Lift Where You Stand

When the trailer and truck were mired in the sand, we realized that the only way to move the trailer was to completely unload it and move it into a position where we could rehitch once the truck was unstuck. Darrin Poulsen, one of the dads that were there, has a knack of being able to turn anything into a spiritual learning experience. He retold the story in one of Dieter F. Uchtdorf"s conference talks. In this talk, he tells of his experience of having to move a piano with some other men. In order to move it, they needed to just lift it where they were standing. With many people doing that, they were able to move the piano with ease. The the girls all gathered around the trailer and lifted and moved the trailer. They were pretty proud of themselves.

This whole experience could have been the start of a lot of bad attitudes (heat, dust, manual labor, car troubles), but when we made it back to the freeway, one of my Beehives enthusiastically exclaimed, "Sister Miller, that was the best ever!!! I knew camp was going to be fun but not this fun!!" The other girls in the car wholeheartedly agreed.

I love this girlies.

Making the Cut

I've been looking at my blog links and I'm wondering, if someone hasn't posted in over a year, is it safe to say that they've lost the Bloggin' Fever and they probably won't post anytime soon? Would it be rude to delete their link from my blog? Just wondering.

And a Little Bit o' That (At Women's Conference)

The Hospitality Team are affectionately nicknamed "The Angels in Blue Vests" because of the attractive blue vest that we got to wear to make us more easily spotted in  a crowd. One thing that they stressed in the training meetings is that we as volunteers were to seek out "the one." We needed to not only be friendly and helpful to the Conference goers in general but we were to seek out those who might need a little extra help, a friendly face or a reassuring touch on the arm.

One story that Joy Flitton, one of the Directors for Women's Conference told was about something that happened a few years ago. One of the Hosts noticed two women walking arm in arm towards a venue. They didn't look like the normal conference goers. Instead of looking excited and chatting happily, they looked sad and they looked like they were holding each other up for support. The host got the strong impression that she should compliment one of them about her dress. She thought it was a strange impression but she followed through with it anyway. When she complimented her dress, the woman started to cry. She explained that for the past 17 years she and her two sisters attended Women's Conference every year and it was something that they looked forward to. One of the sisters died before Conference and the remaining ones decided that even though they didn't want to attend, they would go to the conference. To honor the sister that passed away, one of them wore her dress, the dress that the host noticed.

On Friday, I had to conduct the prayer meeting to start the day because Jill had to be at the Marriott Center for the Opening Session. Along with the scriptures I read about serving others I debated whether or not to retell the story that Joy had told a month ago, worried that maybe some of the volunteers had heard the story if they had gone to that training session. In the end, I told the story. After the meeting was over, the person who gave the closing prayer was really emotional. I just thought that maybe something I had said had really touched her and that she was excited to start. She pulled me aside later and told me that she was the woman in the story that wore the dress. She was taken completely by surprise about the story and she was really excited to touch someone the same way someone touched her.

I think that it is important to remember that although grand gestures of charity are wonderful, sometimes it is the "Small and simple things" (Alma:37:6-7) are equally helpful. You don't have to head a huge fundraiser to help victims of a disaster to make your mark in the world. Sometimes, just saying hello to someone at the store or calling a friend you know is having a hard time has a great impact as well. I will try and start every day with the thought, "How can I make someone else's day better today?"

A Little Bit o' This (At Women's Conference)

So there were many, many people that I met at Women's Conference. Here are some of my experiences with them.



This is Ann Dibb, she is the Second Counselor of the Young Women's General Presidency. That means that she is in the presidency of the Young Women's Organization for the entire world for our church. Her father, Thomas S. Monson  is the President and Prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. One thing that struck me is that she looks so very much like her father. Can you see the resemblance?



