Friends.

Friends are so important.  I am so thankful for the good friends I have.

15 years ago when I lived in Logan, UT for the first time; my husband and I made some great friends.

…and now we have moved back.  We have reconnected with some of those friends.

We have also made wonderful new friendships.  I am so thankful for the gift of friendship.

One of those friendships that was created during my previous years in Logan was with my BFF; Krysta.

That little stinker doesn’t live in Logan anymore.  They moved to Houston just before we moved to Arkansas. 

I was all for it then because that meant it was only a 7 hour drive to see her.

Now that I’m back in Logan; it’s almost strange not to have her here.

All of my previous Logan memories almost all have her in them.

…so because she isn’t here; I have to make the journey to Houston to see her.

Last Novemeber, I took a trip to Houston to see Krysta.

I never blogged about it because Thanksgiving, Christmas, and surgery all happened right after coming home.

I want to go back and recap about it now:

 

This is my favorite part about arriving in Houston; walking through the door of the Moes’ house.

It feels like home.  Krysta’s house feels so comfortable.  It is beautiful; I wish I could take you on the full tour.  You would love it.

She had done a little re-decorating since I had been there last so it was fun to see a few of the changes.  Walking around and looking for all the changes is part of the Krysta/Andrea ritual.  We do it every time we arrive at each other’s home.

We both love fall and decorating for it; so it was fun to be in her house with all her pumpkins out.

This was the room I got to stay in:

Poor Ady was kicked out of her bed so I had somewhere to sleep.  I kept telling Ady that the “A” was for Andrea.

I love being with all of Krysta’s kids.  They are like my own nieces and nephews. 

Ady was born just 9 days before Tess; so it was fun to be with her.

Here she is helping me wash apples and telling me stories.

One thing I wanted Krysta to teach me is how to make carmel apples.  She is so good at it.

It is a tradition in her family.

 

See… they have the whole process down.

Now I am addicted to carmel apples; and have made them about 15 times since I left Houston.

It was great to be in the nice Houston weather while it was so chilly in Utah.

It’s so warm Krysta has a lemon tree in her backyard.

I was smitten with it, and so jealous.  I think I could move back to humidity just for all the beautiful plants that grow.

Krysta’s yard looks amazing.

When we are together, we don’t make big plans.

In fact, I love just chilling at her house.  It’s like having a vacation at home without having any work to do.

Here I am chilling on my computer; while Ady sleeps on the floor.

We did do A LOT of shopping(enough that I had to ship a box of stuff home), and made sure to eat good food.

We both love to eat.  We enjoy trying out the recipes that we each make for our own families; and we love going out.

KRYSTA.  I MISS YA!!

I can’t wait for you to come this summer.

Thanks for the awesome visit in the fall.

We should all thank God for good friends.

Happy Mother’s Day Y’all.

To all the Mother’s out there who change the world with their kindness, example, and love.

Thank you.

You inspire me to be better.

To work harder.

To love more.

…and never take for granted the gift of Motherhood.

Several years ago; I wrote one of my favorite posts on Mother’s Day.

It always reminds me of living in the moment, and cherishing every single one of them.

I wish I was better at that everyday.

Read that post here

…and enjoy your day.

every. single. moment. of it.

SMASH

I am sure many of you have heard of SMASH journals. 

I think they are called SMASH because you “Smash” as much info and fun as you can into one book.

Many people use them as a scrapbook.

I decided to start one to fill with all my thoughts and everything I learned while I was going through the “trial of my health” this winter. (that’s what I call it; the trail of my health/winter 2014) (hee. hee.)

The truth is we all have times in our life that are harder then others.  It’s these times when if we listen; God teaches us something.

I learned so much from friends who sent me thoughts, scriptures, quotes, talks, and books to read while I was flat on my back.

I read and read, and was so uplifted.  I didn’t want to forget what I had learned and what I had been through.

A smash journal was the perfect place to stick it all.

…and now I have a place to stick all my favorite little thoughts and things life teaches me.

Life is one continual learning process, and if your brain is as forgetful as mine; its good to have somewhere to store what we learn.

I also love going back to read my SMASH.  It helps me recognize all I have been given even when life seems hard.

The best part about the whole thing is a Smash journal is something your whole family can do.

This winter, we went to Park City to take the kids skiing.  I was still so sick.  The doctors were not sure what was wrong with me yet, so I spent my time in the hotel while they played.

I took the Smash journal stuff along; and grabbed a cheap book from the Michaels $ spot for each of the kids.

(Tessa’s front cover complete with Barbie Sticker)

I hoped they would want to start one to.

It was the perfect hotel activity.

Would you like to make one to?

What you need:

Smash journals for everyone.  It can be the real deal like mine(found at Michael’s)

or the cheap version like my kids(also found at Michaels.)

The kids had fun decorating the front of their journal too.

I also picked up a handy carrying case to carry around all the fun trinkets we would use.

What we found makes it fun:

washi tape

colored pens

project life cards(these make it so easy to quickly write up what your thinking, and then all you have to do is washi tape it in your journal)

embellishments

and stickers

I also like to have a little extra bin with ribbon to add some sha-bang.

I am so thankful I got my kids involved.

It’s the little things like this that make me smile.

(Stella)

The words that they put in their journal.

(Jex)

The words that are important to them.

(Tess with Stella’s help)

Stella even helped Tess with her words.

(Tessa)

…and sometimes Tess writes her own words.

(Tessa)

…and sometimes Tess makes a nifty fold-down flap for her words.

(Isaac)

Everyone needs a place to put what fills up their head.

(Isaac)

Take the time to record life, and “SMASH” it somewhere important.

Life is changing…

Every week, I think I am going to have time to blog a couple 2 or 3 times.  Remember when I had time for that?

Then my week takes off and I don’t have the time. 

Life is a changing… my kids are keeping my sooo busy.

I am actually speaking at a church event tonight about the importance of journaling.

This might be the push I need to get back here more often; I feel like I am saying this too often.  I just need to make the time.

I am a true believer in the importance of keeping a journal.

Here is what my journal would say today:

May 7, 2014

Today is a rainy, rainy day.  It is a gloomy yucky day.

I bought myself this hydrangea for Mother’s Day.

It helps on a rainy day.

I am looking forward to planting some flowers in my yard.

Jonathan spent all day Monday working in the yard.

I spent all day painting the house.

House projects never seem to end.

I’m not complaining.  I am grateful to have a house and projects to fill my days.

My two oldest kids are sick today.  I had a busy day planned but, when your kids get sick your day automatically changes. 

I’m kind of grateful for the chance to slow down.

I can’t stop smiling about the cutest opera I attended last week.

Isaac shared the leading role of Mr. Duck with 3 other boys.

 

My favorite part about the opera was that it was written by these cute little Kindergartners. 

I laughed at the story they came up with of animals wanting to use the Duck’s pond to play volleyball. 

Kindergartners writing an opera; what a brilliant idea!

If we all looked at the world as innocently as children; how beautiful life would be.

I am thankful for good teachers who put so much love into teaching my children.

Baseball season is in full swing at our house.

Jex started a few months ago playing in an accelerated league; and now his games have begun.

These photos are from his first game.

Jex also started his city league this week and will have a practice or a game almost every night during the week.

Isaac is also playing city league; and this mister:

plays his first game with the big team in the valley; the Smithfield Blue Sox.

Jex’s accelerated team is also called the Blue Sox.

Thankfully, I can support Jex and Jonathan in the same t-shirt.

When it’s baseball season, we all enjoy going to the games as a family.

Well, Stella puts up with it.

I love baseball season. 

There is no place I would rather be than at the ballpark.

…and that’s what I am thinking about today.