Finding Krissi

Every morning this summer I can be found in my garden. There is something about being in the garden, hands in the dirt, and laboring that gives me peace. It is almost like the more dirt I have on my hands the better I feel. Also, all the physical labor of gardening seems to open my mind and clear out the cob webs. I guess it is easier for me to see God's big picture when I am working in the garden. All of the details it takes to garden, to nurture, and  to make my yard beautiful relate easily to Heavenly Father's plan. For example, this morning I was thinking about weeds. Any gardner knows you spend the majority of time in your garden controlling weeds. No matter how much you mulch, pluck, and spray weeds are determined to return. I have a system for weeding. Everyday I walk down each flower bed and pluck out 25 weeds. You would think after almost a month of weeding I would eventually run out of weeds. I never run out! There is always 25 weeds for me to pluck in each flow...

I have to say that I am loving our new church time. It seems to me that 11:00 is the perfect time to go to church. First, I get to sleep in. Since I am a 5am girl sleeping until 7 and staying cuddled under the covers until 8 is the perfect amount of time to feel indulged. Second, I actually had the time to indulge is some one on one time with Al. Al has the longest, thickest, most awesome hair. Which means that dealing with it on a day to day basis frustrates her to no end. She has become a pony tail, wrapped up in a bun girl! Indulgence for me is having the time to braid her most awesome hair. I don't get enough of those one on one peaceful moments. Third, I have time to sit and just type a few words. I need to do this. It is good for me it helps me focus on what is good and right in my life. Another thing I don't have the time to do. I have a whole list of New Years Resolutions. The number one thing on my list is to work on stress. It's a whole combination of ...

I have decided that I'm a lazy person. I spend every moment of my day trying to complete tasks so that I can lay around and do nothing. One of my greatest frustrations is a delay in completing tasks because it means a delay in being lazy. I am even going to go as far as to say one of the reasons this blog is dying a slow, and rather lingering death is because I'm lazy. My whole body moans and demands that I do nothing, including blogging. "Do Nothing, Do Nothing, Do Nothing," the little minions chant in my head. Only doing nothing lacks reward. I never ever get up from a day of nothing and think, "Ahhh that was a good day of nothing." Like everything in life there is a balance. A balance that I have yet to achieve. Every time I start to get close to that balance something, or someones knock that balance out from under me. Leading back to a life where I'm running around trying desperately to finish enough tasks so that I can do nothing. It...

An entire summer has come and gone. Tomorrow I return to work, and the rush of a new school year will fully engage. It has been an interesting summer. The lack of responsibility is not good for me. It has made me lazy. My long to-do list is still to long. I have nothing to blame it on except laziness. Apparently, if I do not have an immediate deadline I am pretty useless. The three older kiddos had an eventful summer; TREK, Girls Camp, High Adventure, EFY, swim lessons, working, and more tumbled on top of each other. H. had a summer of running, playing, and video games. I did manage one session of swim lessons. I think that he sometimes gets lost in the chaos of the older kids. I suppose it is one of the down falls to being the youngest. I need to do better! The best thing about this summer has been the time. We have spent time together as a family. We went to a concert, we sat at the dinner talking past dinner, we cooked a smore or two, and we ha...

Once upon a time there was a woman who had a blog. She loved her little blog and dutifully logged on and posted insightful, wonderfully written, post (hmm mmm this is my story quit giggling). Then her life started to get insanely busy. Then her life got even busier. Then her life was just completely out of control and her little blog died. It didn't die but the heart rate of the blog slowed so that only a random beep here and there could be found. Today she finds her life has slowed down and she has time to write on her little blog. However, where does one start? How do you bring a little blog back to full speed? She does not know. If you figured out that the she is actually me and the blog is actually this blog you win the prize. Although, I'm not quite sure what you have won. :) My admiration! My goal... (oh boy writing your goal means you actually have a plan. I do not have a plan so maybe I should just skip the whole, "My goal..." thing)... ...

I found this quote today. "Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom." Viktor Frankl The minute I saw the name Viktor Frankl it took me back to my college philosophy class. Frankl's story is amazing. During World War II he was a prisoner in a concentration camp. He survived the concentration camp and went on to become an expert in psychology. The base of his therapy is Love.  He believed in the power of love and choosing, yes choosing,  to react positively to life's negative moments. He chose to forgive those who made him a prisoner, and he spent his life teaching people that Love is the most powerful healing force.  I guess I just always loved that this man was saying forgive, be kind, let love heal. The above quote just reminded me today that we do have the power to choose our response. We can let life run us over, and we can fill our head...

I am home all alone. I mean there is no one here. No one hiding in their room. No one watching TV in the other room. No one popping in and out. I am alone. I am trying to remember the last time I was all alone. I can't remember! I honestly can not tell you the last time I was alone. I remember that I didn't really care for it too much. I remember the house being too quiet and feeling creepy. Tonight it just sounds blissfully quiet. Crickets chirping quiet. I almost hate to admit that I kind of like this alone thing. A time to let my brain melt a little bit and not be on call. Today was my work evaluation.  SOOOOOO glad that it is over.  I really like my job, and love the place I'm working, but can I tell you I'm racing towards burn out faster than you can say, well... "burnout!" I need spring break!!! NEEED!!! I also need some heat!!! If I can't get heat I need the smell of dirt, the promise of spring, and a few green plants. ...