In honor of my mother:

I will gain as much knowledge as I possibly. There are so many wonderful things to learn that can enrich our lives, make us healthier, and bring us closer together. Mom was a wealth of knowledge. She was always learning and loved to share what she knew with others.

In honor of my mother:

I will go out of my way to get to know people who are new. I will try to make them feel welcome and accepted.
I have noticed in the past that because my situation was different from the norm I wasn't as welcomed and accepted in new places and situations. I see people sitting alone (mostly at church) when they are new. It is probably intimidating to walk into a place where everyone else already knows each other. It is probably even worse when no one walks up and introduces themselves to you. If the person is already feeling a little less than normal or different from the rest of us, it makes it even more difficult.
Talking to new people is difficult for me (yeah, its not very obvious) but I have really worked at it and feel it is very important to make everyone feel welcome, wanted, and important- especially when they might be a little different!

In honor of my mother:

I WILL stop biting my nails! (She tried so hard to get us all to stop biting and sucking on our fingers and nails.) I know this is a little more light-hearted, but that is how I am feeling today!

In honor of my mother:

I will try to find the positive in all things. This is extremely difficult for me at times- especially because I have suffered from depression so much over the last 7 years. I know that as I try to find the positive in things it will help me to keep a good perspective and make depression less difficult to overcome.

In honor of my mother:

I will be forgiving and not judge people. I don't know their circumstances or what is going on in others' lives, so it is impossible to know where they are coming from and why they do things. I usually try to think of reasons someone acts a particular way so that I won't be so upset and can forgive them more easily. That, and I really like to give people the benefit of the doubt. I am not perfect- I am still working on this.




I am doing this whole "in honor of my mother" thing to help better myself. I am choosing things that will make me a better mother, wife, sister, daughter, friend, etc. Also, I am choosing things that my mother obviously did and I feel I can improve upon in myself in some way or really feel are important traits that I am reminding myself of and stating now. That way, I can look back and see who it is that I want to be- as a person, friend, sister, wife, mother, daughter, etc. These are all traits my mother possessed. They are traits I want to be sure I develop or improve upon. Things I have learned by watching her. As anyone who knows my mother will tell you, she was one of the most kind women on this earth. She was patient, kind, loving, a faithful friend, a loving mother and wife. She was loved by just about everyone who knew her. I still have people tell me how wonderful my mother was. If I can be half the person she was I will have exceeded my wildest dreams. I love her and am so grateful that she is my mother.

In honor of my mother:

I will love all of my children equally. I will love them no matter what they may do, and I won't treat them badly when I don't agree with their decisions.

In honor of my mother:

I will try to inspire and nurture my children's growth by allowing them to do things for themselves (even when its easier to just to it myself) and letting them use their creativity (even when it makes a mess).

In honor of my mother:

I will stop saying the two bad words that I just can't seem to stop saying- crap and sucks. (yeah, laugh about. but it isn't so funny when my 6 year old tells my husband that she will throw away the "crap" that he swept into a pile in the kitchen)

For Tuesday

Where, O where, did the day go?

In honor of my mother:
I will work harder at being patient.

In honor of my mother:

I will strive to only say nice things about others- please remind me of this when I slip up, and I'm sure I will!

It is getting harder and harder to think of things each day, but I know there is room for much improvement. So I will keep them coming!

For Sunday

Oops! Sunday got away from me!

In honor of my mother:
I will teach my children who they are- sons and daughters of their Heavenly Father, who loves them. I will instill in them a knowledge of right and wrong so that, hopefully, when they are grown they will make the right choices in life.

In honor of my mother:
I will get healthy so I can be here for my children and grandchildren. (In an effort to do so, I will be training for the Eugene Half Marathon this coming spring. Training starts a few short weeks after the baby is born!)

In honor of my mother:
I will be accepting of my children's feelings. It is okay to be sad, upset, disappointed, embarrassed, happy, etc. If I can teach them to acknowledge their feelings and learn how to deal with them it will positively affect all aspects of their lives.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

My sister Ruth and my Mom.

I find myself, once again, reminiscing about my mother. As you know, she died of breast cancer on October 14, 2003. It was her 50th birthday. So every year in the month of October I try to find a way to honor and remember her. The past two years, I wore pink every day for the first 14 days of October. This year, being pregnant, I do not have the luxury of lots of pink clothing. I think I have one pink maternity shirt that no longer fits me. Oh well. My children joined in the pink wearing last year as well. But alas, their clothes are all packed in anticipation of moving- so they are limited in options as well. They have a surprisingly abundant amount of pink in their wardrobes!

So I find myself here wondering what I can do this year. I think I will post something in her honor every day (through the 14th).

To my mother, Cosette:
I will take the time to play with my children so they will know that no matter what is going on I always have time for them.