Connected?

It's interesting how since I was a youngster (not THAT long ago) things have changed so radically, especially when it comes to technology. 

Let's think back on a time where there was one land line phone number per household. I would call my friend to see if she wanted to play. It might be my friend who answers the phone - or it could be someone else in her family. Or no one would answer the phone (gasp!). 

Now we would not be deterred. We would text, I/M them &/or their spouse &/or their children. So, are we more accessible? Sure. 

But, also no. As I have started this business one of the things that I've noticed the most is that even though we all have our phones constantly in our hands we are less connected to each other. This can't be news to you, right? It's funny how many times my team and I get "send me the link". Which appears to be the "sure, I'll say send me the link, which I may or may not look at - but it at least gets me off the hook for now, right?" response. When did we turn into these types of people. I mean, I get it. In fact, I'm sure I've even done this myself. But, can we think back to those times when we were actually on the phone talking to our buddy and they asked us to go play for instance. Would we have waited 3 hours - or even 3 days/weeks/months before actually responding? Or would we have ever said, "send me the info" but not truly given an answer? 

I just find this an interesting phenomenon. I'm not suggesting that we lie to each other - nor am I suggesting that we be brutally honest either. Cause even that can hurt sometimes. But, isn't there a way to handle things in a better way? How about "gently honest"? 😊

Random thoughts (from years ago)

So, sitting here watching (a little embarrassed to say it) "Finding Sarah ..." that reality-documentary about Fergie. And Fergie is sitting down with Oprah & they are talking about pivotal moments in their lives & asking the #1 question that has been on my mind lately ... Am I Good Enough? I have LOADS of faults & things I need to work on, but despite that I think I can say "yes". I attribute this surprise answer to a book that I adore "I am a Mother" by Jane Clayson Johnson. I seriously have read this about 5 or 6 times now. If I ever doubt myself as a mom (which is about 18 times a day, at least) this book seems to give me that added boost that I need. (Of course, there are always those "awe-some" days that I want to throw the book away because I can't stand how positive, spiritually in tune & seemingly efficient SHE is as a woman/mom.) I've just come across an amazing quote and wanted to share with someone - I hope this touches someone else's heart the way it did mine.

"You are doing God's work. You are doing it wonderfully well. He is blessing you, and He will bless you, even - no, especially - when your days and nights are the most challenging. Like the woman who anonymously, meekly, perhaps even with hesitation and some embarrassment, fought her way through the crowd just to touch the hem of the Master's garment, so Christ will say to the women who worry and wonder and weep over their responsibility as mothers, 'Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole.' And, it will make your children whole as well."

- Jeffrey R. Holland ("Because She Is a Mother")

Secondly, I have been thinking lately of how much this adorable little boy trusts me. In our world of doubt & hardships, where it is tough to completely trust in someone - anyone - it is amazing to me what he trusts me whole-heartedly. This morning I brought Robson in the shower with me. He was clearly a little nervous & apprehensive looking around and getting startled easily. But this sweet little baby reached out and caught some of my hair and instantly relaxed then promptly closed his eyes and pretty much slept through the whole thing. I hope I never do anything to break his trust & faith in me.

(This experience with Robson happened years ago - I just didn't have the nerve to post this. I'm working on being more fearless. Since I haven't blogged for so long - therefore, I don't have any followers, I feel safe. 😂)

Risky business?

For those of you who may not know, I have recently started a new business. To be honest, I thought that I was "too old for this" ... SHTUFF. And, as I have said previously, I am also a big chicken when it comes to taking risks. Which is probably how I landed myself in Risk Management in my previous career.
So, here I am at the precipice --- I'm really nervous & afraid. But, as my sweet sister-in-law/business partner just sent me in a text this morning "I have a bigger fear of regret than I do of giving it everything I've got and coming up short."
And that's just what I am going to do! I'm going for it! My business and I are booking a booth at the "What a Woman Wants Expo" here at the South Town Expo Center. I feel like this could be an incredible opportunity for me to really get some great exposure and momentum for me and my team.
Do I have fears? HECK YES!Life is all about risks though, isn't it? Why are we so afraid of them? Well, probably cause they could easily sink us. But, they could easily make us, too. From my experiences I could say that it was a "risk" getting married. It was a "risk" to buy our home. It was a "risk" to have kids. It was a "risk" to make the decision to become a stay-at-home-mom. If you recall in my previous post my definition of me is ... "I am Shay. I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am a mother & a wife." If I hadn't taken those "risks" I may not have been able to say half of this definition of myself. With this new adventure I am hoping to be able to add on to my definition of me.
Ever since I was in high school I always had this somewhat silly motto: I may take the scenic route, but I somehow always reach my destination.
So, this is what throws me for a loop (and literally as I type this I get butterflies in my stomach) --- I don't know what my destination is yet, but I am excited for the scenic route. And I definitely hope and pray that it's a pretty drive!

Options

So, life as we know gives us many options. But, what I am more concerned about today are MY options.

Life has been a bit difficult this past few weeks (family, work, church, etc). Seems like life is trying to get the better of me. Ever had those days/weeks/months/years? I'm sure you have!

So, what are my options? 

1) I could be defeated. Yes, it sometimes would be easy to take it without a fight and just sit on the couch, eat some delightful (and most likely unhealthy) snacks and wallow in my self-pity. I've had my fair share of those days!

2) I could fight. I've considered this option many times too. How many times have we been encountered with an unkind person and wished we could unleash a slew of hurtful (if not honest) words on them? How many times have we been put in an uncomfortable situation & wanted to swing our way out of it? Sure, I imagine that sometimes there are acceptable times to do just that. But, I'm talking about those times where you would walk away feeling like you could have handled that better. 

