Grateful for FREEDOM

Happy FOURTH OF JULY!!! LET FREEDOM RING!!!

Let us remember the price that has been paid, and the sacrifices still being made so we can have these FREEDOMS. Let us take up that torch and defend, fight and preserve our FREEDOM.

You know it's a little bit dangerous...

(Roxette... 80's music baby)

Vanity that is... vanity that a group of people can believe, to the core that they know what's better for you than you do. Welcome to the ever so progressive world of soft despotism.

If you're as worried as I am about health care - you should be even more concerned now. Sure there needs to be change ... sure it isn't perfect - but the solution... NEVER is "uh, here, let's hand the reigns over to the government...yee haw."

I recently read this well written article by Paul Rahe, about the problem with Obama's proposed government sponsored heath care reform. I would hope that Americans... the bulk, who are not normally able to see through the hype, emotion and smooth talk - will wake up and fight against the destruction of our individual rights. I highly recommend the article and would hope you forward this on to all your family/friends.

Here are a few quotes from the article:

President Obama responded to a question by acknowledging that his plan aimed to reduce medical costs by aligning "incentives" in such a fashion as to discourage the sick and the dying from undergoing "additional tests" or taking "additional drugs that the evidence shows is not necessarily going to improve care."

Obama's choice of words was, as always, soothing. But anyone familiar with the healthcare debate will immediately recognize what he left unsaid. We all know that, wherever there is socialized medicine, there is rationing. Cutting costs is, in fact, its rationale, and this end is achieved by a refusal on the part of the government to pay for care that the bureaucrats judge uneconomic. Already now, in the semi-socialized system to which we have been made subject, those consigned to HMOs come up against gatekeepers charged with shaving costs by restricting care.

I REFUSE to pick HMO when we pick insurance. I REFUSE. I have seen too many friends on HMOs jump through the same tests to get treatments for the same issues. The amount of wasted time and energy to do this... is ridiculous. BUT it's an HMO so you're stuck following the red-tape. Kaiser is one example of crap health care - we call it "Kaiser, where people go to die". I love having a choice of a PPO so that I make the decisions on health care for me and my family. I have control. It is my life. It's my responsibility, period. Why would anyone want to give up that freedom... that individual right to happiness? Because let's face it - if you're unhealthy and in pain...chances are, you aren't happy.

Defenders of Obama's proposal will reply that I am misrepresenting his proposal. No one, they will say, will be forced to give up the health insurance they have. Technically, of course, this is true. But what President Obama calls the "incentives" will be structured in such a way that employers will no longer have to offer coverage, and to save themselves the expense (which is considerable), they will seize the opportunity to opt out, and then we will have no choice.

Here is where Obama's "incentives" reappear. The government-run insurance program will, for all practical purposes, be a monopsony--the sole purchaser. It will be in a bargaining position enabling it to dictate the price that it will pay, and, of course, it will pay very little. You, as an individual purchaser, will have no leverage at all; and, like those not covered by employer-sponsored insurance plans today, you will have to pay through the nose. Unless you are filthy rich, you may well have to wait your turn for that hip-replacement operation, forego that cataract operation, or do without those expensive tests and procedures. In sum, you will not be in the driver's seat.

"To take from one," Thomas Jefferson wrote, "because it is thought that his own industry and that of his father's has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association--'the guarantee to every one of a free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it.'" It was on this foundation that Abraham Lincoln objected to slavery, and it is on this foundation that one can object to the health care reform proposed by our President. For this proposal is designed to take from those who have earned and to give to those who have not bothered to do so; and, by way of constraining "incentives," it will take from us the right to manage our own lives in a matter most dear to each and every one of us, and it will confer this responsibility on experts empowered to decide whether, given the cost of care, it is of greater value to society that we suffer or are cured, that we live or die.

How I miss the founding fathers. It is sad to me that in this day of runaway progressives - these great men would never have a chance to be elected.

It is easy enough to see why progressive doctrine should be attractive to our masters. Tyrannical ambition is nothing new, and throughout human history it has nearly always presented itself to men in the guise of idealism. We are all inclined to meddle in other people's business; we are all inclined to think that we know better; and higher education tends to inflate our vanity and to make us more inclined to lord it over those who are less well-instructed. Never for a moment does a Barack Obama stop to ask whether depriving us of responsibility for our own well-being is demeaning. He and his supporters know that they know better, and their putative wisdom in this regard constitutes for them an absolute claim to rule. The logic unfolding within the progressive impulse requires that there be a class of Guardians empowered to supervise our lives in every particular, and to an ever-increasing degree this is the reality with which we live.

