Magical Things A to Z

I bought this for myself.  It had a list of
26 magical things and suggested we
make our own list.  This is mine!

A:  Angels, Antiques, Apple Pie a' la Mode

B:  Babies, Birds

C:  Children, Candles, Cake

D:  Dancing, Dreams (NOT nightmares)

E:  Energy to move, Eagles

F:  Fog that can make a whole mountain seem to disappear!  Feathers.

G:  Galaxies, Gardens

H:  Harmony, Humor

I:  Ice Cream, Invisible Ink

J:  Jars, Jokes, Jingle Bells

K:  Kites

L:  Leaves

M:  Music, Massages, Mail (from family or friends), Moon

N:  Names, Nests

O:  Oceans

P:  Paths, Pictures

Q:  Quilts

R:  Rain, Rugs (fluffy ones)

S:  Snowflakes, Smiles

T:  Treats, Trees

U:  Umbrellas -- colorful ones on a gray day

V:  Views, Violins well played

W:  Wings, Weather

X:  Xylophones of course!

Y:  YAYS! (Anything good that happens)

Z:  Ziplines, Zippers, and a Zest for life!

What is Ahead?

One of my interesting attempts at photography.

My friend Shellie asked about my goals for the year and I went a little blank at first.  This is not because I don't have things I want to do, but because I haven't fully formed the ideas in my head.  I am working towards being a guide for the nonprofit "My Story Matters".  The principles taught in class are helpful to me, and I like sharing them with others.  This is stretching me out of my comfort zone (I have to make videos of myself teaching the 12 "harbors" and send them in to the founder before the next step in my training!).  Yikes!  Stretching is good.  I remind myself often.

Picture by Jake (Thanks Jake!)

I have been working on finding ways to get myself moving more often.  I got roller skates for Christmas which will be a great thing if I can keep myself from falling too often!  I've decided I just need to call hiking "exploring" because exploring sounds fun to me, and hiking sounds like work.  I especially like wandering in the woods off trail, and I am hoping to find actual trails that feel a little on the "wild" side instead of the super beaten trail side.  I also want to kayak.  I don't have one -- yet -- but I am saving.  I went with friends the summer before last a couple of times and had so much fun!

I have watched Kirby Heyborne's show "making good" a few times, and am reading a book called "Human Kind:  Changing the World One Small Act at a Time".  All of the times I have listened to, watched, or read things like that I want more and more to do all of the good I can every day.  I do know myself though, and so I need to remember that I can't make ALL of the difference to everyone, or "fix" everything.  I am not Jesus, but I have come to feel His love so much that I really want others to feel it too!  I want to be aware, open to helping, and maybe even take time to be a little creative in finding ways to bring a smile to the faces of people I meet.

I took a picture of this in TX
because it made me smile.

Finally, I made an Instagram account that I called "Yay Today by Sherie K" only all run together.  Instead of the gratitude journal I kept on my nightstand last year and wrote in regularly (though not every day!), I want to post at least one good thing, or "YAY!" for every day.  It's kind of a fun way to work on photography too.  I hope you all can find lots of "Yay!" moments in the year ahead!

A Transformative Year

I took this picture on a trip to Michigan in August 2024

(This is basically a copy of a Christmas letter for Derek's parents and mine)

This has been a transformative year for me and I feel a freedom that is joyful.  I am grateful that life is so full of opportunities to keep learning!  Here are some of the things that have helped me.

1. I have taken the time most mornings to sit quietly and look out my window and consciously look at God’s creations as a gift for me, and to give thanks, and try to focus on God’s love.  The more I have done this the more I have come to feel my importance to Him.

2. From a few sources I learned more about the power of story.  The stories we somehow picked up about ourselves along the road of life can be crippling.  It is important to look at our stories and see if we picked up something that is not true.  Beliefs that are not true are heavy.  They weigh us down and obscure our vision, which makes the truth hard to see.  We have the power to change those old stories to truth. We can act in a way that gets rid of the ways we allowed ourselves, no matter how unwittingly, to be acted upon.

