This PAST week...a GOOD one!

Hello All! I LOVE this pic of the Sunflower REACHING for the sun! So NICE! What I'm trying to do...EVERY day! Find the positive, keep going, and maintain peace in the home! It has been a GREAT week for MT work cuz I have done 300+ lines 4 days this past week. A BANNER week for me! I am gonna do MORE this coming week! My goal is 300+ lines daily for 6 days! I CAN do it! My exercising kinda fell to the wayside, although I did get in ONE day of 3000 steps, which is something...I guess. It's gotta be A LOT better than that so I can lose this weight! A NEW dedication to that goal this week also. I have got my stationary bike going again and I am planning on working out on it when I first get up in the morning...starting at 15 min. EVERY morning and then working up to 20 min. 3 x's a day for 5 days a week. I have ALWAYS enjoyed bicycle exercise and step aerobics. I can't seem to find a step aerobics block (to step on) or good workout DVD for that type of exercise, so I'm going with the bicycling this week. I will also try to get in 1500-2000 steps a day (4 days a week) on my Nordictrack stepper. It's a GREAT low impact exercise and it helps my energy level and the pain in my joints feel SO much better after exercising on the stepper OR the bicycle. I'm GLAD they found the cord needed to get the bike going. YAY! I am taking a multivitamin daily called ALIVE and been taking these ONE a day for over a month now. I like em but they are pretty expensive and can only be found at GNC or Bountiful Health. After I am done with this bottle, I will go back to the One-A-Day Women's Energy Vitamins because they cost over $18 less and they work just as well, in my opinion. If anyone reads this can you PLZ tell me what vitamins or what I could be doing to get better energy during the day and better sleep at night. Any advice?? Any suggestions?? Please let me know. THANKS!!!!


I forgot to turn the clock forward last night so we missed church today. DARN! I was prepared and had all the books ready to go and even studied the Gospel Doctrine lesson and the Sunday School lesson too! It seems like when I'm prepared, something happens that I don't get there. Our car is on the FRITZ too! We can't even be driving it, so we woulda needed to walk too. By the time I got up at 9 am (which was actually 10 am), we had missed our FIRST class and if we woulda got up and got ready and walked there...we may have heard the LAST speaker in Sacrament and song and prayer. UGH! I am MAD at myself cuz I needed to remember that!!! It's HARD being the ONLY adult in the home right now...and all the things I need to keep up on sometimes seem undaunting! I MUST do better! I will listen to a talk CD tonight before falling asleep and then I've given Jentry the FHE lesson for tomorrow night...and we are watching a movie tomorrow night too, cuz The Celebrity Apprentice is on tonight and I wanted to see it. So, for missing our Sunday movie...we will have BOTH the movie and lesson tomorrow night! A GOOD night together...coming tomorow!


I found 2 NEAT websites last night...the first is http://www.ldsmusicnow.com/ and the other is http://www.steppingstones.com/. BOTH of these SPIRITUAL and UPLIFTING websites are for EVERY one! The first website has a place where you can download music for cheap (very good & uplifting gospel music) and it also has a place where you can designate how MANY chapters or verses of scriptures you wanna read EACH day and what book...and it'll post THAT reading assignment in your email inbox EACH day. Like I said I wanna read the BOM (2 Chapters daily) starting at the beginning of the book...so tomorrow I will get my FIRST reading of 1 Nephi 1-2 to read on Monday for my personal scripture studying. NEATO HUH??! TRY IT!! There are a lot of other features on it too...go check it out. The 2nd website is SO AWESOME and I got if from the http://www.yldsr.com/ (Mormon radio station) website. Toward the bottom of the page and it explains what you can do with the stepping stone website and the music now website. They have put in a kind of WHEEL OF FORTUNE of GREAT films for all ages and they ALL teach VALUES! You can choose to watch for a minimal fee OR buy at a minimal fee and you can read about what the movie is about and what it teaches and the age level that it's appropriate for! SO COOL! I can't even tell you how NEATO that http://www.steppingstones.com/ site is. I watched the Velveteen Rabbit for FREE last night and cried! JUST SO CUTE! I wish this gal woulda came up with this idea YEARS ago...for my children...but I NOW have this for my grandchildren when they start coming! Also, nieces and nephews and kids I babysit in the ward would benefit from these AWESOME movies too! There is also a FAMILY PLAN to watch the movies (unlimited viewing) for $8.95 a month. What a GREAT cost! It pays for itself with ONE movie!! If you decide to just wanna watch it to see if you'd like to buy it for your library, you can do that too...for $2.95. GREAT huh??! I am passing this website on to my little sister and brother. PLZ go check it out!!! They are NOT just LDS movies. They are movies with a message and as a parent, don't we all want our children watching movies that teach?? I know I do! That's that....:)


