10 things I would tell my 16 year old self

1) Get over it! Seriously, life is hard and it's wonderful. But if you can't see tomorrow through today then you are doing it all wrong. 

2) Family is the most important thing ever. I know sometimes your brothers and sisters will drive you crazy, guess what, that never changes even at 32 they can annoy you but they are also your best friends, your biggest supporters, and will always be there for you. 

3)Stop obsessing over you so much and get out there and serve those around you!

4) If given the chance to travel, do it! I wanted to go to BYU Hawaii but I didn't because I couldn't afford it. I was also invited to Brazil and didn't go because of money. In reality, I should have prioritized and went. 

5) Don't ever put off an apology and make sure you say you're sorry. Pride is hard and no one likes to be wrong, but everyone benefits from a heartfelt apology. 

6) Be active and ear right but don't obsess over weight. You are beautiful and created perfectly by a loving Heavenly Father. Take care of the body He gave you. 

7) Peer pressure is real and it's hard to say no. So the best thing to do is to keep yourself out of situations you'll have to say no to. Hang out with good friends (for the most part my friends were awesome). Listen to that inner voice, aka the Holy Ghost. 

8) Your Heavenly Father loves you infinitely! He loves you so much that he gave you earthy parents to help you out. Show some respect. They are really great people and those rules are there to help you not to hinder you. 

9) Education is important. Study hard and it'll pay off. 

10) Make goals and then make them happen. You'll never regret accomplishing something you put your mind to. Small goals are fine. You won't meet all your goals but you'll accomplish a lot. 

And 11, even though I said 10 things. Don't worry, you'll get married one day and have your own family so enjoy where you are now. And when you're 25 keep remembering this. Heavenly Father's plan is way bigger than ours so let Him take control and all things will work out

Self Love and Self Hate

As a woman, or maybe it is just me, I have an internal conflict about whether I like me or not. It's true, some days I don't. There are some days I'm not pretty enough, not a good enough wife, not a good enough mother, not nice, and I'm sure the list goes on. I've been thinking about this a lot lately, a whole lot. Why don't I like me. Then I realized that one of Satan's greatest tools is having us not like ourselves.
I don't like the weight I've put on and I am constantly disgusted when I look at it in the mirror. I have no clothes that fit and refuse to buy fat clothes. It makes me sad and makes me feel no good. But then recently I decided to stop the self hate and start to self love. Because really, I am a good person. So when I look in the mirror and I see all the extra pounds, I try to push the, "Yuck, I'm so gross" out and think, "This body has carried 2 babies! This body has been so good to me". Yea, it may sound weird but I really do have a lot of conversations with myself.
This doesn't mean that I don't need to lose weight, I do. But I'm not looking at it as weight anymore. Heck, I may always be fat but I will also be healthy. I will exercise even when it's hard. Even when I'm too tired from the day! I will go and I will be glad that I did. I can control what goes in my body. And on occasion, I will eat bad but then I will do better. I no longer care, as much because this is something I have to work on, what exactly I look like but I do care if I am going to be healthy enough to play with my babies, to chase them, to keep up with them. And the answer is yes! I will be healthy, I will do all that is in my power to live a long life so that I can be with them. I won't self hate anymore. My kids think I'm the most wonderful beautiful loving woman in the world. And I won't have them believe differently. I will live up to their thoughts. I will be great!
So I will stop mourning my "old body" and love the one that I have. Because lets be honest, I have two awesome kids and a husband that tells me everyday how beautiful and sexy I am. So what else matters.

California

California

We came back from California this week and I can't say if it's good to be home or not. We had the best time and we were super sad to leave. It's always hard to leave family, especially when you don't see them near enough. 

Here are some of the highlights from our trip.

1) Elijah falling in love with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Before we left he would watch a few minutes of it but that's all. At some point while we were there he started watching full episodes. 

2) At the end of every episode they play the hotdog dance. Elijah would search the house to find Grammy and she would come dance with him. Since we've been home he has looked for her a few times. He got lucky that Grammy and grandpa bought him 3 Mickey Mouse DVDs. 