Let's not just sit and take it in the rear - let's get up and SAY HELL NO!!! You will not destroy the fruits of my labor. You will not dictate how I live and when I die.

Insect Love

So my husband found a little green praying mantis in our yard when he was busy yanking weeds one Saturday. It's a teeny, baby mantis we think. The girls loved holding the baby mantis.






And then... they found a lady bug. I think AGG's a little more of a fan than DD is of all the insects.

The Dragon Scrolls

"There is no charge for awesomeness...or attractiveness."

My girls love Kungfu Panda - and my husband and I can't help but love the lines from the movie.


Lately my oldest - AGG has been wearing a tail she made from a headband and a ribbon. She demands to be called just "tigress". Naturally, my little one DD is running around with a headband around her waist and a ribbon tied to it as well.

My lovely Avant Garde Gal - with her scroll, her teal headband around her waist and a pink and brown ribbon tied to it - for her tail.

My little Dauntless Daughter - who is fighting a stomach flu bug...and cheered up by her own dragon scroll.

AGG had been making a makeshift dragon scroll with the back of her princess folding chair that she naturally destroyed (sorry sis). She used two glow sticks to provide the scroll effect, but it wasn't working that well.

Pooh may be a casualty of Kungfu Panda

The girls like to place the dragon scroll right below the dog's mouth... they come up with this on their own - even the tails... I am not this creative.

So... my crafty husband (who is creative, resourceful and fabulous) came up with truly awesome and attractive dragon scrolls.

What my hubby used to make these scrolls the girls LOVE -- Cardboard from those wire hangers the dry cleaners use, cardboard roll from wrapping paper and paper towels, fabric from a child's canvas chair (princess print), an old thin, baby blanket, wrapping paper (one shiny and one just to wrap the scrolls), aluminum foil, hot glue gun.



He made AGG's first. And then spent a long time last night creating another for DD. Which was so sweet because she was sick with some stomach flu bug and couldn't contain her excitement that she'd have one too. In fact, this morning she woke up before all of us, just to run into her big sister's room to show her the dragon scroll.



They are currently watching Kungfu Panda as I blog this.

My Guy - Happy Daddy's Day!

My husband Phantom, who loves nothing better than to have a nice, soft back scratch, and my daughter Avant Garde Gal (4.5 yrs) had this conversation recently:

P: Will you scratch my back like I scratch yours?

AGG: No.

P: Why?

AGG: Daddy, your back is humongous, like a giant!


AGG was feeling goofy today and this is how she responded to "What do you like about Daddy?"

I like his USA Shirt (hockey jersey from the SLC Olympics US v. Belarus - we won!)
He kisses me
He loves Kalea
Kalea's the best girl
I like the hair that he shaves it (they like it when he has a smooth face)
He flosses his teeth
When he crosses his eyes

These are Dauntless Daughter's responses to the same question. She's 2.5 years.

I like it when he gives me fruit snacks
I like playing games, sleeping
When Daddy separates me (from her sister when they are too rambunctious to sleep together) I like kissing Daddy
Going to the pool


My guy is a guy who if I'm doing the dishes, comes over to help rinse and have me load. He'll also scrub the sink clean if I'm doing laundry.

My guy willingly cleans toilets.

My guy also takes care of our yard, fixes things around the house and deals with negotiating when I don't like it.

My guy loves to create luscious desserts, and enjoys good food.

My guy loves to cuddle with his girls.

My guy tells great stories to our daughters - who listen with rapt attention.

My guy forgives quickly and easily.

My guy works hard.

My guy is a good teacher.

My guy loves to have us all go out and admire the cars he's just finished washing.

My guy knows just how to comfort a daughter who's hurt herself.

My guy indulges the girls when we need to go out.

My guy still, easily turns me on.

My guy still, gets easily turned on by me.

My guy knows how to make us all laugh.

My guy thinks his girls are adorable - and we make him laugh.


My guy gets up and does Karaoke so that I'll do it - checking off something from my life list. (He sang Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" the whole kitchen came out to watch)

My guy is a good Father.

My guy isn't perfect, but neither are we.

My guy is a man.