To end tonight I'd like to post a quote I like:

"I am only ONE; but still I am ONE.
I cannot do everything; but still I can do something.
I will not refuse to do the something I can!" ---Helen Keller

AND the scripture for tonight (going along with my Sunflower pic) is:

Doctrine and Covenants 86:7 -- The final reaping will occur only when the father determines that the world is "fully ripe." Meanwhile, brothers and sisters, the challenge is surviving spiritually in a deteriorating "wheat and tares" world.

GOOD ones huh?! I hope everyone of my family and friends has a GREAT week to come! I have an MT job interview on Tuesday morning, so cross your fingers, cuz it's an employee with benefits MT job and I REALLY need a BETTER paying MT job to get through these HARD times financially with my family. No washer, no vehicle, not much food, no insurance, if something bad were to happen (it would be BAD), and NO job for Jerry yet! I am gonna look on the BRIGHT SIDE too...though...We have each other, food enough to survive, electricity, warm and cold water, a roof over our head, and GREAT neighbors too! I am going to just DO what I can to improve MY life and NOT dwell on the negative as much! I believe that if you live RIGHT, Choose the BETTER part, and LOVE others and show our love by helping and serving one another...that GOOD things will happen in my little family! I KNOW IT!!!! I will NOT give up and I will DO MY BEST and live ONE DAY AT A TIME!! And the rest will take care of itself... :)

GOODBYE FOR NOW! I will get back on after interviewing on Tuesday afternoon and hopefully it will be GOOD news! If not, I DO have a GREAT part time job and I will take it (either way)with a CHEERFUL and GRATEFUL heart!

**GOD BLESS AND BE WITH THE PEOPLE IN JAPAN FOR THE HEARTACHE AND DEVASTATION THEY ARE FACING NOW! With the earthquakes, aftershocks, and the Tsunami...it has been a HARD time for JAPAN! GOD SPEED!**

A GREAT CD TALK TO START MY WEEK!!

Hello ALL! It's been a few days, but I wanted to write a few notes on a GREAT CD talk I heard this morning....called: "Trusting the Savior in a World that Doesn't" by: Christopher B. Munday. I was very inspired by it and thought I would jot down some of my FAVE points.

1. FOLLOW THE PROPHET and listen and obey his words (pic above).

2. HONOR OUR PARENTS and show your love to them DAILY.

3. COME UNTO CHRIST and FOLLOW HIM. He should be our BEST friend in a troubling world! He will NEVER forsake us and he will ALWAYS be there, when needed! Ask for his help and pray for him in troubling times! He is there...waiting!

Then there were a few little points...that he spoke on...like...

PRAYING EVERY DAY and READING THE SCRIPTURES and SEEKING OUT RIGHTEOUS GOALS! We should also get our lives in line with the gospel and follow what our gospel teaches! His brother-in-law, who had a disease, was an alcoholic for YEARS (drowning in his sorrows) and ONE day he asked to meet Brother Munday at the Church and when he came he was dressed in his Sunday BEST and asked Brother Munday to help him "get back in line with the church" and he confessed his sins to his brother-in-law and asked if he thought he was forgiven and Brother Munday told him he WAS and not soon after repenting...his 26-year-old brother in law passed away! He made it BACK into the arms of our Savior and wanted to make everything RIGHT in his life! What a GREAT thing!