3. In Proverbs it says:  “Where there is no vision the people perish”.  In my class (My Story Matters) we talked a lot about vision.  How are we to become who we want to be if we don’t have a clear vision of what that looks like?  Because of my class, I worked a lot on coming up with a few “power words”  that I use as a “vision statement” so that in any given situation I have something short and quick that I can think of to remind me of how I want to show up.  Naturally my vision statements evolve like I do!

4. I have learned that feelings are not bad.  They are not always fun, but in and of themselves they are really just messengers.  They are a chance to feel curious.  Why is this feeling coming up?  What am I believing?  Is it true?  Any feeling I have is a chance for me to practice acting according to my vision and not allowing myself to use that feeling as an excuse to show up in a way that I will regret later.  Of course, the key word is practice.  The next transformative thing I have learned is…

5. Compassion!  Sometimes I am not going to show up in alignment with my vision.  I am going to mess up.  (Yay repentance!)  As I learned years ago, I am not being condemned by my Savior, and it is not okay to condemn myself.  Instead I can talk to myself with kindness, and practice grace.  It turns out that acting with compassion towards myself is a faster way to change than telling myself how stupid I am!  There is power in I AM!

6. “I am perfectly human”.  “I am completely loved and fully known”.  “God’s love for me is fierce and unending”.  These are words from songs that I have contemplated in the mornings and they give me a greater confidence in God’s love and in myself.  One of the songs I like talks about how I belong to Heavenly Father and He smiled when He made me.  I like to think of Him smiling at me – not with judgment, or disappointment, but with love and confidence.  That is an encouraging thought!

I will end with my current vision statement.

I am cradled in the arms of my Savior and I radiate His light.

I am a beacon of hope.

I am an enthusiastic teacher of truth.

I am the creator of my story.

Gratitude List #3

I have decided to make a slightly random favorites list for today.

1.  Favorite tool:  The drill Derek gave me

2.  Favorite place to shop for lots of bargains:  Deseret Industries in Springville

A painting project I picked up at D.I.

3.  Favorite wild animal that I see out my window:  The wild turkeys.  I have a LOT of pictures!

4.  Second Favorite wild animal:  a tie between baby deer and the giant bucks.

5.  Favorite chef:  Derek (Since I don't love cooking he does a lot and he is fabulous!)

6.  Favorite drink:  lemonade

7.  Favorite shake:  Oreo

8.  Favorite place to visit:  Michigan where my Tia's family is.  Yay grandkids!

9.  Second favorite place I went this year:  Hmmmm.  Maybe Telluride, CO

My chef and main travel companion!

10.  My favorite non turkey bird that I see:  Blue Jay

Photo by Ryan Sanderson
Not taken in Utah:-)

I hope that you have fabulous things to be thankful for too!  I love having a Thanksgiving Day / Month to help me remember to focus on the many things I have to be grateful for!

Gratitude List #2

Dan sometimes watches television from this high perch!

I am thankful that there are good shows to watch while I fold laundry, or when Derek and I are too tired to do much else, or when we just want a good adventure or laugh.   This list is not very all inclusive.  I don't keep a list of what I watch and my memory isn't perfect!  Some shows others would put on their favorites list I would put on my "never watch again" list and I'm sure that the opposite would be true and you will not like all of what I have on my favorites list!  There is beauty in the fact that we are all different!

Favorite Television Shows I've Watched This Year

No Demo Reno -- HGTV -- I like a good home makeover with good people in it.

Making Good -- BYUTV -- This one makes me want to find lots of ways to help people.

High Potential -- The main character is super duper seemingly impossibly intelligent

Home Town --  I had already watched them all and so I watched them all again!

Alex Rider -- I really liked the theme song -- and the show.

Percy Jackson 

Modern Family (It is awkward and it makes me laugh)

Restoring Galveston -- HGTV (A young couple restoring old homes in Galveston)

Homegrown -- Magnolia Network (a nice lady helps people create fabulous garden / yards)

Fixer to Fabulous -- HGTV -- Good home makeovers with nice people again.

The Last Airbender

The Chosen (I am team Jesus!)

Madame Secretary

Tracker

Star Trek Strange New Worlds (The ones I've seen so far)

Favorite Movies Watched in 2024

Enola Holmes Movies (Netflix)

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. -- I like the characters in this one.

Happiness For Beginners

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society

The Family Plan (from last year but I watched it this year again!)

