Braveness...
If you know me, you know I am a huge chicken when it comes to cutting my hair. I never now what to expect and I hate thinking that it won't turn out the way I want. Last night I went to get my hair trimmed. Just two inches off the ends please.

This is what I ended up with.

8 inches cut off with layers.

Yep, I did it! I was going to wait
for Aly to get home from Florida, but I decided to just go for it. I am glad I did!

Pete and Becky...

I am grateful for a number of things. But at the moment I am especailly grateful to my mother and father in law! The past few months we have been trying to sell our home in Sandy, all the while living in Vernal. The task proved to be dang near impossible. So my mother in law showed the home for us and my father in law winterized it for us so that we wouldn't have frozen pipes or any other winter related problems. I can't thank them enough for all the hard work they put into our home in behalf of our family. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! We love you and are grateful for all you have done, and continue to do!

Family Dinner...

Grant and I took the boys out to dinner Saturday night. As we were waiting for our dinner we took the opportunity to talk to the boys about life, what their expectations are, and goals they have made. Alek said to me, I just want to make you proud mom. You don't have to worry about me doing "bad" things. I promise I won't!

As you can imagine I was happy and relieved to hear him say this. But what made me even happier was that my 11 year old son has already made the decision to live his life in accordance to what he is being taught. He has promised to himself, his parents, and his Heavenly Father to keep the word of wisdom.

I read somewhere about a church leader (sorry I can't remember where I read it or who the leader was) that made the decision not to break the word of wisdom at a very young age. He prayed and promised Heavenly Father that he would keep his promise no matter how difficult it may be. Through out his life his promise was put to the test. But he never faltered. And as time went on it got easier and easier for him to just say "no thank you" and found that that was a sufficient answer. Nobody ever questioned his reply and he never offered any more detail. He never broke his promise. This story came to my mind when I was talking to Alek. I know Alek and I know he is tough! He has already made the decision to not do drugs, to not drink alcohol, to serve a mission, and to get married in the temple. He knows his Heavenly Father loves him and he knows Grant and I love him and will support him and help him achieve his goals. It won't be easy for him, but I know he can do it!

I am proud of both my boys. They are an amazing example to me of Christ like love. They are kind to everyone and treat everybody with respect and love.

Jayce and Alek are meant to do great things in this life. You wait and see!

I can't express in words how grateful I am to have been blessed with such an amazing husband and two wonderful children. My life couldn't be any more perfect!

A Wise man (women) once said...
The other day my friend Jennifer told me she found an amazing saying that changed the way she thought and acted. The next day she texted it to me, it said, "There is no way to happiness, Happiness is the way" My thought was, "wow, that is so true." But didn't give it any real thought. Then on Sunday as I was chatting with the Bishop (Jennifer's husband) he said "can I give you a thought to ponder?" Guess what thought he gave me? Yep, the same one. To top it off, when I was watching The Early Show this morning, believe it or not they were giving people tips on how to be happy. I think someone is trying to tell me something!
I am generally a happy person. There isn't a whole lot in this world that can get me down. However, I have my moments. I choose to be upset over silly little things and I choose to let those silly little things decide my attitude and mood for that day or (if my family is lucky) the week . So, I am pretty sure that I am being told by the powers above to change my attitude and be happy ALL the time, not just most of the time.
How can I achieve happiness all the time? Especially when things don't go the way I think they should?
Here is a simple guide that I have come up with to help me:
* Be optimistic
* Follow my gut
* stay close to my friends and family
* think happy thoughts
* smile
* don't take things to heart
* practice acts of kindness
* practice forgiveness
* love myself
* relax and do what I enjoy
* BE GRATEFUL!!!
* Most importantly, Remember that I am a Child of God!

When Jared passed away, the Elders Quorum President in our ward gave me a book by John Bytheway. The title of the book is "How to be totally miserable" It is a wonderful book full of thoughts and wisdom from prophets, and church leaders. My most favorite quote is found in this book. It is quoted from President Hinckley "Generally speaking, the most miserable people I know are those who are obsessed with themselves; the happiest people I know are those who lose themselves in the service of others...By and large, I have come to see that if we complain about life, it is because we are only thinking of ourselves."
What comes to your mind when you read that? What came to my mind was "ouch". I must not be losing myself in service if President Hinckley's quote stung a little. I don't want to be miserable. I love to be happy, and love to help others. I have been given the tools. Now all I need to do is "Just Do It!" as President Kimball has told us!
It is true, "there is no way to happiness" but there are a few things we can do each day, and every moment of our lives to help us remember that "happiness is the way".
I am choosing to be happy! Take it or leave it! This is me!

Happy Birthday...
I have the most fantastic, perfect husband. I am so thankful for the hard work he does in behalf of our family.
Today we celebrated his birthday! He started the day off by speaking with a high council member in another ward at 9:00 this morning. Then we went to church, after church we had a meeting, then had another meeting, and then, yes, had another meeting. We didn't get home until around 5:30. (I was thankful that I was in the same meetings so that we could spend some time together.) When we got home we had the most delicious steaks, with baked potatoes, and green beans, topped off with better than...anything cake and coconut gelato.
I was a little worried that Grant would be upset about spending most of his birthday in meetings. When I asked him if he had a happy birthday he said it was perfect. But then again, when does Grant EVER complain?!?!? He's happy with pretty much anything! I hope that he had the best birthday ever!!!
I don't know what I would ever do without Grant! I love his smile, I love his laugh, I love when he calls me "Lizzanne", I love how he loves our boys, and how he would do ANYTHING for them, I love that he tries to be the tough guy, but in reality he's just a big softy. To sum it up...Grant = the perfect man!!! I am so lucky!!! I love you Mr. Schiess!

Starting something new...

Today I gave my first ever piano lesson. I was terrified and nervous. My student is a little bit advanced and I am not sure that I can do him any good. But I enjoyed it and I have two more students on Thursday that are total beginners.

I am grateful that I have a talent that I am able to share with others, and I am grateful that I can make a little extra money on the side. Wish me luck!

This that and everything in between...

So with the holidays and everything going on I haven't had the time to update my blog. And now that I have time there is to much to post. Therefore I have decided to compose a little slide show of all our recent events. And just so there isn't any confusion, I will sum it all up for you with a short little blurb.

Christmas was awesome, even though I forgot to take pictures. We had an incredible Christmas eve dinner (if I do say so myself). I got couches that I am very proud of, the boys got a new tent, and Grant got a bed (which of course we share). My family came to visit just after Christmas, we went shooting, ate lots of food and played. Then two days later we packed up and headed to St. George where we spent New Years eve and the next two days shopping, visiting all the church sights, playing with Jerrica and James, going to the movies, and of course eating out.

Now we are back to reality. The boys are back in school, Grant's back to work, and I am STILL trying to get my house cleaned up, and I am not having much luck!

There you have it, our holidays in a nut shell. I hope you all had a great holiday season. I am sad that it is over, but also very glad! It's bitter sweet.

Here's to 2010 being the best year yet!!!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow