This morning as I opened up this little book:

I read just what I needed to.

June 28, 2011

"To be angry is to yield to the influence of Satan. No one can make us angry. It is our choice. If we desire to have a proper spirit with us at all times, we must choose to refrain from becoming angry"

-Thomas S. Monson

"It may not be easy at times, but we can choose to control our emotions and not become angry at people, events, & circumstances. Sometimes people believe their agency or accountability can be suspended when experiencing the heat of an emotion. However, we are still agents, even when we experience life as though we are victims of our emotions. The apostle Paul exhorted, "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you" (Ephesians 4:31-32). To be Christlike requires self-regulation. Being agents and being accountable signifies that self-regulation is always available to us, as are repentance and forgiveness. With the Lord's divine assistance and loving grace, we can change, overcome bad habits, put off the natural man, and refrain from becoming angry."

-Lloyd D. Newell

For the past several months, I have been feeling a sense of resentment, stronger at times than others. I felt angry towards certain women/friends for reasons that should be bringing happiness & celebration.

I blamed God for my unhappiness.

How could I want something so bad & be ignored?

Now I know, it was my choice to have these feelings.

I have the agency to choose what kind of spirit I will have.

And I choose God.

Heavenly Father has a plan for each one of us.

It may not be exactly what we had envisioned, or it may not happen on our schedule.

But through faith, we can have peace in knowing that he loves us, that he wants us to be happy.

I'm learning & growing.

Through this experience.. one of the hardest in my life.

I love my Texas familia

This is my Texas family.

They live in Texas... Duh.

This picture was taken right after baby Olivia's blessing. Which just happens to be the main reason for my visit - but definitely not the only.

I had lots of fun spending quality time with my Texas family & here are some pictures to prove it.

We went to get Olivia's ears pierced.

{She had no idea what she was in for..}

{Poor baby - Emma was scared for her she was clinging to my leg as I was taking this picture}

{but Liv was tough & cried for only a few minutes & then fell fast asleep}

We went to the batting cages.

{love this chees-er}

We got pedicures.

Cody did, too.

We went to an authentic Greek Restaurant - Belly dancer & all!


{Emma was in awe & kept saying "i like that!"}

We had a blast going swimming, being lazy at home, watching Olivia roll over for the first time, shopping, going to the gym & seeing gross guys in booty shorts, & making these videos...

This was taken right before I left for the airport.. I already miss my Texas family :(

Boise & some family fun

We took a quick 24 hour trip up to Boise a couple weeks ago. It was a lot of driving for one day but we pretty much had no choice in the matter. I was shooting a wedding up there & Tyler came along to help me & to keep me company.

It wasn't all work though, we planned to go to a couple places featured on the Food Network & drive by the Boise Temple.

We ate at Big Juds for lunch which was featured on Man vs Food & is famous for their out of this world huge burgers {see clip below}

We didn't end up getting one of these burgers we shared a regular sized one so that we would have room for dinner later that night. It was pretty tasty but I can think of a lot of other burger places I would put above this one.

After the wedding was over, we went to dinner at Donnie Mac's Trailer Park Cuisine which was featured on Diners, Drive-ins & Dives. {See clip below}

It was definitely our favorite out of the two we visited.

Tyler got the mac n cheese with hot dogs & I got the chicken fried steak sandwich. The mac n cheese wasn't very good but the sandwich - AMAZING! Good thing I'm a nice wifey, and was willing to share ;)

{notice the police officer in the background? When we were walking up to the restaurant we heard the sounds of a terrible car accident probably only 500 feet from where we stood!}

The next day was our newest niece, Priya's, baby blessing. My brother did an amazing job & it is one of the few blessings I have ever cried during.

Afterward, we all went to the park for her big brother, Porter's, 2nd birthday party!

I can't believe he is already 2 - he is growing up too fast!

{my dad proving he is a weirdo}

{Tyler spending some quality time with our niece Avalynn}

Next post is all about my 2nd time this year visiting San Antonio!

Dev. The Graduate.

I can't believe my littlest sister is officially graduated.

I can't believe it's now been 6 years since Tyler & I graduated.

Crazy to think we are more than halfway to our 10 year reunion. Makes me feel old..

{The graduate - she graduated with high honors - her GPA was something like 3.95}

{You can't see it very well but I drew an arrow pointing to Dev}

{Dev & her bf Jake}

{Proud parents}

{Dev with Aaron, Meghann, Porter & Priya (she's hiding)}

{Sisters}

We are proud of you Devanee! Now on to bigger & better things right? ;)