I believe WE should repent of those things that we need too and try to be MORE Christ-like and loving to ALL! Let's do it NOW! COME UNTO CHRIST AND FOLLOW THE GOSPEL STRAIGHTWAY! It was a GREAT talk and I will have my family listen to it tonight for FHE and then have some little stories of ways to COME unto Christ and others that take us AWAY from Christ...and we will all take a story and read it and decide WHICH way it leads us...to or from Christ. My FHE is prepared for tonight! YAY! I LOVE the gospel and have a SURE testimony of its GOODNESS! I'm so GRATEFUL for the TRUE Church in this dispensation and I plan on attending the temple this week. I will probably attend a session on Thursday night. I LOVE the Temple and going there is a GREAT way to feel of Christ's love and spirit and to turn my eyes towards heaven and AWAY from the world...for a time! A GOOD THING!!! :)

I did get 300+ lines - 4 times last week. I am hoping to get another FULL time job working as an MT and I will interview with her either tomorrow or later this week. I will let everyone know how that goes when I know more. I haven't been exercising like I should and I will rededicate myself to doing MORE exercise this week and a get a GOOD line count too!

The kids are just waking up for another week in school, so I'm gonna get off and tell them BOTH how much I love them and to REMEMBER WHO THEY ARE! :)

EVERYONE have a GREAT Monday! DO YOUR BEST TODAY!! :)

A GOOD President's Day!

Today was a GREAT and PRODUCTIVE day! I got over 400 lines doing my MT work and did over 2000 steps on my Nordictrack stepper. Not a bad day. The kids had some fun with NO school. Brock and friends went sledding and Jentry went to a friend's to watch a movie and play games. A GOOD day ALL around! I finished a knitted beaded hat (NEW pattern) and it turned out SO cute! It's for little Sunnie. I promised her a pink hat with beads and a blue flower. I posted a pic of it. I will make more of these. I finished the 2 hats that a friend, Christina ordered (from TX) and posted that pink crocheted hat too. I used a chunky, very soft yarn for the knitted and beaded hat. It is SO cozy and warm! It's almost time to NOT make those kind of hats since we are getting into springtime soon here. I will be making lots of variations of those beaded hats to see what I can create. A FUN pattern! The crocheted hats are good for anytime of year...since they are lightweight and I use a lightweight yarn. I could use a lighter weight yarn for the beaded hats too! There's an IDEA!! That'll be my next project...after I make Ty a hat and Teresa is going to order some more flowers soon too. This little hobby is FUN and I make a little bit of money on the side that sure helps out! Of course, I don't charge what I should because I didn't really get into this for selling, mostly just for fun, but when I saw that people really liked what I was making with the pics on Facebook, over 450 pics so far, which is 2 1/2 albums of photos. I have all the hats, flowers, bows, headbands (fabric, ribbon woven, nylon, and crocheted) in those albums on Facebook. I usually have people see something they like and then they tell me to make something like what is pictured or "something like it" so I know what they want and so far, the people I've sold my "creations" too have really liked what they ordered. It's FUN! I just got a Hana-Ami Flower Loom and will start creating cute yarn and ribbon flowers with that....making the flowers is SO fun! I also have a darling pattern for poly-satin flowers and I've made 3 (1 pictured here) with an electric blue color of material. I am ordering different colors for those flowers cuz I've received a lot of LIKES on those & I love making them...cuz each one comes out ONE OF A KIND because I use candle heat to melt 'em into the shapes and sizes I desire. A LOT of FUN! My job as an MT is SO GREAT! I just LOVE working for the company I work for! I learn MANY NEW things daily! I LOVE when I'm able to produce 250 lines or more a day! I don't get burned out and I make enough to help pay a couple bills...which makes me feel like I'm contributing! A GREAT FEELING!!!