So, she was one of the speakers on Thursday and I met her briefly that day when we escorted her to the concert hall to give her speech. On Friday she came to listen to the afternoon speaker, Margaret Nadauld. Friday was packed and it was a madhouse trying to find seats for everyone. She came partway through the session and asked me if there were any seats available. I lead her to the front of the auditorium where I had found one seat on the third row. She stood outside the auditorium and told me that she didn't want to make a big fuss and cause a big disruption. I asked young girl who was sitting next to the empty seat if the seat was taken and if I could sit someone next to her. She said it was fine and you should have seen her face when she looked up to see Ann M. Dibb sit down next to her; it was an expression of shock and awe. She probably also thought to herself, "I better not act sleepy and be dilegent in my note taking."

This is Silvia H. Allred, she is the Second Counselor of the General Relief Society, the women's organization of the Church. Her session was packed! The entire main floor was crammed with women lining up to see her talk. We had to try and snake the lines throughout the art exhibits, because it was too cold to have the line go outside. Because of the tightly packed quarters, some of the women were getting a little testy. At one point, the volunteer at the entrance had to stop the line from going into the theater because someone had to escort Sister Allred in and lead her to the stage. So while the volunteer at the entrance was helping someone read a map and find her way to the class that she wanted, another woman tapped her on the shoulder and kept asking her what was going on. The volunteer held her hand up to show that she was helping someone else and she would help her soon. That woman turned to her friend and said, "I don't know what's going on! I bet there are a ton of seats still! Just you watch, that girl will turn us away and we won't be able to get in, I can't believe this!"

That's when the volunteer had finished helping the other woman and she said, "The reason we stopped the line is so Sister Allred can get in." At that, she pointed to Sister Allred who was walking toward them not more than 15 feet away. The volunteer watched the color drain away from the two complainers' faces as they stammered, "Oh, I guess that makes sense," and as to try and make up for it, they said things like, "My, Sister Allred looks lovely today, doesn't she?"

Moral of the story, watch what you say.

My impression of Sister Allred is that she is very bubbly, personable and really, really tiny! I had to seek her out several times because someone needed to talk to her and each time, she was standing right in front of me.

"Sister Allred? Sure, I'll get her for you! She is right.....here...standing... right in front of me." (Sheepish grin) It's not very often when I have to look down to see an adult, I'm just not used to it.

Margaret Nadauld is a former General President of the Young Women organization. I got to speak to her the longest. She didn't seem the least bit nervous that she was going to address almost two thousand people. Her session was so popular that we had to turn away about 600 people. She thanked the volunteers for all the hard work we were doing and she and her husband were actually very chatty.

Just meeting these remarkable women made it all worth it.

The "Blizzard" of 2010

On November 22, there was a blizzard that was scheduled to scream through all of Utah. The weather men were in a lather about it, with wearing their white sport coats and predicting mayhem and doom. People were all worked up about it as well. Brad said that there were people literally shouting about how they needed to get home early as they were leaving his building at around 3:00 in the afternoon. Dance classes were cancelled, piano lessons were postponed and the deejays on the radio were urging people to stay at home.
Our ward had cancelled our weekly Young Women's activity, not because of the storm but because it was two days before Thanksgiving and we felt that everyone would be busy with family things.

I went to the grocery store because we were out of hot chocolate and I thought it would be nice to have that with the soup I was planning on making for dinner. When I was there, there were people running around everywhere buying cans of soup, candles and generally stocking up. I ran into a neighbor at the store and she was debating whether or not to change her Thanksgiving plans and stay home instead. I made it home safely and we survived the storm intact. Here's some photgraphic proof of the storm.

This is right before the storm when all media outlets were excited about the impending doom. (I know, I didn't rake the leaves in my back yard.)

Caleb and Emma are standing out there somewhere.

During the storm. I was really glad I didn't have to go anywhere because it was blowing pretty hard.

After the storm. As you can see, the grass is still visible and we didn't even have to shovel the driveway. We have since had several storms that were on a much greater magnitude but the weathermen didn't raise such a fuss. So in case you were wondering, The Millers are just fine after The Great Blizzard of 2010.

My Hands Were Not Idle

I took a break from blogging because this Christmas, I decided to make a lot of my gifts. I had three or more projects going from the end of October until...well now. Tomorrow I will share with you some of those projects. Hey everyone, I'm back.

