Who ARE you?

An interesting situation came into my home this week that got me thinking. The situation was that I was accused of not doing anything and what I do, I am not that good at. Now, said with sarcasm or not, it made me really angry. I know I put on a tough shell, so everyone thinks I'm a tougher girl than I am. That's my fault, and I am not going to change it, having said that, those words that were said to me were hurtful and insulting. It got my mind racing this weekend.

What AM I?

I know that I am a daughter of a King, a child of God. I know that my self worth is more important to me then anything. If I don't love myself, I can't love anyone else. So I MUST love who I am.

I don't cook well, but my family stays nourished, I don't do foofoo crafts, but my house is full of cutesy stuff, I'm not a good seamstress, but why should I be if I have a Wal-mart to go to? All these things that people do that make them feel good are not what make them up as a person. It's not what you do in life, it's WHO YOU ARE. I am sad for those who's self esteem is low and need to feel loved and be made special by others, mine comes from within. My parents raised me to be a confident person, one who doesn't care about what everyone thinks of me, but what I think of myself.

I am a stay at home mom that runs my family. Randy and I chose that life for us and our family. I know that there are circumstances that are different than mine and I understand that everyone is different than me, but the bottom line is that I am satisfied with the way I am taking care of my family, and Randy is satisfied with it also. I do not need to please anyone else with ANYTHING I do in my life.

I hope with this experience, I can understand the things that I should not do to others. How I need to be careful to not make anyone feel the way I have felt and do my best to understand everyone and not judge. It is not my place to judge you as it is not your place to judge me. I hope this makes me a better person, a stronger person, after all, that's what life is all about. So, the question maybe we should all ask ourselves... WHO AM I?

The Olympics according to Hopie

I absolutely LOVE the Olympics. I have all of it DVRed and for the next couple of weeks, I will not be getting ANYTHING done because of it. I love how inspiring they are, I love the hard work and training that goes into it, let's face it, they Olympics is NOT for wussies!!!! But there are some things that pop into my head as soon as I turn on my TV to watch these amazing athletes. You know me, I can't keep those kinds of thoughts to myself, so... ENJOY!!!!

Let's talk about.....

Luge- let's just jump on this TINY sled and go as fast as we can down a track and try not to die!

Double Luge- first let's talk about the camel toe that we all get to enjoy. And WHO thought, "hey, let's (two guys) put on some spandex, lay on top of each other and go down this track, while not trying to die!!!". SERIOUSLY!!!!

Women's Ice Skating- elegance and grace

(and if we remember a few years back, BROKEN KNEES!!!!)

Men's Ice Skating- all I'm going to say is that one Russian boy's bangs FREAKING ROCK!!!

So cute!!! (said with a lisp)

Curling- so challenging that a woman that is 5 months pregnant can do it!!! Let's see if she can do it while doing her daughter's hair and making doctor's appointments on the phone. Now THAT'S a sport and I'm willing to bet she'd get GOLD in THAT event!!!!

Anything with Apolo Ohno- OH YES!!!!

Snowboarding- HELLO!!!! Who else do you know that can rock anything like that other than Shaun White???? I bet all those kids in elementary school that made fun of him for his red hair are sorry now!!!!

Hockey- thank you to all the dentists and plastic surgeons in the world that will make hockey players look normal again!!! (no picture needed)

Now, I know I didn't cover every event or every athlete, if I had, I surely would have said something about changing Louie Vito's name to "Lemme Kissyou". Wouldn't you agree that would be a better name for him?

The reason I can't continue on, because you know I have more to say then THIS, is because I must continue being glued to NBC!!!!!!

I bet you wont look at the games the same again!!!!

YOU'RE WELCOME!!!!

Our "killer" Valentine's party!!!

Last year, we got together with a bunch of friends and had a fun Valentine's Day Party and since we all had such a blast, we decided to make it an annual thing. Last year, the boys were in charge of the party, this year it was the girl's turn. With no credit to THIS girl, we had a great time. We had a murder mystery party, western themed!!! Randy and I were married, he was the saloon owner, but I was mad at him for leaving me to find gold for 5 years, so when one of the players was killed, I was supposed to frame Randy for murder, well, it ended up backfiring and almost EVERYONE voted that I was the killer!!! I wasn't the killer and neither was Randy. Bummer!!!!
Here's Randy and our friend, Emily with her sweet baby Annie!!!!

The saloon owner meeting the Sheriff for the first time!!!!
Pretty Chanieca!!! Paul and Heather had the most unique costumes, they were YEARS ahead of everyone. They wore clothes that would have been worn now and not in 1874 when the party was set. Who knew they were so fashion forward?
Cam and Ronni, she got my vote for best dressed!!!
What would a party be without a "Randy Cake"? How about horseshoe shaped with wagon wheels and cacti (what a dumb word)?