3) I could become more focused and determined. 

Are there more options, of course. I'm sure there are. But, today Option #3 is my course of action.

Recently I have been speaking to some friends about parenthood and about how difficult it can be. Is it worth it? ABSOLUTELY! Every second of it. But, yes. At times it is extremely difficult. And the only thing my husband and I say is ... We just have to get through it. Our (amazing) children are already here. We've already made that choice. And so now our choice is to just troubleshoot. :) 

I'm trying to adopt this method throughout the rest of my life. This is probably not anything new for you all - I bet you're much smarter than me. But, I'm trying to take life in stride. Do I have disappointments? Yes. So, I take a moment to feel that disappointment and then I am on to the next. How am I going to remedy the situation? Will this be a bandaid fix or am I handling this to be a long-term fix? And lastly, how am I going to sleep tonight? 

Wishing you all much luck and success as you troubleshoot in your own lives!

My name is Shay.

Recently I had a sweet friend call me "fearless". Which I AM SURE I scoffed at. Full disclosure: she was speaking about my quilting choices. But this really got me thinking. I tend to be a very cautious, somewhat fearful person. But, how can I translate that carefree, daring, and creative spirit into my "real" life?

Well, here goes! My name is Shay. I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am a mother & a wife. And, I am so much more! In the next few months I am planning on sharing some of my past & current experiences with you. I'm hoping that this will help me to keep my wits about me! But, hopefully you will gain something along the way also. 

Before we get started let me say that I am not an expert in, well ... anything. I just have my own opinions so please don't quote me (unless it's REALLY GOOD :)). 

Whew!

So girls camp is officially over. When I got home I was commonly asked, "so how'd it go?" I would reply that we didn't have any crying, fighting or injuries ... So I count that as a success. But, then I got to thinking about it, and we have crying, fighting and injuries the night before we left. So, maybe we just got it all out of system before we got there. :) okay, by way of explanation, we went paint balling for our camp kickoff the night before we went to camp. It was really fun! But, as I am typing this post, nearly 3 weeks later I still have a welt on my leg. Thanks Kristen!

Well, here's the recap. Wednesday morning we drove up to Altamont campsite up along the Alpine Loop. It's a beautiful campsite. We had a huge pavilion with 15 picnic tables and a fire pit underneath, 2 BBQs & bathrooms (hallelujah!). No showers, but some of us more creative folks figured that out - kind-of. But, flushing toilets & running water. That takes a little bit of the sting out of camping. A little.

First thing we did was set up camp and had lunch. Then we did a scavenger hunt. We had puzzles with clues written on the back scattered throughout camp. I had to laugh, because when the girls found a puzzle they immediately dropped and started working on the puzzles wherever they were. I thought, for sure, that they would go to the tables and do the puzzles, but nope. 3 times I found them doing to puzzles on the hot asphalt. After a couple of individual clue the teams were given 1/3 of a scripture reference. Of course, this was a little confusing for them, but they finally figured that they should help each other to find their "treasure." Their treasure was their camp shirts & a small silver necklace. 

So, for the spiritual portion of the camp we have a series of mini-devotionals where we could talk about our theme of superheroes. Our theme was "Camp-Con"! So fun! And, amazingly aligned with the spiritual side too. So, our first devotional was right before we left to go paint balling, which was a little hectic. The girls were just so excited to go ... And they obviously didn't know that this would be a recurring thing for our camp either. But, our message Tuesday night was all about Superman! The new Superman movie begins when he is an infant on Krypton. And as the story is told it is quite similar to the Great Council in Heaven and also how we came to Earth with little to no recollection of our previous existence. Also, we pointed out the existence of the adversary and how he will use any means necessary to try to defeat us. But, finished off with emphasizing that although we are here and trying to figure out who we are and our purpose, we already have a lot of knowledge of who we are. And we have already made some important decisions. 

Thanks for the flashback ... So after the girls got their necklaces, we did a recap of our superman discussion and gave them a little red crystal to hang from their necklace. We were supposed to do another devotional after the scavenger hunt, but we hit a small snag and didn't get through it. It was going to be good though! :) It was all about secret identities and costumes and masks. 

Then - we did stations with camp certification, secret sister letters, get to know you game & a craft. We  decorated roasting sticks so each girl had their own marshmallow roasting stick, which we also used for our chore chart. 

Last, Big production of the night was the Murder Mystery dinner. It was an all-female superhero cast! Perfect, right? (All except the 2 priesthood men, who were such good sports and played along!) Kristen brought all of her stage makeup and the girls brought costumes or props to help with their identities. It was really fun! And, the hamburger sliders were amazing too. 

The we did the traditional ooga booga for the new girls (and priesthood leaders). :)

At this point I was EXHAUSTED. So, I went to cot. :) Um, sooo cold.

More to come ...

Girls camp!

So, for those of you who don't live right next to me ... You may not know that I am the assistant girls camp director. So, here's my count down:
11 days to girls camp
18 girls/leaders to plan for
108 crystal necklace pendants made by my 2 hands
About 20 bags of "stuff" laying around my craft room
Stuffed 80 envelopes of invitations and clues for a murder mystery dinner
Oh yeah, printed and cut about 20 pages of clues
And, made invites
Scouted the campsite
Took an almost midnight hike with 3 other girls (not recommended)
At least a dozen shopping trips thusfar

Stuff to do:
Write 10 mini-devotionals
Paint 4 doormats
Finish making 3 capes
Put together 15 minute to win it games
Make posters of the girls mug shot pictures
Create scavenger hunt clues
Decorate 1 amazing tent
Survive 3 days of camping
Oh yeah, beware girls, I also have to shoot 17 other girls with paintballs

Da, da, da ... To be continued ...