All About the Argyles

From Hilary's blog, October 2010 When life gives you lemons   (Say it loud and proud…)   MAKE LEMONADE!!   (Or, even better, make strawberry lemonade. That stuff is liquid gold.)   Today’s post is about problem solving. I have a good friend, Emily Freeman, who is a natural problem solver. She solves her problems, her family’s problems, the neighborhood’s problems and thankfully, many times she has helped me solve my problems. She cares, really cares, when you tell her about a dilema – and then her mind goes to work. My mind, on the other hand just feels bad for the person. I don’t naturally think of things that would help. I mean I do, but I don’t. It isn’t an involuntary response – I have to tell my brain to start thinking of solutions, suggestions and ideas.   I was flying home from Canada one Sunday morning several years ago. I was traveling with a really amazing group of people including Wendy Watson Nelson, Elder Nelson’s wife. We were sitting

I read this book about 10 years ago and it changed my life.  Really.   At the time I was a young mom trying to take care of little ones and keep a tidy house.  I know, I know.  IMPOSSIBLE.  But this book helped me atleast keep it under control.  I still use it to this day.   The idea behind this book is to break your home up into ZONES.  Each week you spend a few minutes a day deep cleaning in the ZONE for the week.      My Zones are broken up like this: Zone 1:  Formal living and dining rooms, laundry room Zone 2:  Kid's rooms Zone 3:  Family Room/ Media Room/ office bathroom Zone 4:  Kitchen Zone 5: Game room, my office, upstairs bath, hobby closet Zone 6: Master bedroom and bathroom   This week I am working in Zone 4 (kitchen).  The list looks like this. Zone 4: Kitchen Declutter, 27 fling boogie (this is a term she coined for throwing out 27 things you dont need in the area) Empty the dishwasher Wipe counters Trash o

Sometimes I am absolutely amazed by the human spirit and what it can do.  Yesterday, I listened to a podcast about an amazing man yesterday while I went on my walk.  His name is Dr. Dale Hull.  He was an OB/GYN with a thriving practice.  One day he came home and decided to go out in his back yard and jump on the trampoline.  He attempted a back flip and landed on his neck.  He knew immediately that he had a significant spinal injury.  He was suddenly no longer just a father of 4, a husband, and successful Dr - he was a quadrapalegic.  They initially told him that he would never walk.  The picture above is of him two years later carrying the olympic torch and handing it off to Karl Malone.  He shares a pretty amazing testimony of how his faith in Jesus Christ provided perspective and gave him hope in his darkest days.  Its totally worth a listen if you need some inspiration to do something hard or stop feeling sorry for yourself.   Here is the podcast:  http://www.mormonchannel

A BYU student once came to me and asked if we could talk. I said, “Of course. How can I help you?” She said, “I just don’t get grace.” I responded, “What is it that you don’t understand?” She said, “I know I need to do my best and then Jesus does the rest, but I can’t even do my best.” She then went on to tell me all the things she should be doing because she’s a Mormon that she wasn’t doing. She continued, “I know that I have to do my part and then Jesus makes up the difference and fills the gap that stands between my part and perfection. But who fills the gap that stands between where I am now and my part?” She then went on to tell me all the things that she shouldn’t be doing because she’s a Mormon, but she was doing them anyway. Finally I said,“ Jesus doesn’t make up the difference. Jesus makes all the difference. Grace is not about filling gaps. It is about filling us.” Seeing that she was still confused, I took a piece of paper and drew two dots—one at th

A wise old Chinese gentleman lived on the troubled Mongolian border. One day his favorite horse, a beautiful white mare, jumped the fence and was seized on the other side by the enemy. His friends came to comfort him. "We're so sorry about your horse," they said. "That's bad news." " How do you know it's bad news?" he asked. "It might be good news." A week later the man looked out his window to see his mare returning at breakneck speed, and alongside her was a beautiful stallion. He put both horses into the enclosure, and his friends came to admire the new addition. "What a beautiful horse," they said. "That's good news." "How do you know it's good news?" replied the man. "It might be bad news." The next day the man's only son decided to try riding the stallion. It threw him, and he landed painfully, breaking his leg. The friends made another visit, all of them sympat