At the end of the night, I got the prize for Mrs. Money Bags, I stole money from Randy for jewels!!!! And I got the Drama Queen Award and Randy was awarded the Dressed to Kill Award!!!


I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing that Randy and I can fall "into character" so easy. When Halloween rolls around every year, it's extremely easy for us to play someone else!?! I think we need more hobbies, what do you think?

Anyhow, I'm so lucky to have such fun friends that like to party and play. I look forward to the party next year, although, there's no way for the boys to top this year's, so they should just not even try. It was one helluva good time!!!!! Thanks y'all!!!!

Slow down

I have been following a special blog and I must share it with my blogging friends. A lot of you Utahans might already know about this story, but you must read THIS POST. It's long, but it will change your life. When you're done with that post, go down to my "special blogs" section and read the rest of the story. I titled the blog "Baby Bronson". What I learned from this story is not the obvious, what I learned is that this can happen to ANYONE. You never know what is next for you, so you must hold those you love VERY CLOSE to you at all times. Life is too short to be filled with people that are not going to be supportive and loving (a lesson I learned yesterday). You never know what is ahead for your family, so slow down and just be YOU. Be involved in those whom will help you and uplift you and make you feel good about who you are. Please share this story with your friends, we will all learn valuable lessons from it!!!

Tyler's baptism!!!

Article of Faith #4:

We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins;
fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.




Yesterday was Tyler's big day, the day he had been counting down for so long to. He chose to become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was so sure about this decision. He was interviewed by the Bishop and he found Tyler to have a strong desire to enter the waters of baptism. At 10am we went to the Stake Center, there was a talk on Baptism and a talk on the Holy Ghost, then ward by ward we were taken into the room where the baptismal font is. Tyler was overwhelmed when he looked back to see how many people were there for HIM.


He is such a special kid. A person that was saved from the jaws of death a few times. We have no doubt that his mission here on Earth is a special one. I had everyone sign their names in a book for Tyler. When I counted today, there were 80 signatures. Those 80 people were there JUST FOR TYLER. After Randy baptized him, he said that Tyler kept saying, "this feels so good, daddy!!!" and then he would shiver with emotion. Tyler is very sensitive and in tune with the Spirit, yesterday was no different. After the baptism, 12 men stood in the circle to confirm him and give him the gift of the Holy Ghost through the Priesthood. As I looked at those 12 men, I knew how important every single one of them are to Tyler. He looks up to all of them, from his dad, to grandpas to uncles, good friends, ect. He has a lot of good men to pattern his life after. It also made me sad about the ones who chose not to come. I know there are circumstances that kept people from coming, but there are those who could have come and didn't. I'm sad for them. They missed out on a very special day.

After all of the well wishes and hugs from the wonderful people that came, we headed up to our church building for a luncheon. It is so great to be in a room with so many people that we love and we know loves us. Our family is so blessed to be surrounded by so many people that enrich our lives. This is one of those days, 8 years ago, that I didn't know would happen. 8 years ago today, Tyler was on complete life support without much hope that he was going to live. I am so proud of him. He is such an amazing boy. I can't think of a better son to have. He teaches us so much and I am grateful to be his mom.

So, to those who were with us yesterday, thank you. To those who couldn't come, we sure missed you. It was wonderful day for the Clyde family and we look forward to so many more days like that!!!!

Congratulations, Tyler. We love you so much!!!!

A note from my butt

Dear self,

Please remember that when you are in the shower, shaving leg A that when you switch to leg B, the shower floor will be slick. Because you are not a contortionist and you are 100 pounds overweight, in combination with the slick floor, will make you fall. When you fall, it will not be graceful and it will hurt VERY BAD. If you ever forget this tip, you deserve to feel the pain of falling naked in your shower without anyone to rescue (laugh at) you.

Love,
Your bruised left butt cheek, thigh and ankle.

PS Applications for the videoed reenactment will be collected starting next week.

BEFY

BEFY, sounds like "beafy". It's short for Best of Especially for Youth. It's a series of seminars for the youth of our church. They learn how to be strong, they learn that they are loved and continue to learn more about the gospel. Well, I have never been to BEFY until this weekend. I'm the first counselor in the Young Women in our ward and it was such an honor to get to go to BEFY with the YW/YM. I am so proud of all of our youth that were there. It's not an easy thing to get teenagers up and out the door on the ONE day they get to sleep in, but the faithful were there. It was such an uplifting experience for me. I sat in that stake center with hundreds and hundreds of the beautiful, righteous youth members of my church. They are all such examples to me. The things I learned on Saturday will stay with me for a long time and help me become a better person!!!! If you ever get the chance to go to EFY or BEFY, do it, you wont regret it!!!