Food for Thought

I was on the stair master today at the gym, reading SHAPE magazine.  I usually have to read something to keep me going for 25-30 minutes on that machine.  It is BRUTAL, but such a great work-out.  Anyway, as I was reading a lot of silly but not completely pointless things, I came across something that has had me thinking most of the day.
There was a short article entitled "Conquering your 'To-Do' list".  I have never been a list-maker, I like doing whatever feels good that day and I do get a lot accomplished. Every once-in-a-while if I am feeling really overwhelmed, I will make a list to help me prioritize and then I get work at checking things off.  That feels good, too!
Okay...so you're wondering, "Where are you going with this?"  I'll get there....just a second.
How many of you women out there have YOU on your "to-do" list for the day?  Are you penciled in between "take baby to the doctor" and "grocery shopping"? Or somewhere in the afternoon around "pick up kids from school" and "clean bathrooms"....these are all good things and definitely important! The article was short and sweet and up-lifting.  It helped me to see that all the things we do as wife and mom still have to get done, but what about putting ourselves on our "to-do" list?!  Aren't we worth it? I think so.  It suggested that it doesn't have to be a LONG activity or even a grueling work-out.  Take 20, 30 minutes, or however long you can "budget" for that day and make it count for YOU. What a great little article and I'm so glad I read it!
So....remember, you are worth it! Put yourself on your "to-do" list and see if you don't start to feel even better about your already fantastic and blessed life!

Odds 'n' Ends

This blog may seem a little random...and it is. But hey, at least it's a post...WITH PICTURES! While I was uploading pictures I was reminded, however, WHY I don't like to do this blogging thing. I have NO patience for things I don't understand; things like technology! Anyway, I have a friend who helped me figure a few things out and maybe (no promises here) just maybe, I will do this a little more often. 

Here are a few pictures of my little sweet-heart! 

This is the first picture of Christmas Day. Funny thing is...SHE woke US up! Doesn't she look like she's slightly disgruntled about being awake at 7am? She was wide awake and then I flipped on the light. If she could talk she would probably say "AHHH! My eyes! Turn off the light!"

 Here she is with her Poppy and "her" dog (that lives at her Mimi and Jojo's house) Gizmo.  She thinks Giz is HER dog and he is just so loyal to her! When she is napping he gets very concerned that she is not part of the "party" and will walk all around the house trying to open doors and find her. When she would take a bath, he would be right there...laying on the rug in the bathroom.  It was really pretty cute.

 And this is how Sediva feels about traveling...

This is how much she LOVES being at Grannie and Grandpa Teichert's house! There were KIDS there to play with! Not quite the same as Gizmo, since Giz would "play fetch" with her for quite sometime. However, she really loves her cousins Mylie and Mariah, and they are sooo good with her. I wish I would have snapped a few pics of them all together.

Here she is making messes because now she is a CRAWLER!! DVD cases all over the place, but a big smile on her face! She is so much happier now that she is on the move. 

Reaching for the very....last....one....all the way in the corner! You should have heard her grunting :-)

...and her sweetest "trick" of all!! Giving kisses to everyONE and everyTHING! Here she is giving her toy zebra a good-morning kiss.  I just love this little angel!

Well, that's it for today! I do want to do a post about our newest "adventure"....JUICING! Okay, so it's not MY newest adventure. In fact, I think adventures are supposed to be fun and honestly, it really doesn't look like any fun at all. So it's really Austin's "adventure" and I drink it only in the mornings.  I like to eat, okay?! So sue me!

A New Year

2011 was a fantastic year for the Clift family. We've been given many wonderful blessings...and challenges...but mostly blessings. I did not get a Holiday Greeting sent out this year and I thought I would after New Year's, but who am I kidding?! I won't get it done, so I'll do one on here and hope that too many people won't be bummed not receiving yet ANOTHER photo to tape to their door/refrigerator that won't come down until late February.

We started our year off with the most wonderful blessing of all...Sedona Rose! She is now 11 months old and is FINALLY crawling! Yep, that's right, crawling! It has been a frustrating couple of months waiting for her to finally MOVE. Our entire Christmas break she had at least one, sometimes 3 or 4 people trying to help her learn how to crawl. When we returned home earlier this week she finally started on her own. I guess it took removing the "audience" for her to finally do it. She is now tearing into anything and everything that is within reach but she is much more content for longer periods of time. That makes for one happy Momma!! She has also learned how to give "kisses" although some are open-mouthed and slobbery. She gives kisses to anything she plays with, including her train! Sedona LOVES her "Poppy" (aka Dad) and squeals with delight every time she sees him. (makes me feel like chopped liver, but hey...she's with me all day so I can't blame her for being excited to see Poppy.) She is the light of our lives and I somehow cannot remember WHAT I did with my time before she was here.

