Oxygen Mask

You know the part in the safety instructions on the airplane when they talk about the oxygen masks? They tell you that when the masks come down you first put on YOUR mask and then you can help those around you to put theirs on. That includes small children who really can't do things like that on their own. I have heard it many times. I have been on a lot of planes. However, it wasn't until recently that I have learned exactly why they say that. Our visiting teaching message this month is about self-reliance and it was a hard one for me to swallow at first because at this time in my life there are parts where I feel completely prepared and self reliant and then there are other areas where I have had to humble myself and ask for help. However, while I was giving the message to one of my dear sisters this week, I read a part of the message that talks about being self-reliant spiritually, physically, socially, financially, emotionally, the list could keep going. I thought of something that I have been trying to incorporate in my life upon much coaxing from some around me that know what they're talking about and that is, if I am going to take care of my family and help them and others around me, I must first take care of myself. Much like the oxygen mask comparison, if you yourself are not breathing in the amount of oxygen that you need, how can you help others get theirs? To be self-reliant in areas of our lives that will aid us in taking care of ourselves is very important. As mothers, I think that we especially think of this as an awfully selfish act to do things for our own health, social life, emotional well-being, etc. However, if we don't, we are risking the opportunity to take care of others around us as well as we can. I have appreciated this advice and have tried really hard to incorporate it so that I can better take care of others around me. If that means finding extra time to read my scriptures even if my house doesn't get dusted, or spending time with my mom instead of always being home when my kids get home from school, or a night out with the "girls" instead of staying home and watching one more guy movie with Jeff it will help me be a better mom and better wife and just a better person able to take care of myself and find happiness to share with others and to serve through that happiness. Put on your own oxygen mask first!

Thirty-Something Acne

One thing I have learned a lot about lately is Acne. I am not going to bore you with the facts that I have learned but unfortunately the main fact that I have learned from personal experience is that just because you are no longer a teenager, that doesn't mean that you are immune to acne. Actually, some people are "late bloomers" when it comes to acne and I just happen to be one of them! Oh I love being thirty something...but I don't love being thirty-something with acne! This brings me to share something with you that I have learned recently that I didn't know before. If you did-I am mad at you for not sharing it with me! The other day I was watching the Today Show and they had some make-up tips on a segment on their show and they were talking about blush brushes. An interesting fact; you need to wash your blush brush! Who knew? You take a little warm water and a mild soap and wash your brush. If you don't, it could cause transfer of dirt into your pores. Which in turn, you guessed it, could cause unwanted acne! What did I do that day? I washed my brushes. Has my acne decreased in the past few weeks since the cleaning? Yes. Unfortunately, I had just purchased at the same time a trial for Proactive in the kiosk in the mall and so I am unsure if the clean brushes are the cause to a clearer skin or if it's the Proactive?

Anyhow, lesson learned, Clean your blush brush every 2-3 weeks.

Lessons Learned 2010

I loved posting my blessings last year. It was fun to look for things that were blessings and to notice things that I may not have otherwise. I am truly blessed! I am humbled by how blessed I am and how especially blessed I have been recently to have received so many blessings from my Heavenly Father. I am going to try hard to always try to recognize each day the blessings that I have in my life. However, there is something else that I have been thinking a lot about in my life and that is learning. I have a confession to make. I am not someone that thrives on learning. I did okay in school and I graduated from college. I have a degree and I am proud of it. However, once I was done...I was done. I could have gone on to teach-but raising our family became my priority and I don't regret that decision for one minute. I have loved every minute of being home with our children and taking care of them-and Jeff. I have learned a little about this and that mostly to do with my jobs at home. I love constantly learning about the gospel so I have continually participated in that, but anything else...not so much. The other day in Relief Society, the teacher was asking us about teachers in our lives that influenced our life for good and the first teacher that came to mind was my dad. He was a seminary teacher, I even had him for my early morning class in high school. He was a great teacher in the classroom-but he was even more incredible in our home. He is someone that was always learning!! When I say always-I mean always. His first love was religion of coarse. He always had a clipboard, a copy of one of the standard works, and a red pencil and a pen during the day at home while I was growing up. It was his job-so he put in the hours by studying. He loved all subjects though. On any given day I would catch him reading any random book-but never novels! They were always instructional books or biographies, autobiographies, etc. He soaked up as much information as he possibly could in his life here on earth. He even taught himself how to write Hebrew, sign simple sign language, play the guitar and piano, sing harmony in a choir, recognize the flowers of Yellowstone, etc. etc. One of my favorite things to do in his later years was to sit and listen to he and Jeff talk about some topic in history that they both knew the most random facts about. He had amazing retention of information and an incredible drive to learn. My favorite however are the simple things that he taught me through his testimony of the gospel. He was great at lectures-don't get me wrong-but my favorite learning experiences were when he would help us learn things by his example or his simple explanations of things of gospel truths. On more than one occasion, I remember him stopping in mid sentence and telling us that the spirit was there and just to listen and recognize it there. He helped me recognize and be excited about the spirit and how it can testify to you and to others of the truthfulness of the gospel and our Savior Jesus Christ. I don't necessarily love to pick up a book and learn about something-but I know that that is something that is required of us to do while we are in mortality. So...this year I have been pondering blogging about things I have learned. They could be spiritual things, or random facts, or things that I have learned about life, or myself. Whatever it is, it would be something that interested me for a while so much that I would want to share it with someone else. Here's to Lessons Leaned in 2010.