Day 4: Your Views on Religion

Day 4: Your Views on Religion

Wow.  Isn't this a touchy subject!  So the following are my opinions only.  Don't judge.

I'm a baptized Mormon.  I've also periodically tried to be an active, participating, tithe paying member of the LDS church and for right now at this point in my life I have decided it just isn't for me.  I'm a spiritual person, I believe in God, but I don't necessarily believe he/she is Mormon, or Catholic, or even Baptist or Buddhist.  I believe in a higher power, but I'm just not sure what that is yet.

I have my issues with the LDS church, not so much the religion itself but with some of the people.  I've never been someplace where I have felt more unwelcome in my life. Someplace where I felt worse when I left than I did when I got there.  And made to feel that way by people who try to pride themselves on their giving and welcoming nature.  These people welcomed Cody, and Jon too.  But the women?  Some of the most judgemental people I have ever met in my life.  I understand this to be a wide-spread not just a singular problem within the church.  On the other side of that I can't stand the mentality of some people in this state that all things related to the LDS church as bad or evil.  The church does so much for so many, and would help even those people that hate if they ever needed it. They create beautiful churches and amazing temples to provide their members with wonderful places to worship.  They do great things for their youth, especially for the boys, and I think they mean well, I just think things start to go wrong when your people, specifically your people in charge, start interpreting and enforcing things based on their own moral beliefs and feelings instead of by the nature in which they were intended.

My son has decided he wants to go on a Mission. He decided this on his own, no influence from us.  In actuality we probably have encouraged him against it..strongly.  But he won't be swayed.  Never before have I seen a child who willingly gets up and goes to church, alone.  He sits alone, sometimes a stray family will take him in, but for the most part in his new church he is a row of 1.  He lives what he believes and is very pure in what he wants.  And at the end of the day what I say to him, is the same I say to everyone else about him, we have supported Cody in everything he has ever wanted to do up until now, and we will continue to support him if he decides to go on a mission.  He has the kind of faith in his religion that I've rarely if ever seen before. While most people I talk to have to beg, drag or coerce their children his age into going to church, I have my guilt to face about sending him alone.

Are other religions any better??  Maybe.  In all honesty I've never really looked into any of them.  Never had much interest in religion other than my few previous bad experiences.  I believe in a God that is loving and kind, a God that never gives you more than you are strong enough to handle.  A God that would never keep me from my family or friends in any sort of an 'After Life' (if there is one) because I didn't pay enough money to his designated church while on Earth, or because I didn't jump through all the necessary hoops to go through his temple, hoops that, in my opinion, seem to change based on each person, and their ability to pay, and/or in most cases their ability to lie their way in. The God I believe in would welcome everyone, regardless of who they are and what they have done in life.

But that's just my opinion.

Day 3: Your Top 5 Pet Peeves

Day 3: Your Top 5 Pet Peeves

1.  I don't know why but the sound of someone clipping their fingernails sends me over the edge!!!  I hate the little clicking sound over and over again.  I don't seem to mind it when I do it but hearing Jon or the kids is really annoying.  So much so that Jon now avoids even doing it when I am around.  However, the people at work seem to have picked it up and have started doing it while sitting outside my office door.  You would think they have 45 fingers each hand for how long it takes them to get it done!

2. People who don't answer their phone or text you back when you know they carry their phone in their hands or their pockets like the world will end if they can't check it every second. Ok, I get it, you're busy.  I send you a text or call you while you are in the middle of something, you can't answer right away fine..oh but wait..did you just update your Facebook status from your phone?  Clearly I called you or text you for a reason..would a reply have killed you??

3. People who chew with their mouths open.  Ewww.

4. Selfish people. It doesnt kill you to go out of your way for people. And when someone goes out of their way for you..say thank you!!  Give back more than you take, one small gesture can mean the world to someone else. 

5. Traffic!  My commute makes me cranky.  45 minutes to work and easily an hour to get home.  And that is with minimal problems.  Add snow or rain or an accident and it could be 6:30pm before I get home.  I spend almost 2 hours a day in my car on the road.  Time away from my family.  Time I'd rather spend sleeping!  :)

Day 2: Where You'd Like to Be in 10 Years.

Day 2: Where You'd Like to Be in 10 Years.