My guy is sleeping in today - because we love our Daddy.



Happy Father's Day honey... I love you my sweetie weetie, cutie wootie, sexy wexy. You make my heart happy.

Post Update: My guy wanted me to add "CUDDLY WUDDLY" ... because that's his favorite one...and I forgot.

Layers of Insulation

There are certain "hot topics" for me that make my stomach churn. Topics, and attitudes that make my brain go into overdrive, faster than my mouth can form words. Unfortunately when that happens, what I hear in my head never sounds the same way when it comes out of my mouth.

Last year a friend of mine did a play group over the summer with a small group of us. It was fantastic. She planned us to switch homes each week. Each mother was in charge of reading a book to the kids (which I loved), an activity, snack and then play time. She also planned "field trips" too.

Turns out someone in the Relief Society found out - so my friend, who has a difficult time saying no, opened up the field trips to the ward. Which was fine.

This year I thought I'd go ahead and do a play group. My idea was to include friends that I knew from school, neighborhood and even Church. Well, like anything - the RS found out and asked if they could join in. I honestly felt and do feel ambivalent.

I guess I wondered - is it the RS responsibility to organize play dates for mothers? Aren't we supposed to be anxiously engaged in a good cause on our own? Has initiative lost it's savor? I also wondered why other Moms didn't just invite their friends from school etc... and not just friends from Church. I think as a whole - I know it's a generalization - but most are too insular. I think if we want to be a light - we ought to shine it in places where there aren't a multitude of candles already. Just a thought. I know the LDS are fond of missionary work - so why not look at this as an opportunity to share who we are, build bridges of understanding by truly being friends with folks that don't see us every Sunday?

I think it didn't help that on Sunday, during Sunday School I couldn't contain the churning in my stomach. The lesson was about the revelation about the three kingdoms in Heaven. There was a question about... "well, why would the adversary want us to think there's just Heaven or Hell"? (or... in my opinion...he wants us to think there isn't a hell) One of the commenters suggested that the pass/fail option would quickly discourage people. I suggested that perhaps that metric allowed those of us that have the ability to exceed expectations to slack off...and get by - knowing that well... "at least I'm not as bad as....so I don't have to change... I can just stay stagnant".

Then the conversation started veering towards my no-man's land. Where the attitude started feeling like... well I go to the temple all the time - that makes me really, really good. Or because of this metric we are so safe and protected. Or the other people have to deal with this consequence...

That kind of talk just makes my skin crawl. I'm sorry, but just because you serve in the temple - doesn't mean you don't beat your children or rule with unrighteous dominion. I've known plenty who do. It frustrates me because if anything - knowing the gospel shouldn't make us puff up our chests in self-satisfaction. If anything we should be incredibly grateful and feel lucky to know what we know... and then have a dose of warning - because let's face it - the more you know, the more responsiilty and greater consequences we're responsible for. (perdition - probably going to be someone who knows the gospel...and truly seen/known God - probably not someone who doesn't know the gospel... just a thought)

So it's time to wipe the smug smile off our collective faces. I think many LDS folks become too insulated in the culture that they really, truly believe that if you are LDS you are good. If you're not, well - you need to change. And that is sad. With that attitude we are fooling ourselves. We are NO different than anyone else. We might know different things, but that doesn't mean we're better. It doesn't mean there aren't great people who could offer us lessons we would otherwise not have learned. It doesn't mean that the people you see each Sunday aren't ruling their homes in a abhorrent manner.

I guess it seems that some forget that change is not a mere affectation of outward appearances, checking off all the metrics we have - or even, speaking softly like they do in General Conference - change is in our hearts... a place nobody else can see. It's a place you can't flaunt. It's a place that only God knows and understands. Any amount of dressing we want to use to hide what's really going on inside - doesn't matter - because the only one who does matter - God - sees through all that crap.

Then it brings me to the fact that I am a new Beehive advisor in Young Women (please don't say Young Womens - with that 's' it's so grammatically wrong to me). I feel like I have a responsibilty to let those young girls know that being righteous isn't a matter of trying to align ourselves with the thoughts, acts of a prescribed view of piety. That they can be faithful, but still have a personality. That it's okay to be happy, and demonstrate that joy. That it's okay for me to say - I like being intimate with my husband... in fact I like it a lot - and not have people freak out about it. Listen - our kids get enough of one-side of intimacy - we have a greater responsiblity to share the joys and beauty of intimacy in a loving, eternal marriage relationship. If we don't teach them - they will never know.

