Define Gratitude

Gratitude:

1. A feeling of thankfulness and appreciation

Ingratitude:

1. A lack of gratitude

Every time I think of the word "Gratitude" I think of "Attitude". If you live each day having a positive attitude you tend to have more gratitude for the basic things in life that influence you to learn to love life. If you have a negative attitude, it's easier to forget daily blessings & simple joys. Then fall into the sad abyss of "poor me" & "my life is miserable". And really, you're not helping yourself or others with that attitude. Like happiness, we must choose to be happy for ourselves. People, money, etc. cannot make or buy you happiness. Just like gratitude. We must exercise gratitude daily and it will make our spirits more humble. Every experience and trial in our lives can affect our attitude. And every trial can teach us there is always something to be grateful for.


I'm grateful to be married to my amazing husband Taylor, who works so hard to provide for our family & so I can stay home to raise our daughter. And I'm so grateful to him for being patient with me and teaching me patience every day.

I'm so grateful to be a mother. It is my most important role and occupation in life. I'm loving every second of it. I'm grateful to wake up to her beautiful smile every morning.

Ode to the Vicious Scale

.Ever since they gave me the "okay" to start working out again after my c-section, I've been working out 4-6 days a week the past 5 months. I've been eating small portions, eating lots of veggies and fruits, drinking and eating protein, high fiber foods (splurging once in a while on fat-free frozen yogurt or ice cream). I've been sooo impatient with losing weight. I'm just not going to be hard on myself anymore. The water weight from post-baby is gone. But geez does your body change post-baby! But pregnancy wasn't all to blame for all the weight! Add stress, moodswings, hormones and non-consistent excercise mixed together prior to pregnancy.

The pressure of society and media for women to constantly be skinny at all times is ridiculous. Women bear children, have to deal with periods, menopause, birth control and the list goes on. We don't need to be so hard on ourselves. God created our amazing bodies to create human beings! Women should love their body, even after all the havoc they must go through. I love working out and challenging myself. But as we know women struggle with losing the weight as fast as men do, which is frustrating. So as I stay focused and live actively, taking care of myself the best I can is all that matters. I love my body. I'm grateful for all the things I can do and I am so blessed to have given birth and survived!

Anyway, I've been bouncing back and forth from what the weight scale says or how my jeans are fitting, anxious for the results of my hard work. Months after working out I realized my weight scale has been brain-dead! It's been off all along! So much for yelling at it! But do know, I've never been the obsessive type to weigh almost every single day (until post-preggo, ugh!) and ask, "What dost thou say today, Oh Holy Scale?" And as we hear from many fitness experts, you don't need to worry as much about what the scale says, then as to what your fat measurements are.

So, My Conclusion, Dear Weight Scale:

1. i will not revolve my life around you
2. you are so
   o v e r r a t e d!
3. i will smash you to pieces!
4. you suck.
5. to HELL with you!

Therefore embrace your own renaissance (type) beauty.

Real beauty = No Airbrushing

Curves are better than no curves.

The End.

My Brothers Wedding!

Mr. and Mrs. Gerrit D. Millet

My brother Gerrit married his love Shawntae on November 7th. They are such a sweet pair. I'm so excited for them both. Shawntae is great for Gerrit and vice versa. They make each other happy and be their best self. Shawntae was so cute as she was being sealed! She was anxious, nervous and thrilled that this day has come! I'm so happy they are sealed together for time and all eternity. They have made such an important choice in life. The Lord will bless them as they have married in the Holy Temple and are making another step toward becoming like our Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ.

As I listened to the lovely sealing, I reflected on my own wedding day and I will never forget the joy I had being sealed to my dear husband. We are so blessed to be sealed together. Growing up as a youth, I strived to always remember what the many Fireside speakers would emphasize: that WHO you marry and WHERE you marry will be the MOST important decision you will EVER make. And it is very true. Once you marry, every decision you make will affect yourself, spouse, family and future family. The consequences of our choices can lead to different trials, which is why it is so important to focus your life on the example of Jesus Christ. To cultivate it and mold it into your individual self. I know the Lord designed marriage so that as spouses see each others strengths, we can use them to help overcome our weaknesses. Thus by focusing on Christ-like attributes, we can see that without our spouse we wouldn't have been able to recognize some of our weaknesses. And by being good examples to each other in the areas we falter...we can conquer them. Eternal marriage is essential to God's plan of Happiness. But if we don't strive to be true to our covenants, we won't learn why it is essential.

Lovin' the shoes! white with teal polka dots! (her wedding colors were teal, black and white)

Gerrit has and always will be one of my best friends. He is the best brother. We've been there for each other a lot. And we had so much fun together when we were both single. I'm so happy for him and wish him a blissful marriage.

Me and my love

I love kissing pictures

The look of being in Love.

A custom made cake topper that looks like both of them. Gerrit really does play guitar and Shawntae loves to sing!

Keira gettin' some love~

The reception is finally over and Gerrit ends it with some good ol' Martinelli's Sparkling Cider!

They're just here for the dessert...lol!

Dancing with my darlin'