Arise and Shine Forth

Today I am thankful for...

I was flipping through the photos

on my phone this morning

and found this.
It's a bit fuzzy
since it was dark in the room.

It made me smile.

I'm so grateful for this

little ray of sunshine in my life!

This was the morning 

I woke her up at 2:45 a.m.

to change her diaper.

She wouldn't sleep 

without me holding her 

after that.

I thought around 4:30

that she finally was asleep

in her own bed,

but as soon as I climbed in

my bed she started crying again.

My-Handsome-Guy got up with her.

But when he had to get ready for work,

I took her to cuddle in my bed,

which I never do because

I'm hoping not to have

a kid who climbs into my bed

in the middle of the night.

I was just too tired.

She fell asleep and stayed asleep

for a couple hours.

When she woke up

she was super happy.

We laid there laughing

and giggling and

cuddling.

It was a good moment.

Looking back on it makes me smile:0)!

The Word...

"Verily I say unto you all:

Arise and shine forth,

that thy light may be

a standard for the nations."

~D&C 115:5

Every year I choose a word 

to help inspire me for the year.

This year no matter what

word I tried it never felt 

quite right.

Until I saw a post from 

a friend sharing her word 

for the year: RISE!

It totally spoke to my heart!

God is so good at

helping us find answers!

Rise is the perfect word

for my 2016.

I've been feeling

down in the dumps

and get to find help

through my Savior to 

RISE 

up and shine.

To be who He created

me to be.

On my heart today...

Today I saw an old picture of myself

from four years ago.

It made me really depressed and sad.

It was a picture of my sister-in-law, her sister and me

right before we ran the Salt Lake Half Marathon.

I looked super skinny.

I realized once again that I have gained

almost 40 pounds since I got pregnant with L.

Most of it I gained after I had her last July.

After allowing myself to be sad about it,

I realized that I need to be more thankful

for my body and all it has gone through since

November 2014.

It grew a 5 lb 13 oz baby for crying out loud!

Then it fed that baby for 8ish weeks.

It has gotten up many times 

in the middle of the night

to feed, comfort, and cuddle

that precious spirit.

It's probably never going 

to be the same as it once was.

I get to work on treating it better.

Feeding it better.

Exercising it, so it can have more energy.

Being grateful for the little miracle

it gave me named L.

It gave me one of my biggest dreams.

It gave me one of my biggest blessings.

So today, I am choosing to be more

thankful for this body 

I call home.

This temple I get to live in!

I know from experience that

when I am more thankful for it

and treat it well

that it can do more 

than I ever dreamed possible.

Time to shift my mindset!