Now - I compare this to the temple. The temple is sacred. It's also beautiful and peaceful. Am I not going to share the fact that I love it because it's sacred? Of course not. Naturally I don't go into detail about it. But I share how it makes me feel. How grateful I am that I have met the requirements to enter the temple.

Likewise with intimacy - it is a sacred bond. It's beautiful and wonderful. Am I going to share the details? (Well, not unless you're a really good friend(har har).) But of course I'm not going to share the nitty gritty details. However, it's important to let our youth know the truth - that intimacy is always good - in the bounds the Lord has prescribed.

We need to let our youth grow up knowing that being a good LDS member isn't about mincing around acting a certain way. We need to let them know that being LDS allows you to soar the way you want, soar higher. We need to let them know that there are GREAT people within and without the LDS religion. We need to let them know that they don't need to hide in layers of insulation - that they need to, and have a responsibilty to reach out, and let their light of influence radiate with warmth.

The only way our youth can learn that - is if we, as a group start peeling off the insulation, layer-by-layer.

Forgetting the Audience

Tonight my husband Phantom, was trying to reason with my oldest, Avant Garde Gal who is 4.5 years.

She always uses the "I don't think you love me" cry whenever we tell her not to push her sister, stop tearing paper into bits and sprinkling it all over the place, or some other such shenanigan.

P: You will eat your food, all of it. 

AGG: I don't think you love me!

QS: *sigh*

AGG: You don't think I'm beautiful. You don't love me!

P: What you're saying is irrelevant.

AGG: What's irrelevant?

P: Irrelevant means not pertinent.

Speechless...but plenty to write

I love authors. I love authors of great books. I love wondering what goes on in those fascinating minds. I usually email an author before a book group - if I'm in charge of that particular discussion that month.

I have never, ever gotten a response. That is... until yesterday.

I couldn't contain my excitement all day. Not only did the author write back - she was so personable and asked me if I had any questions. I was so thrilled, I spent the rest of the day agonizing over what I should ask.

I should also mention - I sent the email on Wed of this week - the response came the very next day, Thursday. I just sent off 10 questions to await answers.

I have officially turned into a total fangirl. Is that a word? I think most of us that blog have a deep-rooted desire to become real, published authors. I am no different. So when an author I adore acknowledges my existence, it's almost like being blessed by deity...almost.

Needless to say, not only am I fan because I love the book The Last Chinese Chef, and that she writes for Gourmet magazine and knows food...(and I love food) I am a huge fan because she also responded to my simple email plea.

Thank you Nicole Mones. YOU ROCK!

A Family Lives Here

Several weeks ago when I taught a Morningside for Seminary I was lucky to have my friend Brooke watch my girls while they continued to sleep blissfully.

I came home from the Morningside and immediately apologized to her for the state of my home, it wasn't as spic and span as I would've liked, but Brooke stopped me.

A little about my friend Brooke. She is incredibly smart. She is artistic, quirky, funny and she always makes me laugh. She married much later than typical BYU-UT Mormon women do. Her husband is a bit older and so they do not have any children of their own. She is however, a mother to all her nieces, nephews and the people she meets.

When she stopped me from my apologies - she said that she used my bathroom while I was way. As she passed by our laundry room to the bathroom she saw all the big people and little people shoes mixed in a massive, messy, pile. I just about started to apologize again, but she said, "I love it!"

Brooke told me she loved seeing that a family lived in our home. She talked about how when she and her twin sister used to watch kids for their friends, one of her girlfriends said "I am not going to apologize for being a family" in reference to the state of her home (toys, shoes, odds and ends, constant battle with school papers and wrappers, etc.).

I was so touched I could feel the tear ducts start up. I took Brooke's message to heart. After she left, I went and took a picture of our mountainous pile of shoes. I had never, ever looked at my home the way Brooke had. I am so grateful for her perspective - it demonstrates how I need to remember to be grateful, even for the never-ending messes, because - a family lives here.

Buzz, Buzz...

We're back from a quickie trip to the Beehive State.