Irish Wish

Twisters

I was on a Tom Cruise movie kick and saw quite a few of his again

The Boys in The Boat (I loved the book more but the movie was good)

I'm sure there are a few Hallmark type mysteries or shows that I liked and am not coming up with,

Gratitude List #1

Photo by Alex Block on Unsplash
This looks like a great place to visit!

I am really thankful for good books and magazines to read.  I learn a lot from them, and sometimes just get a nice visit to another place and time with a few laughs along the way!  Magazines give me short inspiring stories, crafts I can do, gift ideas, and more.
Favorite Books That I Read or Listened to in 2024

The Stories We Tell by Joanna Gaines

Better Than Happy by Jody Moore

Carried by Michelle Schmidt

Breath:  The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor

Love Does by Bob Goff

Glucose Revolution by Jessie Inchauspe

Soulful Simplicity by Courtney Carver

Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (Thanks Bryce!)

Echo Mountain by Lauren Wolk

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Create Anyway by Ashlee Gadd

Virgil Wander by Leif Enger

Choosing Real by Bekah Pogue

The Law of Love by Steve Young

Living the Law of Love by Steve Young

The Gratitude Diaries by Janice Kaplan

All of the Enola Holmes audiobooks by Janice Kaplan

Favorite Magazines

Birds & Blooms (I'm all about the beautiful pictures!)

Magnolia (I like the articles, and the words they pick for each season)

Bella Grace

In Her Garden:  Inspiration for making things grow

The Cozy Issue of Bella Grace

Green Craft (These four magazines are all from Stampington & Company and I don't have subscriptions to any of them.  I just try to find them on sale).

Choose Your Hard

This is my Trisa choosing the hard of climbing through her fear.
She made it to the top and I am very proud of her.
(Belaying her father was apparently equally scary and she did that too!)

The other day I woke up with the words "choose your hard" running through my mind.  This is not as random as it may seem as one of the tools from the "My Story Matters" class uses these words to describe what to do when you run into a problem, or start feeling stuck while trying to create the vision you have for how you want to live.  Naturally, in my vision for  my life I want to be healthy.  This is not something I can always choose, but I CAN choose to take care of this body I have.  This being said, I have been struggling to want to exercise.  To me, that just sounds like work that might end up being painful and exhausting for a while.

When I woke up with the words "choose your hard" in my head, I immediately was able to apply this to exercise.  I can either choose the hard that would come from not strengthening my body through exercise, or I can choose the hard of getting stronger through exercise.  The first choice would likely lead to me having even more restricted abilities to do things, and would cause me to be injured even easier than I am now.  The second will cause me discomfort.  Just doing normal activities like sitting is not always comfortable!  Thankfully, it will also see me getting stronger, having more energy (in the long run), and keeping or expanding my current capabilities.

No matter what has me feeling stuck, it is good to remember that I can choose the hard of staying stuck, or I can choose the hard of making the little steps that will eventually see me unstuck.  Today I chose to start exercising again.  I might find myself stuck in not want to again, but I am hoping to remember to choose the hard that will find me taking care of myself the best I can!

Visiting Michigan

Emily and Grandma
She loved staring at me and smiling.  I loved it!

Kayli and I got to go visit Tia, Mike, Brigham and Emily at the end of August.  SO FUN!!  Tia and Mike are awesome at hosting.  What's not to like about waking up to the smell of bacon!  And having yummy food cooked for you, and fun activities planned for you, plus getting to hang out with fabulous people no matter what (which was the best thing of all)!  Brigham and Emily are SO super cute and it was so fun to see them.  Mike's parents hosted us one day.  We swam in their pool until the storm came and then we went in and had great food and great company.  Mike's parent's are always super great to spend time with too.  They are great hosts.

Kayli with Brigham.  He was a huge fan of having Kayli in the car or truck with him!

It's good to have some awesome noise canceling type headphones when you are
driving your fancy car!

Brigham playing Jenga with Kayli

Blue ice cream for Brigham!

Emily can't wear all of the bows!

Brigham is trying to taste the rain!