Last night as a family we watched The Outsiders movie. A tradition we've had in our family on Sunday nights for over 4 years now. We all enjoyed that movie too. It was a GOOD one! Jentry is in charge of FHE tomorrow night...I gave her the Liahona June 2010 lesson by President Monson with the story called "Canaries with Gray on their Wings." It's on TRUE BEAUTY and how the Lord looks on the heart. This is her 2nd time taking charge of FHE and I know she'll do a GREAT job! I think at their ages...it's a good thing for them to take charge of 1 FHE a month (each). A NEW thing that I was inspired to do...after praying about it. More on that next time...

Brock is still shooting for his diploma and wanting to go into the Marine's after he turns 18, which is only in about 6 months. It's a GOOD goal for him and I think it'll teach him a lot of GOOD things! I just want the BEST for him and for EACH of my kids! Britnee got a little anchor tattoo and she wants me to see it. She has wanted one for a while and although I don't really agree, she says it is small and it means something to her. The next one she wants to get, down the road, is a shell...to honor me! She is sure an independent and strong girl! VERY proud of her!!! Jentry got a Chi hair straightener from Britnee and she is having fun straightening her pretty red hair out. She has sure grown out of that awkward stage and is turning into a BEAUTIFUL young lady! Inside AND out! I just LOVE my kids SO much!!! :)

My marriage is still on hiatus and we are going to our 4th session of counseling on Wednesday (23rd) together. I don't know if we are going to be able to work things out...but I am sure prayerful and open to do what NEEDS to happen after we see how counseling works for us. I pray EVERY night for us and for him too! I love him very much and that will never change. I want to be HAPPY though and I want him to be HAPPY too. Whatever road we take in the future, I know will be the RIGHT one for both of us! The bishop believes in miracles and so do I, but I am not gonna get my hopes UP either because reconciliation may NOT be the answer and I have to protect my heart from getting hurt again. I just HOPE and PRAY for that MIRACLE! Time will tell! More on that later....

I am signing off cuz it's 2 a.m. and if I want to get 300 lines a day or more...I need to get a good night's rest and get a decent start in the latter morning. I am shooting for waking at 11 a.m. this week, cuz lately I've been getting up at 1 p.m. because I don't get to sleep til after 4:30 a.m. every night, so I need to shoot for something "doable." I am a "work in progress" and just trying to DO BETTER each day!

2 NEW quotes I heard and REALLY like for this week are: "Live to Give" and "I'm too BLESSED to be STRESSED!"

Be back to post...later this week. :)

Been a while...sorry!

2-15-11

The picture is of Jentry on 2-14 (Monday) with ALL her FUN Valentine's from friends and even a ROSE from an "anonymous" boy "friend" at school. She was thrilled! :)Tonight for FHE we played a fun "NAME THE FAMOUS COUPLE" game together as a family because as we know...the family that PLAYS together STAYS together! We are reading the Book of Mormon together as a family also because in 6-8 months Brock will be leaving for the Marine's and I wanna get in as much FAM time as possible. A GOOD goal! Brock and I have GREAT talks about how his PT is and how his muscles felt like jello after his 1st PT and how the Sargeant kept calling him Dr. Pepper cuz he had his Dr. Pepper shirt on...he would yell right in his face, Brock said. WoW! INTENSE!! I haven't been doing much as far as MT work goes this week and I will HIT THE GROUND RUNNING tomorrow! I need at least 250-300 lines per day (6 days a week)! I CAN DO IT!! My fitness routine hasn't been going well this week either. Tomorrow is a NEW day and I will get 300 lines and at least 3000 steps on my Nordictrack stepper. K??! I haven't been very good about posting on here, like I said I would. I plan to do this blog at least TWICE a week. So, until next time! TTFN! :)

Keepin on keepin on...

