Self Improvement Week 2

Week 1 Summery

So like i said i think i needed the little extra time for my first week to get in the habit of self improvement. i did much better as the week progressed. something i learned about me though, i look down alot. like i dont think im really shy but if i was talking to someone or passing someone on the street i would look down and smile at the sidewalk. it took a real effort to make sure that i was looking at the person as i smiled so that it wasnt a smile wasted (although im sure i made the sidewalks day!) i think overall though once it wasnt as hard to remember to smile it made my days better, happier, and more up beat. i hope everyone else had as much luck as i did with this week and that it help bring a little sunshine to your soul like it did mine!

Week 2: Prayer

"But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not preform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ..."

2 Nephi 32:9

Goal: Have sincere, daily personal prayer. The Book of Mormon prophet Alma Suggested praying morning, mid-day, and evening (Alma 34:21)

• Draw nearer to your Father in Heaven
• Let Him know everything; how you are doing, worries, fears, triumphs and failures
• ask for help if you need it
• pray for inspiration and personal revelation
• avoid common repetition
• use sacred pronouns (thee, thou, thy, and thine)
• spend a few mins after praying in meditation or wait to receive an answer
• try to have a prayer in your heart all day long
• make sure prayers are offered at all meals
• make family prayer a priority
• say them with spouse and with children

Big Update!

So i thought i would take a moment and give our big news....Aaron finally got his orders! we will be going to...drum roll please...

SASEBO, JAPAN

we are way excited but i am also unbelievably scared! different language, drives on the other side of the road, and have you seen their toilette's? (and im not talking about the cool ones that heat up) But for the most part we are excited and just happy to know where we are going next. if you want to snoop more on where we are going this was the best website i could find. not a ton of pics but it does have a lot of good info.

Videos!

ever since aj figured out how to jump he loves to do it!

We also went through an Owie phase. it was not so cute when i would try to put him in the cart at the store and he would be yelling "OWwwww"

japanese patty cake

lots of pics!!!!

So of course i am computer retarted and put these pics in backwards so they go from newest to oldest. i had almost 100 pics on my camera that i downloaded...shame on me for waiting so long!

Aj last sunday he just looked so good had to snap a shot

Mia on sunday, almost two months old!

so cute!

we went to sandy creek park last weekend and they had a lake w a beach area. aj looooved it!

"i love water!"

Mia chillin' on a blanket

my crazy children

she was havin a bad hair night

the easter egg hunt on base. he's thinkin "i dont know whats goin on, one min dads w me then the next he is off gettin eggs"

arn't they cute!

easter morning w their baskets

one month old. i swear she has like a million other dresses so i dont know how i just happen to get both of her pretty pics in this one. its a cute dress though...aaron says she looks like a baker with the hat on.

look at our pretty pink toes for the navy supply ball

usin the potty. i took a pic of aj and his wee wee in hopes that he would get excited about using the potty

st. patty's day

We had green eggs and bacon for breakfast (i didnt have any ham). it is aj's favorite book (in fact he calls every book "ham") and i thought it would be good for st pattys but he wouldnt try the eggs...guess they looked to weird.

one rare day i was on the computer blogin and aj was just playin around me when i realized it had gotten really quiet and when i looked under my chair i knew why. his head was laying against my foot. what a goofy boy!

quick Updates

So im glad i started my first "improvement week" a little longer cuz its really hard to smile all the time. its easy for me to do it at my kids and aaron but its really exhausting to be smily and happy all the time. i got my first salute the other day (for those who dont know, our car has an officer sticker on it so the enlisted are suppose to salute it but nobody really does especially if im driving since im not the officer, but i guess the marines are really strict about it) Anyways...i went to pick up aaron from work and there was a marine trying to cross the street so i stopped and waved him on and he saluted me. i was so confused, for a second i thought he was waving me on so for a few seconds we did the awkward whos going to go first dance. aaron was outside and saw the whole thing he said i had the weirdest look on my face, like shock and confusion. i thought oh shoot i should have been smiling.

Mia has been getting so big! she can coo and say ah-goo now. she loves to smile. right now shes looking at herself in a mirror and talking to herself. aj has been getting so big. he is really start to talk in small sentences now and can start to really hold a conversation. the boy will never stop teething though. he just got all four of his 2yr molars so i thought i was finally going to get a break but NOOO now he is getting four more molars. im not even sure his mouth has room for them. needless to say they have been extra painful for him. we are not sure if he has an imaginary friend or not (i think he is still too young for that) but we catch him talking to himself all the time. especially in the car he will just go on and on and on.

Our most exciting news is really news to come...we are waiting for the results from aarons billet list but we are 90% sure we will be going to Sasebo, Japan next. we are way excited but also a little terrified! it will be a lot of work just to get there and then there is the whole two small children that we will have to juggle as we pack and fly the long long LONG trip to japan. im pretty sure we are going from like one side of the world to the other...crazy. it will be an adventure! we find out for sure on Friday so i'll keep you updated!

My Self-Improvement Journal

As i feel my sanity slipping away from me a little more everyday i felt the need to do something for myself. of course saying that i have to laugh a little because i cant even pee by myself anymore. in fact at this moment i can think of about a million other things i should be doing right now instead of writing this post. like clean the bathrooms that desperately need it or wash bottles or clean the oven which may need it even more then the bathrooms! but as i was putting clothes away, my eyes scanned over our book shelf and i found a self-help book that i had bought when we first got married. it is a 52-week "journey to inner happiness" written by a mother who also felt her sanity slipping from her. more importantly it is a book of goals to improve both spiritually and physically. Im not going to lie i know that my closeness with my Father in Heaven has slowly deteriorated. On Sunday when i wake up im not excited to go to church but rather stressed to get everyone ready and out the door on time (which doesnt always happen). My prayers are no longer conversations but quick pleads of survival. I wonder at night what can i do to squeeze in daily scripture study when i didnt even have time for a shower.

SO...to force myself to make it through all 52 weeks (i only lasted 4 last time) i am going to blog about it every sunday...i know what you are thinking but its thursday today...i know, im not that crazy...yet. so my first week will be extra long. i figure i will write the goals at the beginning of each week and then write my progress at the beginning of the next week. i guess this is kind of my belated new years resolution. if anyone wants to do the goals with me feel free, i would love to hear your comments of your own progress. So here we go Week 1

Week 1

Smiling

"Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things..."

D&C 123:17

Goal: A smile can turn the world around. Make a conscious effort to smile all the time- force it if you have to.

Smile when you are alone, in the car, in the shower, talking on the phone, when you are making dinner.

Smile to everyone you see: the man who cut you off, your family, your friends, people you pass on the street.