Mike, Tia (holding Emily) and Kayli

Brigham and Kayli

Brigham and Mike

Kayli, Mike, Brigham, Tia (holding Emily)

Emily and Brigham

Tia and Emily.  So sweet!

Brigham

Brigham and Kayli (Brigham absolutely adores Kayli)

Emily!  So svelte:-)  
She is such a smiley little girl.

I really miss Tia and Mike and my sweet Brigham and Emily.  It was so fun to see them and now we are counting down until close to Christmas when we hope to see them at the Blue house again!

My Baby is an Adult

Dan turned 18 last week!  My "baby" is an adult and that is a little hard to wrap my head around.  Dan is great but things have changed since he was little!  He used to love to have his picture taken.  It was almost impossible to take one without him being in a dramatic pose!  Now I'm lucky if I get one that isn't of his back or with his hands covering his face.  This one is from this year, but not from his birthday.

Sadly, This is the most recent picture I have of Dan.

I had to put at least one picture of my little Dan!

There are things that are the same about Dan and yet still different.  Dan has always been incredibly creative!  Years ago he liked to occasionally be Police Officer Dan.  We got him a police outfit and he had a voice he used when in character saying "police officer Dan here!"  He was always creating stories where he was some character or another and we could hear him making explosion noises in the other room as he moved around acting them out.  He was "twirly", hardly ever sitting or standing still even while we talked to him.

He is still creative but he is creative on the computer, or ipad, or drawing tablet.  He still creates characters and stories but he does it online with his friends.  He has done some animating that is clever and entertaining.  He has learned a lot about drawing, animating, and games and is quite good at talking about things that go over my head because I don't know all of the vocabulary that goes along with his interests.  

One of the things that hasn't changed about Dan is that he is a good, kind person who is really good at loving his Mom.  We have done a lot together over the years and I am thankful for his encouraging words and hugs.  I enjoy our trips to the library, and our snack runs, and finding places to walk around for a change of scenery.  Happy birthday to my baby turned adult.  I love him!

It's A Trap!

This is not a trap.  This is a daisy from my yard.
And a bug.

There is a trap that I have often fallen into that I am going to avoid from now on!  I have fallen into this trap SO many times, and it not only hurts me, but others as well.  It is the trap of making everything about me.  I believe that Satan really enjoys it when I do that.  If I get too busy looking inward, I miss seeing what is going on around me.  I miss seeing the needs of others and get too busy wallowing in self pity to help anyone!

If I make someone not answering their phone about me, and they don't answer several times, I could decide they really just don't like me, and I am a bother, when it is totally possible that they desperately need help, but can't bring themselves to ask anyone.  It could just be that they are out of town and taking a phone vacation.  Someone not answering their phone is rarely about me, and so it would be foolish to assume it is.

I have had people snap at me before, and it hurt my feelings until a while later when I realized that their snapping at me was really about their stress level, and they needed my compassion, not my hurt.  I have had little children who absolutely refused to get ready for school, and they received my anger until we were both crying and I took the time to listen.  They were nervous and afraid, and needed to be understood and helped, not pushed to hurry so I could drag them to school.

I am determined to quit falling into this trap, and to see others with compassion first, and not wait to get to the compassion until after I've had a pity party myself!

This is not a trap either.  This is Emily.
She is your reward for getting to the bottom of my post :-)

The Power of Story

The Princess and Me (Sherie)

I took a class called "My Story Matters" and I just started a book called "The Stories We Tell".  I spent a year doing "The Inheritance Project" where I wrote some of my stories on my blog, and I have many journals where I have written my story as it happened, from the perspective I had at the time.  I have memories that play out like stories, and I have learned that my story matters, as does yours.

As I write, I discover things.  I have discovered past guilt that was easier to let go of because of new perspectives.  I have discovered empathy for a young me that did the best I could at any given time, but who sometimes got it wrong.  I was young and human, and looking back helped me have empathy not just for me, but for those who were with me as I went through various experiences.  As I have taken the time to write, I have even discovered things I was believing about myself that are not true.  Changing those false beliefs has helped me to be happier.