3) Elijah went to the Disney store for the 1st time. It was hard for us not to want to buy him everything in the store! 

4) This is probably my favorite thing while there, watching how much they all adore Elijah and Madelynn. There were so many occasions I'd lay Maddie down and come back to find her snuggled in someone's arms. 

5) Grandpa's yogi bear, hey boo boo, how are you. He'd do it for Maddie all the time and she would just smile. We found out the last day that it was because Elijah was his buddy and Madelynn was his booboo. 

6) Spending 5 days in Sacramento with Julie. Elijah loved the train museum and so did we. He was so excited and that made us so excited. Also can I say Julie fed us cheesecake one night for dinner. Mmm, no wonder I'm fat, I have no willpower. And it was so yummy. We also got to spend time in old Sacramento. While staying at Julie's grandpa and grandma Adamson came over and had dinner. It was so nice to visit with them and for them to meet our sweet girl. 

7) While in Cali I took a short weekend off and drove to southern Cali to meet my friend Arianne! We went to Disneyland where I couldn't help but feel a little bad that I left Elijah home. He would have loved it. But we had lots of fun! 

8) Then the whole family came up for a week and we headed over to Monterey. We went to the aquarium and had a fabulous time. Watching Elijah so excited brings lots of joy to my soul. He loved all the fish! We also spent a day at the beach. At first Elijah was very leery of it but he finally warmed up to it and loved it. Pure joy. His Grammy was glad that he loved it as much as she does. I foresee lots of summers spent there. 

9) We sat around the fire pit on several occasions and ate s'mores. I do believe this is one of my favorite things in California. We laugh a lot out there and have a good time every time. 

10) We were able to celebrate the 4th of July with yummy food followed by fireworks. 

11) Grammy had a birthday and we love birthdays. Elijah hotdog danced the entire day for her. We had a fantastic dinner and then to the cards/presents. We worked hard on the bathroom as our gift and made a super cool frame with a beach quote on it for her. Uncle Bryant got Grammy some "mouse" ears and we had fun taking pictures with them. It was the best kind of day because it was spent with family. 

12) The next night we celebrated my birthday and it was another fantastic day. Mom A and I decided to try making fried green tomatoes and they turned out fantastic! The entire meal that night was delicious. I guess this is where I should confess I gained about 10 pounds on this trip. 

There are tons of things I know I'm forgetting to write about. It all went by so fast. 

Blessing

Our Father in Heaven, by the authority of the holy Melchizedek priesthood, we lay this infant in our arms to give her a name and a blessing. The name in which she will be known in this life and on the records of the church is Madelynn Rochelle Adamson. Madelynn at the time we'd like to confer upon you a blessing, you are a beautiful daughter of God and I bless you to always remember this fact throughout your life. I bless you that you might have a love of the gospel and to have a love of the scriptures, that you might learn from them. That Heavenly Father loves you and you may grow closer to Him. We pray that you might be an example to others and that the light of Christ might shine in you that others may see that might and be drawn to you and to the gospel. We pray that you might live your life worthily that you will have your sights set towards the temple that one day you will take a man of your choosing to the temple and be married for time and all eternity. Madelynn always remember that you have a family that loves you and more importantly Heavenly Parents who love you. That you will always come to your Heavenly Father and to your early father. We bless you with these things and all other things that your Heavenly Father may wish upon you in     the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Blessing Pictures

 Madelynn is her beautiful blessing dress. Her Grammy lovingly made it for her. Thank you Grammy for your hard work! She looked perfect.

 The men in the circle. We wish Uncle Bryant could have come too.

 My cute family! Sheesh I love these people

 The Adamson's(above)

The Eaton Parents (below)

 

The entire group.

I'd like to think this is true for everyone that after the fact you wish you would have gotten a picture of this or a picture of that and that is exactly how I feel now. I guess I'll just be grateful for the pictures I did get.