It's Monday, January 17, 2011 and I got some flowers and 2 hats done this past weekend. I also posted a pic of Brock's CTR ring. It's black with a silver cursive CTR insert. I couldn't get a good pic of Jentry's but hers is VERY nice too. Her ring is called "shooting star." I got them from Deseret Book and they are both from RingMasters. They like their NEW rings! It was A GOOD and PRODUCTIVE Saturday! We ALL went to church as a family yesterday (16th)and it was NICE! I didn't get much sleep on Sat. night, in fact, I think Satan works extra hard on me to keep me from going to church, especially when I make my mind up BEFORE going that I WILL go. I either DON'T sleep OR I get sick etc... Jerry walked out at 8 a.m. (I had probably been asleep not even an hour) and asked if I was going to church and who to get up next and I said I don't know...I haven't slept all night and then I thought, NOPE...I am GOING!!! I got up and got ready and me and Jentry got to church by 9 a.m. and Brock was a little late, but he came around 9:25 with Jer. I was glad to be in Relief Society with other sisters and to hear the lesson given by a dear sister (don't know her name) on fasting. It sure made me happy to see Sister Johnson, Sister McBean and Sister Beacham and just to be amongst the other sisters. I talked to Sister Billings for a few minutes. It was nice seeing her. I was GLAD we got to church! A GOOD way to start the week! It is ALWAYS so nice to take the sacrament with my family and I'm glad for the times we are ALL together.

QUOTE: "As we worthily partake of the sacrament, we will sense those things we need to improve in and receive the help and determination to do so. No matter what our problems, the sacrament always gives hope." --John H. Groberg

I came home and slept most of the afternoon. Jerry made a GREAT turkey dinner. Turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn and yams. YUMMY! We usually watch a movie as a family on Sunday but the kids didn't have school on Monday or Tuesday so I let Mike come over on Sunday night and we let the family movie night for this week...pass us up. We will watch something next Sunday. Tonight is FHE and I am going to give Jentry a message in the Conference Ensign and let HER do the lesson tonight. I have prayed over how to handle FHE's with older kids in the home and I think if I let THEM prepare the lesson once in a while, it will do us all some good. I have always been in charge and now I can let them be "in charge" once a month. So, the lesson is Steadfast and Immovable by: Silvia Allred and we'll see what Jentry comes up with for this lesson. I am EXCITED! I will report back later.

This morning Jerry made me some fresh O.J. using our Wolfgang Puck blender/juicer (we got for Christmas) and it wass SOOOOO tasty! I have only got 3 reports done today and it's been pretty slow, because of the holiday, but I did get some done. Tomorrow I will need to really get at it! I'm sure there will be lots to do. I LOVE my job and I love my family! I am BLESSED!!!!!

YES...so far!

Here's my daughter giving the THUMBS UP to getting FIT together! She is REALLY helpful and such a wonderful daughter to wanna get herself, her mom and family in a "healthy way!" We do tend to eat a lot of sugary treats etc... in this home. Especially when we have Sunday movie night together OR play Wii etc... We need to curb those BAD habits...NOW! EXERCISE is key!

I finished crocheting the ivory/cream hat (ABOVE) and the purple Dahlia flower looks GREAT on the hat. FUN HOBBY! An enjoyable and relaxing thing to do on the weekend! I will post more pics of what I am crocheting and the flowers and bows I am making...later!

I did get 1000 steps on my Nordictrack on Friday (14th) but not yet today. UGH! I will get back ON the wagon on Monday! I seem to "fall off the wagon" on the weekends! I will hit my MT goal HARD on Monday too. I only got 200 lines on the 14th and there's NO work today (Sat) and usually nothing on Sunday's either. I CAN DO THESE THINGS! I am planning to go to ALL church meetings tomorrow! I haven't done this in MONTHS! I have either had BAD health or been outta town or some other excuse. Well NO MORE excuses! I am going and so is my WHOLE family! Me, Jerry, Brock and Jentry will be there with "bells on"! LOL! :) I NEED to be spiritually FED EACH week and I can't get that from only going to Sacrament. I know where I need the work and this is a BIG goal to work on! I have bathed, put out my skirt and blouse, and have my scripture bag ready too! I have even read over the New Testament lesson for Sunday School! I just wish our church didn't start at 9 a.m. cuz that is SO early for me. I wouldn't mind 11 a.m. or 1 p.m. so much. The "NO MORE EXCUSES" goal doesn't care that church starts at 9 a.m. and I will report tomorrow on what I learned in each class and I will be SO glad that I have this outlet for posting my SUCCESSES and what I learn! My teens NEED me to be a GOOD example of going to church...so I can't let them down either.