The first thing that came to my mind for this topic was Healthy!  I don't want to be sitting around thinking I really need to do something to fix where I'm at.  I don't want to still be taking 8 pills a day.  I don't want to get really sick once a month and not be able to bounce back.  And I really don't want to worry about living to see my kids get married and have babies of their own!  So I'm hoping in 10 years I'm at a place that I can look back to today and say to myself.  "I'm so glad you turned things around."

In 10 years I hope to be financially secure.  I'd like to have our debt seriously under control.  I want to feel comfortable that we are on the right track to retirement and not worry about every dollar we spend.

I'd like to be happy in my job.  Whatever that job may be.  Even if it is the same job I am in now I want to enjoy my time at work more than I dread it.

I hope my kids are happy, healthy, secure, successful adults.  They will be 26 and 22 by then.  That's crazy!  I would like to hope that I have raised them and given them what they need to be all of these things. 

Since my kids will be adults, I would like to have some hobbies and projects of my own, things not directly related to what my kids are involved in.  Things just for me.

I want to be able to look back on my life to that point, in 10 years that will 44 years old to be exact, and have more fond memories than regrets.  Count more good times than bad.  And be surrounded with more friends made than lost.

Hope to meet you all there when I get there.

Day 1: Your Current Relationship

Having not blogged for over a year I was excited to find this challenge on a friends's blog and hope to use it as a way to get back into things.  So here goes..

Day 1:  Your Current Relationship



Homecoming 1992



Jon and I started "dating" in 9th grade.  He sat behind me in our journalism class all year and I'll be honest, I didn't really pay him very much attention, he was pretty quiet back then and I wasn't.. One day I was at the mall with my Mom, next to Mrs. Fields to be exact, when Jon walked past and said Hi.  I said Hi back and thought nothing of it until my Mom said, "Why can't you like a boy like that??"  I'm assuming she said that as up to that point I had always liked the boys no parents would ever want you to bring home.  I just rolled my eyes and thought nothing more of it, because at 14 who likes any boy your parents like?
But it must have stuck in my head, because after that I noticed him more and more, and talked to him a little more, and then called him a few times.  (No texting back then!)  We went to our 9th grade promotion together a few weeks later and after that I was hooked! To this day my Mom says she picked her own Son-In-Law.  I'm not sure if she considers that to be a good or a bad thing??

We were 17 and 18 in 1995, the year we graduated, got married and had Cody.  What a scary time that all was and while we were so young and so naive then, I think we have come a long way since. 

We have had some really bad years, and some pretty great ones.  And now I think we have finally settled in a pretty good place.  We respect our differences and capitalize on the things we have in common. And most days we end up on middle ground.  We definitely spend less time fighting and more time talking than we ever have in our lives.  I think we have finally grown up!




My two loves! 

We live in a beautiful home and the bills are paid, and we have good jobs and I think we have it a lot better than most do these days.  We are definitely blessed with two really great kids that keep us busy and going all the time.  Something we wouldn't have any other way.



My favorite Coach!



Cheering with Kelz!



So many couples that get married and have babies so young don't seem to make it, and to be honest there were years (and still times) that I wonder if we will.  But I count myself lucky to say that I am still married to the boy I met at 14.  And so lucky to still be in love with the man he is now 17 years later.  The kids will be gone soon enough, something we talk about more and more, and I don't know where we will be after that.  I always say that we had them when we were young and broke, so that when they are gone we will still be young and have the time and money to enjoy being just us! 



My other half.  Not necessarily my best!  :)



My favorite people on Earth!

So there you have it.  Not so bad for my first time back after quite the hiatus.

See ya soon for Day 2!

30 Day Blog Challenge

I think I might steal this from one of my favorite bloggers and start tomorrow.  We'll see what happens!  I'm ready to make an entrance back into the blogging world.

Tennis, anyone?

We have been looking for something to for Kelz to do for a while now so last week she started tennis lessons. I know nothing about tennis but it does look like fun and so far she seems to be enjoying it. She has lessons twice a week but unfortunately they are at 4:30, making it really hot for her and making it so I have to race home from work to get there. Her trainer is great with the kids and has a lot of patience.. There is another Kellie in the class so Kelz is referred to as the "New Kellie".. I'm not so sure how she feels about that. Her dad made her day when he told her that maybe she will the the star in the family and Cody will just be known as 'that famous tennis star Kellie Elmen's older brother'. Gotta love sibling rivalry.