It's Logical

I had my sister-in-law Laura write on my facebook wall today. It said, "I'm missing your blog."

Sigh

So here I am. I thought I would access the dusty corners of my brain and come up with a logical equation as to why I have been behind on posting. Ready? Here it is:

Well, I was going to show you the logical equation for it but it turns out that I can't figure out how to insert an equation into a blog post. Sigh.

I really struggled in that class in college anyway.

To put it in plain English, it is:

The more significant events you have in your life worth posting about, the less time there is to do it.

So I'll work backwards and hopefully, I'll catch up before Christmas rolls around.

Oh That Kid!

Caleb was bored one day and dressed up. He makes me laugh.

A Setback

Our laptop crashed. It had all my pictures on it. I had backing up my files on my "to do" list and I never got to it. So sad :(

Hopefully, I can find a way to get all my pictures, music, and documents back.

Wait, Where Did March Go?

Did you miss me? (Wait, maybe you shouldn't answer that one: I have delicate sensibilities, you know.) Before you think, "Boy she sure is a slacker, she hasn't posted in over a month. Pitiful." I have a good excuse, really I do. My laptop has been on the injured reserved list for the past month. Well, the laptop is back and I'm stuck with a ton of cool things that have happened and a husband who gently brings up from time to time, "When are you going to post the pictures of spring break?"

How about this one?

That is just a teaser. I will be working hard to try and catch up. (Sigh, so much to do, so much to do...)

I'm Baaaack...

Hello, did you miss me? (Maybe you shouldn't answer that one.) Life is busy and I've come to realize that the more you have to blog about, the less time there is to blog. But I hereby announce that I'm going to try and catch up. I'm also going to include a new topic: Personal Progress.

The Young Women's Organization of my church has a program where all girls from the ages of 12-18 has a Personal Progress booklet where there are projects and experiences that they do in order to receive a Young Womanhood certificate and medallion. It's a little bit like the Boy Scouts program where they work on specific goals and get recognition for them.

Since I am in the Young Women's presidency of my ward, I've decided that I'm going to try to earn my Young Womanhood recognition. Even though I haven't been a young woman for some time now, I'm going for it. One of the responsibilities I have is to encourage the girls to work on there Personal Progress. If I go through this with them, then I think that I will understand it more and what I have to say will carry more weight.

From time to time I will blog about my experiences and I might even ask you for some input. Thanks for bearing with me and keeping me honest. (Hey, I think this might fulfill a Choice and Accountability Experience.)

Something to Think About

I friend of mine shared this with me. I thought I would share it with you.

Einstein was one smart dude.

Wow!

BYU 14.

OU 13.

Woo Hoo!

Could You Please Elaborate?

Yes, but not now. I did so well posting the month of May and I thought I was well on my way of blogging our event-filled summer. Unfortunately, it has been filled with so many events that I've had little time in the way of blogging.

I've gone to San Diego with some dear friends to celebrate our 40th birthdays;

Sent the girls off to girls' camp where they proceeded to be rained on almost constantly (but they still had a great time);
Took off the next day to spend some time in The Tetons;
Caleb participates in his first Raingutter Regatta;

The Triplett's came for a fun-filled visit;

...and I've taken on the almost Herculean task of painting my family room, kitchen and hallway (Those nifty edging tools are not too nifty in my book, by the way). To top that off, I'm doing the sharing times for this month, I'm speaking in Sacrament Meeting in a few days and I'm writing the Primary Program. {Phew} I'm tired!!

So I'll elaborate later.

...And So It Begins...

Kids squealing outside
Mower roaring far away
It must be summer

I'm pleased to say that Rachel, Emma and Caleb have passed with flying colors and will advance to the next grade. Ooooh yeah!

Joke's On Us

It's April. Really?!?

A Little Extra Help

This is Gracie Gledhill. She is the 11 month old daughter of a friend. Before she was born, she was discovered to have HLHS, a defect in the left ventricle of her heart. She has gone through quite a journey with a lot of ups and downs.