So, we shall talk again tomorrow. Everyone have a WONDERFUL Saturday night! I am working on crocheting hats and making some flowers for friends that ordered today. I can get the 3 orders filled by Wednesday of this week. I LOVE my hobby and every little bit of income HELPS!! If anyone wants to see what I do...go on my F/B page (Shelly Leishman Bishop) and look at my Baby Blue Bowtique photos (album) and my Baby Blue Bowtique Part 2 pics (album). I will post a pic of the hat and flowers I finish tomorrow. TAKE CARE and EVERYONE have a GREAT and SPIRITUAL Sunday! I WILL!!! :)

OH...and I can't believe I almost forgot....I finally purchased 2 CTR rings for both Brock and Jentry and I gave the rings to them last night. They LOVE the styles I picked out for them. I will post a pic of BOTH rings tomorrow. Seems VERY appropriate for a Sunday pic! I am just glad that I was able to FINALLY get them the rings so they will ALWAYS be reminded to CTR (Choose the Right)! They've been asking for a CTR ring for OVER a year and I finally came through! It's IMPORTANT to wear them and let them serve as reminders!! :)

2011 New Year GOALS

I am challenging myself. BIG TIME this year! I want to lose 50-60 pounds and I want to work M-F building my MT skills by working for Medscript and giving it my ALL. My kids and family are all a part of my life and I need to be a more active and healthy mother and my marriage needs some work too. I'd like to work on these things proactively! But to get started I want to set some primary goals and report back EACH day on how I'm doing. I journal too but I want to do this also because it seems like when I'm accountable to someone...anyone...I DO more! Weird...I know. So, M-F I will wake early...and early for me is 9 or 10 a.m. and start my MT work. I want to get the majority of my line count in between 10-5 (with breaks in between) to walk on my Nordictrack stepper and they say that 12,000 steps a day is good for health. I want to start by getting in 1000 steps PER day this week starting today (Friday, Jan. 14th) - (Friday, Jan. 21st). Then I will reassess my exercise regimen and UP my step count. As for MT work...I want to get 280-400 lines A day this week (M-F) so I will actually start it today (Friday, Jan. 14th). It will take getting used too and I need to FOCUS and not sleep in and lose half my days anymore. On Saturdays I'd like to do a little crafting with my Cricut (making cards or scrapbooking) and working on my hair accessories (Baby Blue Bowtique)...so Saturday is my HOBBY/FUN day! Sunday has been a REAL "issue" for me! I want and MUST get to ALL my mtgs at church EVERY Sunday starting THIS Sunday (Jan. 16th) and our church meetings start EARLY this year. 9-noon. I have these 3 things to do this week and I did watch Apostle Christofferson's talk on DAY AT A TIME and maintaining DAY AT A TIME Goals so that's what I'll do! Each day I will report on what I did for the day and then if I think of anything more I want to work on or if I want to set another goal, I will post it for ALL to see. Right now I've bitten off a BIG piece for this upcoming week. Wish me luck friends!!! I can do anything I put my mind too and my mind is SET on getting fit this year, making decent money working as an MT from home, and attending church mtgs. weekly and attending the temple ONCE a month too. I will NOT neglect the things I've already got in the HABIT of doing...like journaling, FHE, Sunday movie night, family game night, and nightly thoughts and family prayer. I want my family to STAY together and I have to work HARD to make that happen! I will take baby steps and work on things day by day. It's the ONLY way this can possibly work for me. So, it's 3 a.m. and I need to sign off so that I can be UP by 9 or 10 a.m. GN and SWEET DREAMS ALL! Shelly