Outlook Determines Outcome!

The Joy-Stealers

The thieves that rob you of your joy!

#1 Circumstances

Most of us must confess that when things are "going our way" we feel a lot happier and we are much easier to live with. But have you ever stopped to consider how few of the circumstances of life are really under our control? We have no control over the weather or over the traffic on the expressway or over the things other people say and do. The person whose happiness depends on ideal circumstances is going to be miserable much of the time! The poet Byron wrote, "Men are the sport of circumstances."

#2 People

All of us have lost our joy because of people: what they are, what they say, and what they do. (And no doubt we ourselves have contributed to making somebody else unhappy. It works both ways.) But we have to live and work with people; we cannot isolate ourselves. Is there any way to have joy in spite of people?

#3 Things

A wealthy man was moving into his mansion, and his Quaker neighbor, who believed in simplicity of life, was watching the activities carefully. The neighbor counted the number of chairs and tables and the vast amount of bric-a-brac that was being carried into the house. Finally, he said to the lord of the mansion: "Neighbor, if thou dost need anything, come to see me and I will tell thee how to live without it!"

Abraham Lincoln was walking down the street with his two sons, who were crying and fighting. "What's the matter with the boys?" a friend asked. 

"The same thing that's wrong with the whole world," Lincoln replied. "I have three walnuts and  each of the boys wants two!"

Things! What thieves they can be! Yet most people today think that joy comes from the things that they own. In reality, things can rob us of the only kind of joy that really lasts.

#4 Worry

This is the worst thief of all! How many people have been robbed of peace and fulfillment because of worry! In fact, worry even has physical consequences, and, while medicine can remove the symptoms, it cannot remove the cause. Worry is an "inside job." You can purchase "sleep" at the drug store, but you cannot purchase "rest."

If outlook determines outcome, then the attitude of mind that we cultivate will determine our joy or lack of it. 

*This is from Warren Wiersbe's commentary of Philippians called Be Joyful. I'll share more as I read on. 

AND NOW FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE!

It's Been 6 Months!

Sorry Folks! My life has been a whirlwind lately, and the day I finally blog again is my 30th birthday. Well maybe we could say that I've been living it up the past 6 months of my youth and now that I am an old woman today, I'll sit down and blog. I wish I could say that. The hard truth is, I've been so busy trying to get this magazine off the ground that if I'm writing I feel like I should be writing an e-mail, typing up some agreement, or research an article. That and when we take some great pictures on our camera of our life, Josh clears it off right away onto his computer or external hard drive and it makes it a little tougher when I cannot blog from my own computer with my own pictures. 

So today, Josh is taking Asher to gymnastics and I get to work some. I know what you're thinking, working on your birthday? But I love it!

Then my hubby is sweeping me away this weekend to the big city and on Sunday we are snowboarding,  yesssss! So for visual stimulation, I have enclosed a beautiful picture of my loving birthday-celebrating husband and I and some great pics from my friends blogs who are so faithful at posting and have the most amazing photos.

gluten free

I forgot to post the most beautiful pictures of a gluten-free cake a friend of mine made for Asher's birthday a couple months ago. My friend Sumi, is from Korea, I tutor her daughter. And she is the most amazing cook, I always get some of her amazing coffee and goodies when I visit to teach her daughter. I don't know how she made it gluten free so easily, she said she just used rice flower. But maybe she picked up a pre-made baking mix, or maybe she just substituted rice flower, I don't know. I will have to get to the bottom of this, but you enjoy the pics!

6 Great years!

Tomorrow is our 6th Anniversary

(on the right, our first date: November 2001)

It's been a great six years filled with lots of adventure. I couldn't ask for a better companion to share my life with. Sometimes I hear people talk negatively of marriage. For many reasons I'm sure. (on the right, taken a few weeks ago, 2008) Some of my single friends feel they will somehow loose themselves if they get married, they will not longer be able to fulfill their dreams and have that independence. For some, the negativity comes from years of being married and many things gone wrong, I don't actually know why. But I have to defend marriage as the best thing that has ever happened to me. It was the commitment from this amazing man that allowed me to be more free, it allowed me to be myself and it allowed me to follow my dreams and to fell complete. I've searched my whole life for someone to love me just as I am. I know that is what led me to Jesus. But so many times I had prayed, "Jesus, I know you love me, but can't you just come down here in the physical form and wrap your arms around me, help me through this life in person?" Well, God knew I needed someone physically in my life to love me for exactly who I am, in the raw, and he gave that to me in Josh. Now I don't have to pretend to be someone I'm not just to get a date. Now I don't have to starve myself to achieve to look like someone else, because my hubby loves all of me, even some of the chubby parts. But that's just it, let go of the pressure to be perfect, and I soar. I strive to be better, because those constraints are not on me. Now I wanna look good for him, I want to be an amazing person because he is so amazing to me. And our dreams? Oh, how we dream together. I help him pursue his dreams and passions, he pushes me to pursue mine. In fact, I wouldn't be able to accomplish my goals and dreams if it were not for Josh. And independence? Got it too. We are not chained to the home or even to our child. We travel, we discover, we explore, we save up and buy toys, just the same as those who don't have "strings attached." This is how it was meant to be. Marriage was never intended to burden but to bless. And I've experienced nothing less! Thank you Josh for giving me all that you are for six years and to the rest ahead of us, I say bring on all the future adventures. I love you Josh!