She just had a heart transplant and the heart isn't functioning properly. They have to do another procedure so she can recover and be strong enough for another transplant. For more information, go to her blog here. It is also listed on my list of blogs on the sidebar.

Please say some prayers for her.

Merry Christmas

I have errands to run, projects to finish. It's snowing really hard right now and I don't want to go out. Here is the Christmas card I made this year. "It will be really easy to pull together and it will take no time at all," I said to myself. You would think after all these years I would realize that usually isn't the case.

This is the accompanying message:
I had fun making this card this year, although it didn't quite turn out exactly like I wanted it to. I think I should have printed the picture on larger paper.

Anyway, back to work!

Refresher Course

Lately I’ve been feeling a little discouraged and stretched thin as a mother and a wife. There has been a lot of bickering and contention in our house. It seemed like every conversation no matter how innocuous had the potential to turn into something that could be argued over. I wasn’t free from any blame either. My last nerve was worn to the breaking point. I was feeling pretty bad about it all. After all I have a great family; I know that there is a lot of love between us. So, what’s with all the complaining? As I was praying about it Sunday night, I received and answer; as an activity for Family Home Evening on Monday, I came up with an idea. We had to list the things that we loved about each member of the family. Here are the results—
Caleb
Mom
*Loves me
*Is generous
*Takes care of me

Dad
*Is funny
*Is a hard worker
*Tells me that “even doves have pride.” (That is a quote from a Prince song, Brad says that to Caleb when he tucks him in to get a giggle.)

Rachel
*She cares about me
*She takes care of me
*She loves me

Emma
*She tells funny jokes
*She plays with me
*She’s crazy

Emma
Dad
*Tries to resolve problems
*Always includes everyone
*Can make everyone smile
*Takes me out to do things and brings the family together.

Mom
*Tries to understand how you feel
*Realizes mistakes quickly and corrects them
*You can feel her love for you
*Will really listen when you talk

Rachel
*Is quick to forgive
*Wants to help you
*Is neat and organized
*Will always do her best at whatever she’s doing

Caleb
*Pretty goofy
*Has a refreshing sense of humor
*Just wants to have fun with everyone
*Tries to be fair

Rachel
Dad
*He tries to make us laugh
*He always wants us to be happy
*He likes to do fun things for us
*He finds me good books to read
*He pays for my orthodontist

Mom
*She helps me with problems
*She meets my needs
*She checks to see if I’m up in the morning
*She brings me my homework when I forget it

Emma
*She lets me share her bed
*She lets me wear her clothes
*She knows I try hard to get something even when I can’t (it’s an inside reference between them, I don’t get it either)
*She tries her hardest to be a good sister and she succeeds

Caleb
*He plays games with me
*He takes turns on the computer
*He helps me clean up when it is needed
*He laughs at my jokes

Winnie
Brad
*Gets me a glass of water every night when I go to bed
*He works really hard to provide for his family
*He loves his family very much

Rachel
*She is really neat and tidy
*She helps around the house
*She is conscientious about her work

Emma
*She can be really affectionate
*She has an unusual way of looking at things
*She makes lists and she’s really smart

Caleb
*He always tells me he loves me
*He makes funny noises when he’s happy
*He always tries to do what is right

Brad
Winnie
*creative
*has a strong testimony and a pure spirit
*very pretty

Rachel
*clean and neat
*hard worker/focused
*is a loyal friend

Emma
*likes to laugh (she started laughing maniacally when he read this)
*smart
*likes to watch the Food Network and tries to cook often

Caleb
*always reminds us to pray and read the scriptures
*likes to hike with me
*is friendly to everybody

There you have it. I have to admit that my eyes were swimming in tears when this exercise was over. I’m so glad I was inspired to do this. It’s easy to be nice to your friends and acquaintances, sometimes we forget to treat the people that are closest to us the way we should. Everyone was nice to each other this morning, hopefully this will last. I have a great family!!!

This is How It's Done

Some of you have asked me what I did to get in shape. Here it is. Don't knock it 'till you've tried it. Hot dog!