so it worked out perfect for me to borrow their car while mine was in the shop. On Monday, early afternoon, I was to pick my father-in-law up at the airport and he would bring me down to the shop to get my car. A perfect plan and it was going perfectly. I was on schedule to be back home for my tutoring appointment at 3:00p.
Having just picked up my van I got about 7 miles away from the shop when the OIL light came on. I thought, "This is bad!!" I took the next exit and headed towards the gas station to check the oil. I thought maybe the mechanic forgot to put oil back in the car. I hit a red light just before the gas station and the car died! Completely shut down! At this point I should tell you that my friend wasn't feeling good that day so I exchanged my Blake and Caleb for her 7 month old baby. I figured the boys can just play Xbox at her house and she can sleep and I'll take the baby with me on the drive. So here I am dead on the side of the road with a screaming 7 month old (she didn't like the bottle I gave her), my 2 year old and 4 year old. Luckily my father-in-law was nearby, grabbed some jumper cables and was there in 10 minutes. A young man did stop but I didn't want him trying to push my van through the intersection. I called the mechanic and he was flabbergasted to say the least. Our whole family has been taking our cars to him and we have never had any problems. He suggested that maybe the battery had just completely died. We have had some battery problems with the van so that seemed likely. With a policeman on the scene now I put the car in neutral and let it roll through the intersection and into a parking lot. We switched the car seats once again and headed off so I could drop Jerry off at his office and then run to buy a new battery to install. That would be when...


Jerry got pulled over for speeding. I think when he pulled out his license and the cop saw his prosecutor badge he decided to just give him a warning:)
Soon I was off to Walmart where I realized that Sydney's shoes had not made the switch to the car, so she had none. I carried in the baby and Sydney into Walmart with Luke on tow. We got some bottled water, formula and treats for Syd and Luke. Back in the Tire section we found NO BATTERY for my car. I did what anyone would do in my situation...
I got back in the car and ate chocolate:) (don't tell my in-laws). Jason at this point had offered many times to come but it was just a battery. All I needed was a wrench to fix it. With all the kids happy I ran to Sams Club where they did have the battery I needed. Now I just needed a wrench. I ran back to my in-laws house to grab a wrench. I got back to the van and changed the battery with no trouble BUT...it still didn't start! At this point I called the tow truck. I didn't even cry when they pulled it onto the truck. Luckily that morning I had been listening to Elder Wirthlin's talk entitled "Come What May and Love it". I tried to laugh at the absurdity of the situation and laughed while I talked to various people on the phone. I also looked at the bright side...
1. The weather was beautiful, no rain snow or anything cold. In fact I got a little red on my arms.
2. Cheryl is still out of town so I could keep one of my in-laws cars. (Of course that means I will be picking Cheryl up at the airport on Thursday with a severe sense of de-ja-vu)
3. My insurance will pick up half the cost of the tow.
4. Blake and Caleb had not been left home alone for my quick 2 1/2 hour errand that turned into 8 hours.
5. We were safe:)

I will admit that I was a little grumpy on Tuesday and still tired. I was not looking forward to taking 4 kids to the DMV on Tuesday, but luckily the line was very short!!
I should mention when I called the shop in the morning he told me that the car started right up for him. I asked him to figure out what happened.

I trust that this happened for a reason and I will probably never know why..oh well at least the initial repair had been less than I budgeted for so I am still going to break even.