Austin finished another year of school, worked 20 hours a week, and took 16 credits both semesters! Squeeze in some snowboarding and being a new Daddy into all that and he was one busy man! Over the summer, he worked as a sales rep and manager for Safe Home Pest Control company in Dallas, TX. It was the hottest summer on record in the last 50+ years and he was out working hard in it every day! How I love that man!! We ended our summer on Vacation with the Clift family at Wallowa Lake in St. Joseph, OR. It is so beautiful there!! Austin works hard to play hard and he did do that! He woke up early every morning to be the first one on the lake jet-skiing with Uncle Curtis. Austin is a very devoted father and husband and is working hard to finish his under-grad at BYU-Idaho. He has 2-3 semesters left and then Dental School!! So, basically, we'll be in school for a really long time but it has its pay-offs.

I have been busy being Mom to the cutest baby I've ever given birth to! haha....Sedona is so much fun and is the center of my daily tasks and all my attention and I LOVE being Mommy. I really do believe it is the best job in the whole world. It is the HARDEST job in the whole world but nothing that is easy is every really worth it. On top of being Mom and wife to a very busy husband, I set some goals this year to focus on being Violet. I have a tendency to lose myself when I dive into whatever I'm doing at the time. I morph into my work and it gets all my devotion and I forget who I am. When I stopped working at the beginning of the year I knew it would be important to set goals that would help me remain Violet as well as being Mom and Wife. There were only 3 goals, and they may seem kinda silly to some of my readers but they have accomplished what I needed them to and so I will share:

1-Read something uplifting every day. Preferably from the Scriptures or Ensign, but as long as it helps me be better THAT DAY, it counts.

2-Run a half-marathon.

3-Get back to my pre-pregnancy weight.

Goal #1 was really hard! I'm sure I missed several days throughout the year and those were probably my hardest days to get through. But, I read a lot of really good things this year and fit in a great series "Faith of our Fathers"!

In July, Goal #2 didn't look like it was going to happen and I was so sad! I love to run. I love how it touches all 5 aspects of a healthy life: physical, emotional, social, spiritual, mental. But when I started running with my Mother-in-law in August I found a new resolve to get this one done! We both registered for the Zeitgeist Half Marathon in Boise and on November 5th, I accomplished this goal. I cried tears of joy and pain when I finished. Running does so much for me and my personal "center of balance" and I am so glad I didn't let this goal die in the ditch...

Goal #3 was accomplished by late July and as I started training hard for my half marathon, another 10 pounds came with it. I haven't been where I am now, physically, since high school and it feels so good! Being healthy is the top priority and I have never felt better.

So, now that you are all bored stiff I will end this post with a few of my resolutions for 2012:

1- Keep doing "Violet" things!

2- Run another half marathon.

3- Live in the moment.

I hope you all had a fantastic 2011 and may the Lord bless your 2012 with success and happiness!

Love,

the Clift Family

Father's Day

I have been blessed with the best Dad in the world! Of course, I'm biased toward my own, but shouldn't every child be? When I was a kid my Dad did so many fun things with us. We rode horses out at the "Delony" (sp?), we went camping with the Thompsons EVERY summer, we went skiing every weekend in the winter, we played "get Daddy" on a regular basis. There were many summer evenings spent playing football in the front yard or "any-I-over" after a cook-out on the front porch. We "hookie-bobbed" on the way home from basketball practice in our cowboy boots (when Mom was gone to AK and wouldn't find out until AFTER the fact.) He taught me a lot about life and about never giving up. He always believed in me even when I didn't believe in myself. He supported me in my desire to take time off of traditional college to spend a semseter studying in Nauvoo, he supported me on my mission and my endeavors in finding out who I was when I returned home. My Dad is amazing and I am so thankful he is part of my life.
Another Dad I am thankful for is my amazing husband! HE is such an amazing husband and wonderful Daddy to Sedona. He plays with her every chance he gets, he changes diapers (as long as they're not poopy), he makes and washes bottles and he comes to the Dr when she gets her shots. He is simply amazing and I am so happy he's ours!

There is nothing sweeter than a Daddy with his baby girl. To me, there is nothing sweeter than this particular pair!
She's so tired...

LOVES her Daddy!!

Just soooooo precious.

The Worth of Souls

Doctrine and Covenants 18:10
"Remember, the worth of souls is great in the sight of God."

1 Nephi 19:7 & 9
"For the things which some men esteem to be of great worth, both to the body and soul, others set at naught and trample under their feet. Yea, even the very God of Israel do men trample under their feet;"
"...and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men."

Genesis 1:26-27
"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness...So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."

Isaiah 13:12
"I will make a man more precious than fine gold;"

John 3:16
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son..."

Doctrine and Covenants 101:37
"Therefore, care not for the body, neither the life of the body; but care for the soul, and for thelife of the soul."

Moses 1:39
"For behold, this is my work and my glory--to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."

I think you get it...OUR worth is so great!! I'm sure you're wondering what I could possibly be rambling on about now? Well, I had a good visit over the phone with a very dear friend yesterday. Since that conversation, I have not been able to stop thinking about her. She needs to know how much she is loved and that her worth is GREAT!

I wanted to run to her and put my arms around her and SHOW her that I love her. Instead, all I could do was pray for her. I pray that her husband will see her worth and will show her how much he loves her. I pray that she will find peace and joy in life's journey. I hope she will have the strength to face each day with happiness and joy in her heart for her beautiful family and her strong, healthy body. I pray she will have the courage to take those scary steps towards finding that happiness...because as much as we would like it to, happiness doesn't always come "in time" and it doesn't come without our effort.

