Monday, April 6, 2015

A Power-Packed, Fun-Filled Weekend

I had a wonderful Easter weekend. For starters, I attended (via a television cable broadcast) my church's twice yearly world-wide conference. I watched four two-hour sessions power packed with amazing inspiration and guidance from church leaders. Over the next six months, I plan to revisit the three dozen talks given in those conference sessions (including those given in two additional sessions - Priesthood and Relief Society). But, this week, I plan on super-focusing on two talks that stood out in particular - the talk on the prodigal son given by Brent H. Neilson, and the talk about strengthening our faith in Jesus Christ by Rosemary M. Wixom (watch or listen to those Sunday morning talks here). I have much to learn from both talks. I am so grateful for spiritual feasts like the one my family participated in this weekend.

I am also grateful for the other memories I made with my family over the last few days - hosting our favorite Danish exchange student for the weekend (she stays with us when her host family is out of town), celebrating my daughter's 16th birthday, watching my 12-year-old son play soccer, and having the missionaries over for dinner and an Easter devotional (the elders and the sisters). The weekend was busy, that's for sure, but it was also refreshing and fun. I am truly grateful for weekends that allow me to really focus on the things that matter most - Family and Faith. Have a great week!

Thursday, January 1, 2015

2015: Year of the Lush Mango!

Happy New Year!

2014 was a great year! It was also a very challenging year at times. Even so, I have much to be grateful for in the past year. Here is a partial list:

A husband who is there for me, no matter what (and this past year, that included my terrible health scare and 4-day hospital stay); my first daughter's finding her call to be the most amazing massage therapist you can imagine; my second daughter's opportunity serve a church mission in Finland during all of 2014, sharing her faith in Jesus Christ and the blessings that come from living His Gospel; my third daughter's call to serve a mission in Africa, starting next week?????!!!!! (she goes to Ghana for missionary training and then head to Madagascar); my fourth daughter's growing leadership skills and talents at school and in the larger community; my first and only son's love of learning about everything from Einstein's Theory of Relativity to how to make the best smoothie. Yes, I am very thankful for my family!  

So while 2014 was an amazing year, I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what 2015 brings. And I'm ready to do my part to make it the best year yet, which in my case, involves the creation of a new blog, born just today. It is called www.lushmango.com and I created it as a gathering place for women (and men) who want to eat to nourish, energize, thrive and lose weight if desired. I hope you'll stop by for a visit. Together, we can make this the best year yet! Here's to a Happy and Prosperous New Year. Happy 2015!

Love and Blessings,

Debra