My thoughts this beautiful November morning...

Wow -- can you believe it's almost mid-November, Thanksgiving's just a blink away and Christmas is just around the corner??? Where does the time go -- it passes so quickly. So much has been going on in our household and it's such a beautiful and pleasant time of year. I so wish I could bag up some of these gorgeous fall days and pull it out on one of the hot summer days. I absolutely LOVE this time of year as I'm sure so many others do as well. Each year I try to savor the moment more and more and cherish the thoughts and wonders of the world a little more with each beautiful memory. I challenge you to the same.

Just a little catch-up of our family's happenings include some great news about Addison. She has been doing a fantastic job in school this semester (with some really tough classes!) and managed to make all A's! Yeah, Addi! I'm so proud of her and all her accomplishments. She was also voted into the Ms. L-E Pageant as a member of the senior contestants. She's excited and now we will have the priviledge of shopping for that perfect gown for the event (which as you know can be challenging to find a "modest" pageant dress for prom, pageants, and the like) but she is determined to find just the right one which will be gorgeous and adhere to the high standards she has set for herself. For this I am very proud of her and looking forward to the fun and excitement this brings to her. She's such a fun daughter and I so much enjoy her company and want to savor all the moments of her last year in high school. For those of you with young children -- trust me, it passes way too fast so enjoy the moments...

Erika and Jack are currently on their cruise and I am so very thankful that Paloma has been reduced to a storm rather than a hurricane. I know they will have blast and I can't wait to hear all about it when they return next Sunday! Bon Voyage, kids! Love you bunches!

Ethan continues to study hard in school and working many hours at Redbone Alley. Even though he doesn't make it home very often we talk alot making the time apart seem not so long. He's a great kid (even if he is 20 he's still a "kid" to me! Ha!) and I miss him and hope for all the best in life for him.

Abby and Alex had great report cards this semester as well. Abby made the A/B Honor Roll and missed all A's by only a couple points. She does such a great job in school and is such an avid reader. I admire that trait she has and hope it rubs off on me. She and Alex are so fun to have around on the weekends -- Alex keeps Chloe completely entertained the entire weekend and Chloe loves his company.

Joseph is back to work full-time after a brief shut-down at the plant. He's glad to be back to work but truly enjoyed his break seeing as how it happened at the beginning of deer season! (How lucky is that?! Ha!) He's gotten a few deer so far so we'll have meat for the winter. He is so fun and I absolutely love the time we have together. Our Relief Society lesson yesterday was a great reminder to me of all I have to be thankful for in my relationship and my marriage to Joey -- he truly is my best friend and my best buddy as well as my husband and companion. How much fun we have together! Our lesson was centered around love letters between the prophet Joseph Smith and his dear wife, Emma, and how incredible was their love and concern for the other. It was a fantastic lesson and inspired me to write more to those I love. Emails and phone calls are good but there is power in the hand-written note or letter and who doesn't like to receive something kind in the mail or under their pillow?

This past week was a fun one with Joey and I spending all day Monday in Charlotte at a golf demonstration thing we'd registered for. Of course they wanted to sell us this expensive elaborate package which we refused but did enjoy a free meal at Longhorn Steakhouse and a free vacation package for participating in the tour. It was just fun spending the day together and getting to talk and visit on the way there and back. Work was good this week and we even did a surprise for our manager, Phyllis, who celebrated a milestone birthday this past weekend! Happy Birthday, Phyllis! Then on Friday night I had a great time going out shopping with Karen and finding some really good bargains. We had so much fun and even had Target shutting the lights out on us -- we closed the store! Ha! Then we went to Kohl's which was open even later and just had a really fun time. She's so fun to be around!

One of the highlights of my week this week was attending the Stake Relief Society Women's Conference -- what an awesome and truly inspired conference it was. I learned so much from this meeting and the talk presented by Sister Johnson (Laresa's mom!) was absolutely amazing and left me feeling like I could tackle the biggest obstacle and be okay. She began by talking about opposition and related the scripture found in 2 Nephi 2:11 from the Book and Mormon and then a scripture from the Bible found in John 8:32 describing "the truth shall set you free." I'd never given much thought in depth to this scripture about exactly what "the truth" is but after this conference, "the truth" has a whole new perspective and I love the message concerning "the truth." Sister Johnson described in detail the difference between necessary and unnecessary pain and the fact is that we all must face some type of necessary pain in life but it is the unnecessary pain that we bring onto ourselves and it lies in the things that we cannot change. For some it is things from the past that we hold on to and absolutely cannot change. For others it may be the way a person acts and what we think should be or could be or what could have or should have been -- we cannot change these things either. The truth lies in just what exactly is and what is going on right at this given moment. Wow, what a reality check this was for me! What a burden we can lift from ourselves just by applying these principles of truth to our lives. The gospel of Jesus Christ is so simple -- He has already paid the price for us -- we just need to do the right thing at this given moment. Sure, if there are things in our past we need to repent of and make right by all means we need to take care of those things but the future is simple -- just do the right thing from this time forward. I learned so much and enjoyed this meeting more than anything I've done in a very long time and brought so much away from it. As a matter of fact, the timing could not have been more perfect. Upon arriving home Saturday night after a fun-filled day of attending the meeting, enjoying the wonderful feast my mom had prepared for the conference, the inspiring comments also from our beautiful Stake Relief President (who happens to be my precious niece and one of the dearest people in the whole world to me, Ginger) followed by a fun afternoon of shopping/browsing all by myself with no one to rush me, I came home and had dinner with my sweetheart before he left for work and settled into a nice cozy evening at home. Just about the time I got comfortable I stumbled onto something on the internet involving someone close to me that was heart-wrenching. My feelings of comfort quickly changed into at first - anger and resentment and then to hurt -- extreme hurt and my heart just ached. The first few moments I didn't know whether to cry or to yell (I was alone so no one would hear me even yelling at the top of my lungs) and then I realized I didn't even have the strength to yell or scream -- my heart hurt too much and what good would it do anyway? I began to cry and I sobbed until there were no more tears. After saying my prayers I thought of the lessons of the day and the message that I so fully believed Sister Johnson had spoken specifically to Valencia. (I kept thinking during her talk -- How did she know that about me? It was incredible!) Well, after many tears and Addison arriving back at home and I know I had to regain my composure so she wouldn't worry or be concerned that Mom had lost it - I again said my prayer and then called this person I was so concerned about. For what seemed like a monumental moment in my life I totally applied the principles I'd learned this day from the conference and wow! I know with all my heart that the outcome was so different that it would have been a day earlier. I believe that my relationship with this person I love so much will be for the better after our conversation. I know that Heavenly Father will open doors and windows for change and that as long as we trust in Him nothing is impossible. Our time is so different than His, but if we trust in His time frame all things work for good. I am so thankful to my Heavenly Father for so many blessings and for the things He continues to bless us with and most of all for the angels he puts in our paths to teach us and to work in His service for others. He knew that the way would be tough for us and there would be pain we'd have to endure but he has a plan for each of us and if we just trust in Him and leave those windows of communication open so that we can hear Him our way will not be so rocky. I love Sister Johnson and I am so thankful for the divine inspiration she was blessed with before traveling to South Carolina to present this message to us at this conference. My life is better for it. Ginger, you are a jewel, and I am so grateful also for your example and for what you stand for...I love you so much. In my life I have so much work to do and many things I need to make right. I pray that each day I can be a little better than the day before so that I may be a better sister to others and a better daughter of my Heavenly Father who I know loves me and all His children so very much.

I hope everyone has a happy and safe week and a beautiful Thanksgiving season. Take care!