Her Trainer Jason

Kelz first lesson

Playing Doubles

Keep it up Kelz! You're doing great!

Kelz turns 11!

On April 30th, our baby girl turned 11 years old. Not quite the baby these days, Jon and I have realized, but I think the name is going to stick for a while longer.. If not forever. I guess that happens when you are the youngest.

So in honor of her birthday, I thought I would post 11 things about Kellie that I love, or that you may not know.

1. Kellie comes across shy on the outside, but at home she definitely speaks her mind. She has a sarcastic wit and is quick with a comeback, and is the most stubborn thing I know. I have no idea where she gets this from. She keeps us on our toes, and makes us laugh like crazy, although she does not like to be laughed at! She is smarter than you give her credit for. As the youngest we tend to make excuses for her, and she uses that to her advantage! She absorbs everything going on around her and retains it for later use. Kellie remembers everything she hears, and she defintiely likes to be in the know. Do not leave her out, or you will pay!

2. She is a great friend. Kellie will play with anyone, and does. She has a sweet nature and she loves to share it with others. It's a little harder for her to make friends, but once she does, they are friends for life. She is forgiving, patient, kind and friendly to everyone.

3. Secretly, and she will never admit it out loud, she loves her brother. They fight, they argue, they make me want to pull my hair out, but the moments that they get along are the very best in the world for me. Kelz, I truely hope when you two grow up that you become great friends.

4. Kellie loves babies! No longer the only granddaughter, Kellie is so excited to share that role with her cousin Baylee. She has waited months for this baby to come and she counted the days when it got close. Kellie will drop everything to see her for even a few minutes. Kellie has loved baby dolls since she was tiny. She had millions of them, and has practiced being the little mother for years. Sometimes I wish she had one of her own, but since that is not in the cards for us.. she is lucky to have aunts and an uncle willing to share.

5. Kellie is an animal lover. Big and small, furry and not.. Kellie loves her four legged friends. She is allergic to cats, and probably dogs too if I had to guess but that doesn't stop her from loving on them as much as she can.. Even if it means she will sneeze for the next 4 hours.

6. Kellie is a junk food junkie! She loves chocolate, and anything sweet. Fruits and Veggies, not so much... :) She learned to make chocolate chip cookies when she was 3 years old, which pretty much says it all!

7. Kellie is in the 5th grade, soon to be 6th. I have no idea where the time goes. She has an awesome teacher that pushes her to not be lazy and get things done. Kellie has been on the student council at school for the past 2 years, and wants to be an SBO just like Cody when she is older. A career in government would definitely suit her.

8. Kellie is an artist. (This I really have no idea where she got.) She loves to draw pictures, make cards, design clothing and color. Give her some paints, crayons and paper and she will be happy for days. Don't dare to throw any of her artwork away, however, or she will not be pleased. You must keep everything!

9. Kellie has been a cheerleader for Bingham Little League cheer for 5 years. She does a great job and has a ton of Miners spirit. She loves to learn new cheers, and is always willing to help the younger girls learn them too. She never says no, and always does what she is asked at practice, something she rarely does at home! :)

10. She is a Daddy's girl. Or maybe Daddy is a Kellie's boy. She has him wrapped around her little finger. When her big blue eyes tear up and she asks him for something, he can never say no. He hates that she is growing up, almost as much as she does. I think they would both be happy if she stayed a little girl forever.

11. Kellie loves to be outside. She is always on her bike, her scooter, or jumping on the trampoline. She loves to be with her friends but will even go out riding the streets up and down by herself. In the summer she loves to swim, but she doesn't like just sitting outside.. She melts in the sun!

And number 12.. my one to grow on. Kellie, I love you for everything that makes you, you! Some days it's just like looking in a mirror, kid! You are such a special part of our family. You amaze me. You are so beautiful, and smart, and determined.. and fierce! As you get older I know that nothing will ever be able to stop you! I hope when you grow up that we become great friends.. (because I know that for the next few years we won't be!) Stay close, follow the great example your brother sets, work hard and the world will be yours for the taking.

Love you Baby Girl!!