11/23/14 3 A's of Awesome

11/23/14

I just watched a video called the 3 A's of Awesome,by Neil Pasricha.  It was a 17 minute video that is really inspiring and makes you appreciate what a wonderful thing life is. The 3 A's are:

Attitude -- you can't choose what happens to you but you can choose how you react to it.  You can be bitter or you can make it better.  You can take it poorly or you can see the good in it.

Awareness -- be aware of all the great things going on around us and for us.  Notice the little things and appreciate them.

Authenticity -- learn who you are and follow your heart.  Do what you want to do because you love it and don't worry about what others say.  He told a story about a big black football player who loved cross stitching. He knitted and cross-stitched in his off time. And he loved it and he didn't care that people thought that was weird.

He was having a difficult time in his life and started a blog naming things that were awesome.  It ended up winning the best blog of the year and becoming a book.

He highlights things like how awesome is it that you can have a waiter bring you free refills as many as you want.  Or when they open a new line at a grocery store and you were last in line and now your are first.

So Julene Shelley talked about him in her spin class yesterday and challenged us to write 10 things a day we find awesome and are grateful for.  By March we'll have 1000 things (which is what his book was, 1000 Awesome things.)

Anyway, I like the idea of having a gratitude journal and I might try it.  When I first thought about it I was thinking the usual, My wonderful husband, my kids, a house...but after watching his video and seeing some of his ideas it kind of opens up the thankful thoughts...the smell of a bakery, shooting the light and having it turn green for you, etc.  I may have to get his book and read it!

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Here is where my actual letter starts!  So -- do you have time to read our letters to you? Do you print them out and take them home or do you only get to see them for the few minutes you are on the computer each week?

Do you need some long john's?  Are you freezing there? You never said...when it snows how will you get around? Do you have boots?

K, enough questions for now...

This week has been busy and good.  Football season is officially over and so I get my hunny back for about a week and then we move on to basketball season.  Easy come, easy go, right?!  Dixie High won the championship over Hurricane in a hard fought game.  Dad will have to give you details. But I think it was a pretty exciting and fun finish to the year.

We also finished volleyball this week.  Katie's team finished 5-5.  The most average team ever. For every time they'd win one, they'd lose one.  They were a fun team though and that was much more easy to take then Holly's team...which was 8-2 I think.  Might have been 7-3.  But I'm pretty sure it was the 8-2.  We had 3 boys...which seems like a cool thing.  One of them was off in la-la land.  He will grow up and be a Bill Gates or something but heaven forbid he play with a ball.  Ever.  The other was a total A.D.D. kid...did you see that squirrel.  He could hit and play sometimes.  And other times he was picking up dirt off the ground or shoving the kid next to him.  And the third was no better than the first 2.  I had a little girl that was so timid and shy she probably would have started balling if I said boo to her.  Holly was a full head taller than every other kid on our team.  It's amazing we won any games really.  They would just stand there and watch the balls come and fall down beside them.  Or duck so they didn't get hit.  I am ready to not do volleyball for awhile! 3-4 hours every Saturday was too much!!! Haha.

Monday we did our usual - go to Roy's pizza for dinner and then go to Dixie High School and interview a kid for player of the week.  It's gotten chilly at night so the girls didn't even get out of the car while we did the interview.  

Tuesday was KILLER.  We handled 94 cases from 3-8:15.  (82 of them were from 5-8:15).  That is our most cases ever handled in one evening (we were off last week so it was like a double session).  I didn't get off work until a little after 9 p.m.  Next week Judge Bunnell is out of town and we have a young judge coming in.  We don't have near as many cases but I expect it to be a long session cause he hasn't learned how to go quickly yet.

Wednesday I had piano lessons and the girls did volleyball.  Didn't eat dinner until 7 p.m. ish.  It is so quiet still...just the 4 of us.  Dallas and McKayla don't come around that much.

It sounds like Dallas is really hitting it hard with school work.  The last I talked to him he thought he would be able to pass all his classes (which is an improvement...there was awhile there where he didn't think he could even pass...time will tell).  So I am HOPING he is off studying and working on his school work.

He is doing really well at work.  He has started running the inside counter selling tires and taking money and doing customer service.  He was the top salesman last week selling $6500 in tires -- 50 units...doesn't really mean anything to me but he was pretty happy and excited and was going to be on the floor again yesterday.  Which is a lot easier work than being out in the garage pulling tires off cars.  AND I think he will get a raise.  AND I think he will go full-time soon...although I think he's working 35 hours a week or so anyway so he about is full time.

Dad left Thursday and Friday for the football game.  Me and the girls just did girl stuff...got the car washed, did some shopping, did some crafts.  Nothing exciting.

And here we are to Sunday again already.  It feels like a super fast week with no weekend this time!  We are making cafe rio pork and Gma and pa are coming here because Gpa is in the choir for the temple and has practice tonight at 6 p.m. SO they just gonna come here for a quick dinner then leave.

Is there anything I can do to make things easier for you?  Christmas is coming...any requests? Is your bike holding together and all the equipment (lights, whatever) still working?  

Oh yeah, almost forgot. I went out on what was supposed to be splits with the Sister Missionaries Saturday night.  We visited a neighbor that lives just down in Cotton Meadows.  We were there about 1.25 hour.  We were supposed to talk about the restoration.  Discussions are kind of hard, huh?!  SO we got there and visited a few minutes, had a prayer.  Then they would ask him a question and it would take 20 minutes to stop him talking and the sisters would say a sentence to teach him and then again with his 20 minute answer to a question.  It didn't feel like they taught him at all!!!  I was kind of frustrated...like...did you want to be taught or just talk?!  And the sisters were so timid they wouldn't like speak up and assert themselves to continue on with the lesson.  I guess on the bright side they seemed really happy anyway and invited them to come back.  They are a super neat couple, about 55ish.  They actually seem pretty in tune spiritually speaking.  However, they say they invite all religions into their home...jehova witness, catholics etc. He was some religion I never heard of.  I think they are just lonely.  I dunno.  Time will tell. They would make a great addition to our ward if they would jump the fence!  He said he had read some of the book of mormon but not that much because he had been busy at work.  He promised to read more before they come back again next Tuesday.

Well, I will quit yapping for now.  I love you and hope you are feeling better.  I found some pix of you on the missionary mom website and you looked like you were under the weather.  Sad!!!  That really is hard to keep going when you just wanna curl up and sleep off the icky's.  

We love you and keep you in our prayers and thoughts!  You are such an inspiration.  I want to be better so I can more like my boys!  I know what you are doing is difficult and I'm proud of you for doing it.   I hope that you are feeling the love of your father in heaven and your family.  Hugs and kisses!!! Love mom.