20 some hours of driving
1 stormy sierra stretch
1 husband who did all the driving
1 UT plates truck carrying a butt-load of bumpers tossing one right into our path
2 girls who were fantastically good on the drive, both ways
1 adorable little nephew - my first nephew and my girls' cousin!
1 fantastic sister
2 mosquito bites requiring benadryl
1 momma who was the grumpy one on the road trip
4 homemade California pizzas for dinner
A bunch of great friends past and present
Lots of pumpkin white chocolate cookies and tea sandwiches
1 delish dinner at Bombay House
1 visit to Veteran's Memorial Pool
1 visit to Thanksgiving Point's Farm Life
1 visit to SLC Temple and Church History Museum
1 visit to SubZero - my sister treated us
1 visit to Artic Circle on the trip home - I had never had Artic Circle my entire BYU experience...not bad (I realized I had never really done the fast-food thing during college - maybe that's why I didn't gain the freshman 15)
1 visit to Sonic - my first ever
2 trips to Macey's... which still cracks me up... the name... Macy's vs Macey's.

...adds up to missing family and friends... but oh, so grateful to fall asleep in our own beds this morning around 5am.

More about our trip when I finish the 4 loads of laundry.

You are my Density

Last week at book group we discussed a book I have loved for a long time, The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde.

It's a very entertaining, lighthearted, quirky book. It's a fantasy world, where the hippest thing is literature, good literature. There's a police force making sure people aren't selling fraudulent first editions, or coming up with fake copies of undiscovered Shakespearean plays. Where there are ardent cult-like members that are physically violent when it comes to debating Shakespeare or Bacon. It's a fascinating world where, you could actually pop into your favorite novel...and experience it...the sights, sounds and smells. There's clever word play, references to other literature... and witty humor. I adore the series.

So imagine my surprise when one of the questions asked during our discussion was about destiny. Do you have a destiny? Do you know what it is? Did you have a moment in time where you recognized what that destiny was?

I love how book group has the ability to start real conversations. That a clever, entertaining novel could encourage a profound discussion. As a side note, I'd love to meet Mr. Fforde. His mind must be a most fascinating one. To come up with such an intricate series of books, keep it all straight and inject it with so many clever treasures... astounds me.

I talked a little about what I thought my destiny is. Mine is to search for, stand for and defend Truth. I've felt that burden, challenge, since college. The other destiny is to learn, and mold myself from people, and experiences I learn from.

For example, my first job out of college I worked at a small boutique PR agency specializing in semiconductor, EDA and foundry clients. One of the women who worked there went on maternity leave and returned one day with her adorable baby girl. I was thrilled. I couldn't wait to talk to her to hear all about her lovely life.

So she stunned me when I asked "how are you doing?" and she honestly answered "I don't know who I am without my job."

I made a conscious decision then and there at 21 that I needed to know who I was outside of a job, outside of one day becoming a wife, mother...etc... I needed to know who I was as a woman, so that I never needed something or someone to know who I was. I wanted to make sure I didn't need any one talent, interest or image to feel like I was something/someone. That is a lesson I am grateful to have learned.

I also learned, living in a ward when my hubby and I were first married, that I wanted to do things I wanted to do, before having kids. I often heard these young moms who didn't complete college, sitting at home with a handful of kids complaining about being a mom. Complaining that their husband was on a business trip, eating out, while she was stuck with cereal and bathing four children. I didn't want to be that. I guess that's one reason I was adamant during college/dating to let people know I was getting my degree before I married. I was not going to be left without one. I was never in college to gain an MRS degree...I wanted a BA baby.

I also learned I didn't want to be that Mom... the one that had a degree, perhaps an advanced one, and then a high-powered career who stopped doing that to raise children, begrudgingly. A woman who felt she was above diapering, and wearing a Mom uniform. A woman who felt mothering was beneath her... one craving for that outside attention. I didn't want to be that, and felt any children that came to my home deserved better.

So I was grateful I had a career... it worked for me, my personality. Today, I have no desire whatsoever to leave my kids to chill at a job if we can work it so I don't need a job. I don't want, nor need, that self-gratification. I know how fleeting and unsatisfying the "what have you done for me lately" career world truly is.

I've learned that just because I'm also a mother doesn't mean my learning ends. It means I have a greater responsibility to thirst for knowledge. It means I need to be interested in the world around me. It means that because I am interested, my girls will be as well. I have a responsibility as a mother to demonstrate to my daughters how to search for, stand for and defend truth, I can't do that if I don't read, study and discuss.