My dear friend, I LOVE YOU! Please know how much you are worth and if you EVER doubt, remember, the Lord gave His life for YOU so that YOU can be happy. SMILE, you're beautiful!

Soooo YuMmY!

Just HAD to post this recipe real quick before I head to bed. I've made these twice in the last week because I just had to share with some neighbors...they are sooo good!

Carrot Bran Muffins
1 c oil
4 eggs
2 c brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1Tbs cinnamon
1/2 tsp all spice
3 c. flour (white or wheat)
2tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 c bran (I used Kellog's All-Bran "Bran Buds")

Beat together well the oil, eggs, and brown sugar. Stir in the remaining ingredients.
Add to mixture:
3 c grated carrots
1 (15 oz) can crushed pineapple, drained
Bake at 350 degrees for 18 minutes

GLAZE:
2 Tbs Karo Syrup
2 Tbs butter, softened
2 Tbs honey
Brush on muffin tops when they come out of the oven.

ENJOY!!!

It's a Small, Small World...

Okay, this post may be boring to some of you but I know my Dad will enjoy reading it. Why? Well, I've always been amazed by how he can go just about anywhere and find, or bump into, someone who knows someone he knows...or something crazy like that. On my mission, that happened to me A LOT. It drove my companions NUTS when I'd just casually be talking to someone in church and we'd find a common connection. They'd say, "How is it that you're from a state with more cows than people and half the people in your home town are your relatives and you STILL manage to find these people with connections to you?!" Well, all I can say is, "It's a small, small world." Especially in the church, and it gets even smaller when you narrow it down to Wyoming, and even SMALLER when you add Cokeville to that chain. So, here goes....

It all started last week at church. A sister approached me and said her husband said I looked familiar to him and was wondering where I was from. Well, he's from Star Valley, WY and it just happened to be that he is the son of a guy my dad played football with at Ricks' College. Also, his younger brother, Andy Johnson, was my age...just a year older in school. He was the one that all the girls went weak in the knees over. You know, the sigh...."ooooohh, Andy Johnson!? He's so CUTE!" And...my Aunt Marlene (Dad's little sister) and her husband, Sam, were Andy's sponsors when he played college sports at Carroll College in Helena, MT. We went to celebrate Thanksgiving at her house my Senior year of high school and Andy and a few of his friends were invited to join us. After dinner was over my Dad and Grandma Teichert requested that Taffy, Tami, and I "entertain" at the piano...I was mortified. In front of Andy Johnson?! DAD?!!! Well, I lived through it...just made me tougher, I guess. haha

Last night, I went to a Relief Society activity at the Primary President's house. I went with two other ladies whose husbands work with mine and we had a BLAST! The ladies in this ward are phenomenal! Anyway, while we were there I started visiting with the same sister I talked with at church on Sunday and found out she also knows Alex Dayton...they met at SVU. Weird...

Another sister, Ally, and I got to visiting and she mentioned her husband was from Hannah, WY and that they lived there for ten LONG months and she'd never go back. I sympathized with her and then asked what her husband's name was. I recognized the last name, VanWagoner, and asked if he had a younger brother named Daylon...and he did. Daylon took me to a Valentine's Day dance at the Institute when I was at UW in Laramie.
Embarssing moment...
Before Daylon picked me up for the dance, I was on the phone with my friend David Loveland, who was going to the MTC the following week. I just wanted to say "see ya later" and wish him luck. Well, Daylon showed up not five minutes after I got off the phone with David. I answered the door, and there was Daylon, 6 red roses in hand and a big smile on his face. I said, "Oh, thank-you, DAVID!" I was MORTIFIED. I couldn't believe I called him David...
Well, Ally took a picture of me and sent it to Daylon, asking him if he knew me. He said, "Yeah, it's Violet T from Cokeville! I had a crush on her in high school." Phew!! He could have said, "Yeah, she called me David when I handed her six roses and then I endured a dinner/dance date with her..." He was a lot of fun and I'm glad he remembered only good things about me.

I visited with the RS President and during our conversation, my semester in Nauvoo came up. She mentioned that her sister did that and LOVED it. I asked when and she said it was fall of 2003, which is when I was there. Her sister's name was JanaLyn Bird. When my Mom and Tyson dropped me off at the airport, there was a HUGE line full of kids going to Nauvoo shuffling through security. My Mom and Tyson had a Dr appointment for Tyson's knee that they had to get to, so we said our see-ya-laters and they took off. I stood there, surrounded by a bunch of kids, but feeling totally alone. I was fighting back the tears when JanaLyn put her arm around me and said, "Violet, we are going to have SO MUCH FUN." I hugged her and said "thanks" and never really looked back. It was the best semester of my life and we did have SO MUCH FUN. I will never forget JanaLyn Bird, and I'm so glad I got to tell her sister what an awesome person she is!

Anyway, I've bored you all and you may not have even gotten far enough to read this. I just thought it was fun to find these connections and it made me so thankful for the Church and for the RS program that offers instant friends and "family."