Ok.  I am going to be the first to admit it.    I am NOT a very patient person.   My hubby is.  I have some offspring that are products of part of my gene pool that are.  But I am probably one of the most IMPATIENT people I know.  I don't like that about myself.  I have wanted to change it for some time.   Case in point.  Brent and I have set a significant financial goal in 2013.  We have been working toward it for about six months.  It has been coming to us as slow as a turtle's pace.  in fact some months we have made absolutely no progress at all.  This made me very unhappy because, as I stated earlier, I am not a patient person.   Then, last week :   part of our fence blew down (@ $300.00)   I hit a huge pothole and took out a strut in my car (or so he tells me) (@$ 350.00)   I discovered that I owe $150 dollars that I didn't know about (@150.00)   and - to put a cherry on top of it all- Obama and Congress has decided we need to

I have been thinking alot lately about Eagle Scouts.  Why?  Well we have a LIFE scout (the rank just before Eagle) here at our house that is CRAWLING ACROSS THE FINISH LINE ON HIS HANDS AND KNEES as he slooooowllly finishes up those last few merit badges he needs and begins the arduous process of his eagle project.  He is basically doing it for me. In fact, it was his Christmas present to me.  And his Eagle scout dad.  The afore mentioned life scout doesn't really care if he achieves that rank or not.  He would love the nagging to stop, however.   We were watching APOLLO 13 over the Christmas break as a family.  There is a scene in that movie where Neil Armstrong asks Jim Lovell's (the Tom Hanks character) mother if Jim ever earned his Eagle Scout.  She proudly responds that he did.    That got me thinking.  So I did a little research on the ole' world wide web.  Did you know that of the 312 pilots and scientists selected as astronauts since 1959, 207 of them h

Let's face it.  Teenagers get a bad wrap sometimes.  I remember being a young mom and hearing older parents saying to me: "just you wait...wait til their teenagers."  I dunno.  Maybe my time is coming but I think so far I've decided these two are keepers.   Brent was out of town last night.  I took a fitness class at the gym yesterday morning that kicked my rear and in the process, I pulled a muscle in my neck. By the time the kids got home from school, I had a doozy of a headache and my neck was KILLING me.  When Jensen and Tanner came home they found me in my bedroom, laying down, with a heating pad on my neck. When I told them what had happened, Jensen offered to make dinner.  I said, "no, that's ok - I have to go get Kiki from rehearsal at the school in a little bit".  Tanner said, "I can pick kiki up".  So Jensen made delicious tacos last night, Tanner pulled carpool duty, they delegated sandwich making (for school the nex

Except our break REALLY WAS Joyful! We spent lotsa time with this new addition to our extended family, My sister Lindsey's new little guy.  Henry James Golden (his nickname is Hank and I like to call him Hanky Panky.)  The girls couldn't get enough of him. We kidnapped this girl for her 12th birthday and took her to Cottin Gin for Breakfast.   We made lotsa yummy treats for Brady's class at school, an annual cookie exchange, and other people that we love.     On the road to Saginaw on Christmas Eve to see Memomie. grabbed this picture with her with all the GREAT grandkids after we took her to lunch.  Man I love this lady!  I have learned so much from her and need to blog about that someday. We opened our fair share of Christmas gifts on the big day and then headed over to My Uncle Greg and Aunt Sharon's house for dinner and more presents.       Brady really loved the cowboy swetshirt that my mom gave him.    

I am one of the few that really believes in the power of resolutions.  I can't remember the last time I didn't make a New Year's resolution.  I usually am pretty successful at gettin 'er done too.  Not always.  But usually. This year I am resolving a few things.    I have picked a word that I am adapting as my "mantra" for the year to help me remember.  It is self- LESS   What this means to me is that I want to do more for others and focus on my self less.  Whether that is my hubby or children or the new family in the ward that doesn't know anyone or a total stranger.  Every day I hope to put less focus on self and more on those around me.  I plan to do this by service, prayer, giving in to my own wants, sacrifices of time and money, and kindness.   I also resolve to cook more .  I did this one about ten years ago.  It was a big sacrifice for me because i loathe cooking.  Those of you who know me, know how much I hate it.  It is just hea