I know there have been moments (like right after giving birth) when I had no interest whatsoever to pick up a book, but that was a moment, a season. Now that I have some time, I find I can't get enough. I love to learn. I love to learn new things, new perspectives, and find evidence to support thoughts I've always held.

I think as women we have so much potential and power. I guess... I am pretty firm in knowing who I am, what my destinies are and ... I like moving toward something, improving constantly. What is your destiny?

Racy Politics

I don't buy it. I never buy it. I refuse to buy it.

I don't buy the race card.

If you try to sell me on it, I'd more than likely shred it to bits, pulverize it and then run it over a few times with a bulldozer. Clear?

I don't like the race card, nor do I try to use it myself. In fact, I think I work overtime to prevent that race card from ever sticking to me.

So with this hubbub of the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor (I will admit it is fun to say her name... nice tasting last name) I am seething.

If you are not familiar with me, you'll know quickly that I despise any kind of favoring based on arbitrary conditions such as race or sex... or length of toes, or belly-button lint. It's ridiculous.

So when I read comments of Sotomajor's in the Washing Times article here, that says this:

In 2002, in a speech in California, Judge Sotomayor said race or sex does affect a judge's rulings, and said because of that, a minority woman is a better decider than a white man: "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

Three years later, at a panel discussion at Duke Law School, she seemed to endorse judicial activism on the appeals courts, telling students considering clerkships: "Court of Appeals is where policy is made. And I know - I know this is on tape, and I should never say that because we don't make law. I know."

... um... I say THROW HER OUT. We do NOT need this kind of a person in the Supreme Court. The purpose of a court is to INTERPRET, NOT make laws. The purpose of a JUSTICE is to be BLIND. Sotomayor fulfills NONE of these requirements. I don't care how many opinions she's written, how many cases she's overseen - it doesn't matter ... because she doesn't deserve to be a judge.

If anything, it is further proof that picking people on arbitrary requirements such as race and sex is a FAILURE.

In other words... I am a BETTER judge than any white man - because... wait for it... I AM AN ASIAN WOMAN. There... that's it... I have better judgment. Really? Are we stupid or something?

Here's what I know. I am an American. I am unwilling to support someone wholly unqualified to uphold the constitution, and interpret laws, even if that means that kids can look at a minority, female and say, "whoo hoo, maybe I could be that one day." Running a government isn't a feel-good, self-esteem deal. It's about REAL issues, not touchy-feely, kumbaya crap. Have people lost their marbles? There are more important things than some kid's self-esteem. It's not the government's job to do that... I'll give you a hint... it's the PARENT'S job.

UGH... I feel like I'm screaming until I'm blue in the face. I have never, ever, thought Affirmative Action in any sense is smart. It's dumbing things down, it's creating a false layer of success - it's rewarding how many nipples someone has, versus that grey matter between their ears. I mean, c'mon! All this Affirmative Action lunacy has created a class of people who think reverse discrimination is justice. Am I the only one noticing that the inmates of the Asylum are running loose?

Anytime I hear Obama and his crew talking about someones life experience ...meaning their race... and then immediately telling people not to talk about race... I know they are selling me on a rotten bill of goods. Politics never felt so racy when politicians act more greasy than car salesmen.

Mother Earth

My daughter AGG, who is four saw this picture and said "That's Wall-E's thing!!!"

Another thing from Yoga class I remembered. The instructor was guiding us through a few poses, one right after the other. She wanted us to ground ourselves into the earth. Which, I'll be honest, always makes me laugh a little on the inside, because we're on the second floor of the gym. Yes, I also hang out in the back of the class giggling when I fall over, because it's funny.

She started talking about grounding into the earth, being grateful for the earth, for the food that sustains us, grown in the earth. I kept thinking, "thank you mother earth".

Driving home I thought of how nurturing motherhood is. How we provide the nutrients (good food, healthy living, education, etc) for our children. I thought about God. I thought about our Heavenly Mother. I know we don't speak about Her, she is so special. I started to wonder, is how we treat the bounty of the earth reflective of how we would treat our Heavenly Mother?

I'm not sure I can find the right words for what I was feeling as I drove home, but I almost felt like, we weren't worthy to know more about her, because we haven't been doing a great job of appreciating, and taking care of what we have here from the earth.

I don't know. But I do know I want to think more consciously of where my food comes from, how I treat the beautiful, rich earth, and how I can mother my children to appreciate it too.