Stories do matter.  The stories we hear and believe, the ones we live, and the ones we tell ourselves. Looking at various parts of my story has helped me see the pain of perfectionism, and the shame that comes with it.  I've seen people more clearly as I looked at my stories through the eyes of a grown up, and took into account their struggles and the fact that they are human and imperfect just like me.  I even discovered that when I thought people were ignoring me, perhaps they just were not able to hear me.  I always hear my voice powerfully, but have learned that it doesn't travel far!

It is not always easy to work through past stories.  I have cried a lot over the past until I have been able to work through those stories and see them with a new found perspective of empathy, forgiveness, and maybe even humor.  As I have done this I have found freedom from past hurts, guilt, sorrow, and the dislike of self that comes from telling myself that I "should" have done better, I "should" have been smarter, etc.  I am sure I have more stories to work through, and more work to do as I learn to tell myself good stories that are motivating and full of grace!  I am also sure that as I work through these stories I will find more freedom and the ability to see myself more like God sees me.

The power of our stories is great.  The way we see our stories and the way we share them can change us, and those around us, for worse, or for better!

Feeling Blah

Tia Emily and Brigham in their reunion shirts.
These people do NOT make me feel blah.  I sure miss them though!

Pretty Emmy held by Nana

Today hasn't been a bad day, but I feel kind of blah.  Yesterday I was tired.  I had a hard time staying awake in church (sorry speakers!) and then I messed something up -- not irreparably, but who likes to mess up and disappoint people?  And then I went home and ate and just felt tired and so I took a nap, but still managed to be sleepy at bedtime.

Today I woke up to a cloudy but beautiful view of the mountains and found a couple of songs that I really like.  I have done laundry, played my flute and the piano, and taught flute and recorder lessons to a couple of cute and kind girls.  I have talked to a friend, and Derek, and Dan.  All of the things I have done have been good, and yet I still feel blah.

What do you do when you want out of a blah mood and into a happier one?  One option is always distraction.  T.V. or a book -- something interesting, and with a happy ending.  I could try to move really fast in the hopes that some energy will appear along with the movement.  Blah can disappear while I work on creative things.  I really enjoyed playing instruments this morning, and I am sure I can come up with a creative project to work on.   

Probably the most important thing to do to really get rid of the blahs is to look at what I am focusing on.  If my focus is on all of the ways I fail, then my blah mood might stick around for a very long time!  I really need to focus on the good, and all I have to be grateful for including the following: 

Uplifting music, sweet girls to teach, good friends, an awesome family, a soft, fluffy Teddy who follows me around, and laundry machines so I don't have to wash by hand and hang things on a clothes line.  I have good food to eat, ice to go with my water, plants, flowers, and trees to enjoy, and a nice rug in my office under my feet.  I have instruments, books, socks, blankets, plants, and a computer to type on.  Best of all, I am perfectly loved by our Father in heaven and Jesus.  I fail, but as long as I keep turning to them, I will be okay.  I will even get past the blahs!

Brigham and Tia on an ice cream adventure.
I bet you know whose ice cream was blue!

One of our beautiful sunsets.

I Love Getting Creative

 "I Love Getting Creative" is something that Ben Napier says all of the time on his and Erin Napier's show Home Town.  It was partly their show that inspired me to start looking for old things to make new, or other creative projects I can do around my house to make things better.  Doing creative projects brings me a lot of joy.  Some projects are as simple as painting a room (which is simple -- but not necessarily easy!).  Some projects are restoring old furniture, or trays, or whatever else I find that I think I can do something with.  Here are a couple of my recent projects.

I found this at D.I. for $2

I had fun painting a board to go behind it and making the shelf look newer.

Now it gets used as a part of my work bench to hold my work apron,
some gardening tools, a tape measure, and wood glue.

I got this from a neighbor who left it on the side of the road for free.
It used to be a desk, but I cut off the desk part.

This is what it looks like now.  It holds my flute music
and the sheets that go with the futon couch.  It looks pretty in the piano room!

I also painted the piano room.  Our other house had a lot of color inside by the time we moved out.
This one is mostly gray.  Kayli and I missed our green piano room and so now we
have one again.  Instead of one green wall, all four are green.  Only one is dark green.
I love it!

Special thanks goes to my Mom and Mother-in-law who are so encouraging and kind that they get pictures of all of my projects.  They are really great at telling me what a good job I've done, and who doesn't like a good complement?