My little guy turns 2!!!

Saturday, Asher turned two. We had a little birthday party with him and couple friends. We went to Chuck E Cheese? I really didn't think he would like it as much as he did. He didn't even care to eat my gluten free/ dairy free birthday cake I made him with confetti frosting (yum!), because he wanted to go put a coin in the big yellow school bus or ride the pony. He loved it! Mom and Dad bought him a basketball hoop, again I thought he would not enjoy this until he got older, but lo and  behold, he loved that too! I guess he's not my baby anymore, he really is my big boy!

Yesterday I went to the hospital to see my friends new born baby, this girl came out at 10lbs. I thought she would be huge but I thought she was as tiny as could be, I think it's because my "baby" is so big now! Can you believe he started out at 7.3lbs? He is becoming such a little man. It used to be that I was the one that worried about him and was always making sure he was okay. Now he's always taking care of me. If I give him a hat to go outside, he pulls out another one of his hats "and mama" he says. If I put chapstick on his lips, "and mama" he says. When we're heading out the door or walking down the street, he always turns and round and says "mama, cmon". When I'm putting on face lotion, he has to sit in my lap and have some applied to his face. Actually he wants a little more applied to his face then just my lotion, he is fascinated by all of my make-up. I have to tell him "Well, Daddy doesn't wear this stuff, so you don't need to either." 

Some of my favorite things are when we're driving in the car and I turn around to look at him, and he's got this huge grin on his face. And he won't stop either, he just keeps smiling ear to ear until I've smiled back at him a thousand times. 

So we're headed back east to see family and do some speaking at a Mission's Conference, and I'm so excited for him to have a long conversation with his uncles and aunts and grandparents. But he's probably the only one who will know exactly what he's talking about. He's been doing that lately too, just talking up a storm, but I can no longer interpret, he's talking too fast for me to figure it out.

I know I say this every month, but I love this age and I love this boy, he's simply amazing!

Yes Josh! I heart you too!

I heart Hawaii!!

I can't wait to post our Hawaii pics, but for now, here's a little something to wet your appetite! Hawaii is the most beautiful place on the planet!

Crazy weather here!

The weather lately has been crazy. Just Wednesday, it was around 60 degrees, beautiful, sunny, got me all excited for spring! 

The next day, on Valentine's day we wake up to everything covered in snow and ice! Now tomorrow it's supposed to be 65 degrees, we're gonna grill out, crazy huh? Asher loves the snow now, he loves sledding with Dad. He lies on his tummy and he says "go...go...go...go" while kicking his legs, dad pulls him as fast as he can.

            

The loves of my life!

He's kind, compassionate, soft-spoken, sexy, strong, a cuddler, dedicated, smart, maticulous, funny, loving, hard-working, handsome, sweet, selfless, faithful,trusting, merciful, creative, sentimental, protective, a softy, and the most amazing man ever! I am grateful he wanted to marry me, have my child (hopefully children) and that he puts up with my craziness and loves it!

My other love? He's alot like his father: sweet, sensitive, a cuddler, hugger, kisser, singer, giggler, playful, sentimental, adorable, caring, smart, helper, soft-spoken, creative, my little man, my litte sidekick, I'm the luckiest mom on the planet! 

disclaimer: I realized I am extremely blessed. And that I don't deserve what I've been given, I'm so grateful. Please keep in mind that I don't believe Valentine's Day is about having a significant other, it's about sharing love with people around you. While we don't need an excuse, like a special day, we should love others every day!

Please keep in mind too that there are many people who have a difficult time with Valentine's Day and I've heard that suicide rates are high the day before, because society puts so much emphasis on needing to have someone in your life. So please reach out to someone today, even if it's a smile or a compliment to the most unsuspecting person!

He's a little man!

Oh, where does the time go? I guess other mom's are right...it feels like just yesterday that he was still nursing and now we are on the verge of potty training! 

I was eating lunch with a friend of mine, whose daughter is about the same age. It was her birthday and we were venting over our common ailment, stress of mommyhood. The kiddos were both just getting over a cold that left them both cranky and clingy, and we were about to pull our hair out, as both are kids were tired, ready for naptime and about to throw tantrums. A lady stops by our table, she says "I just have to tell you, you guys look so cute over here with your babies, I was just admiring you, they are so sweet!" My friend and I looked at each other, I knew she was thinking what I was thinking, you can't mean us right, cuz we are about ready to scream!

The lady said "It seems like just yesterday, my baby was that little, now she's 11!" We smiled at her, and then out from that ladies mouth, spoke the most perfect thing, I don't think I will ever forget, it was just what we needed. She said "when I was a young mom and stressed out, another woman told me 'the days are long but the years are short'."

And that lady left us shortly after that.

The days are long, but the years are short!

awwww. Thank you for that, strange lady! I really needed that. Now I say that to myself, whenever I think I cannot go on! Hope you enjoy too!

Here's my little boy helping to unload the dishwasher:

Wrestling with his best friend Maya: