Lovingkindness- yes, it's one word.

"Be kind. Everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." When I first heard this profound statement by Marjorie Pay Hinckley, it resonated within me. I hurried and scribbled it down on some scrap paper with a broken crayon I managed to find down in the depths of my purse/diaper bag- whatever you want to call it. The statement was too significant not to remember, and since that moment, it has become a motto for my life.

Being born and raised in a middle-class suburb of Vancouver, Washington was exceptionally ordinary. I attended public school, made good friends, was obedient, and then began the first leg of my college journey at BYU-Idaho.

My average life quickly changed in June of 2006. I got married. I began my first "hard battle" of halting my education, running off with my "newly degreed" husband, and starting our idealistic newlywed life in Las Vegas. But after our first lay-off, first baby, and a never-ending pile of bills, I realized we were headed for a war.

My dear husband has been laid off seven times. Right when life started going great, we got "let go," a child got sick, our insurance company denied another claim, or we needed to replace our timing belt. I've cried a lot. I pitifully wondered what I was doing wrong. Then, one day, as I was contemplating our lack of income, I realized that everyone around me was going through something even harder. I have friends who are dealing with foreclosure, cancer, death, depression, an inability to get pregnant, or divorce. I then taped my scrap paper quote to my bathroom mirror and sincerely began serving others who were facing tremendous challenges of their own. The battles I fight are unrelenting, but my perspective has changed. We are all in this together, and I've found lovingkindess to be essential for survival.

Dustin

No, it's not his Birthday. Nor is it any of our many anniversaries! My New Years Resolution is to be more appreciate and more loving towards Dustin.

You could say I got lucky. It could have been a huge mistake- after all, we were engaged after a record-short courting period. What you may not understand is that despite how fast everything went, it was the easiest decision of my life and I've never second-guessed spending the rest of my life with him.

So, there you have it. Instead of making a resolution to lose weight, eat healthier, watch less TV, or some other unrealistic goal that I'm sure to fail at by March- I've decided to be nicer and more appreciative of my husband.

Be kind

"Be Kind. Everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."
-Marjorie Pay Hinckley

Our Amazing Photographer

A couple weeks ago we had our family pictures taken. Our photographer, Eric Harker out of Salt Lake City (ericharker.com), happened to be in town and did a very professional job. He understood my complicated vision of what I wanted these pictures to look like and captured them perfectly. I loved the indoor lighting, the formal clothes, and the classy and elegant location. Of course, we have a million pictures to choose from, but these are 5 I really liked out of 230. I could have posted 20 more. Enjoy.

I would recommend him! Thanks again, E^2.

Tip of the day

Want a great seasonal tip? When you go to make your gingerbread houses this year, instead of making icing that doesn't taste so great out of confectioners sugar, instead buy a normal-sized container of white frosting and add 3-4 tablespoons of cornstarch. You won't taste the cornstarch and you'll be surprised how stiff your frosting will dry. Plus, it's cheaper.
Also, instead of worrying about using knives to adhere all your candies- simply spoon your frosting into some Ziploc baggies and cut a small hole off of one corner. Zip up the top, and you've made yourself a mess-free, less-hassle way to frost your gingerbread (or Graham cracker) houses.

Your welcome!

I wrote this post for you!!

I made the mistake a few months ago of naming specific people who have made a lasting impression on my life. Of course, I didn't name every single person that deserves to be on the list, and because of this, lots of people were offended! So, to all those I didn't mention by name, this post is for you.

I got the idea from my good friend, Lydia. She did a post a little bit ago and without naming people, wrote a trait or talent that each person has. So, thanks for the ingenious idea, Lyd!

If you're reading this, I know who you are, and this is for you.

*You're one of the best friends I could ask for. I know I can always call you about any random fact or just to spill my guts out and you'll always be there to listen. The pizza isn't so bad, either :).

· *If I could describe the word 'loyal,' it would be you. You're practically a sister to me. What I'm thankful for most is having a best friend who gets me.

· *You have so much courage and a great sense of self. You're very honest, sincere, talented, and apparently have a great memory of things that I don't remember happening!!

· *Thanks for always being a good friend and being on my side even when I'm probably wrong. You're one of the best parts about me marrying into this family and I love you!

· * You're a very patient and fun mother who I've always looked up to my entire life. You've always been supportive of my decisions, support I've needed many times from others and didn't get.

· *Essentially, you've always been a good and trusted friend. You make me laugh, you understand why I get irritated, and you have a beautiful gift of music, art, and comedy in general!

· *You're not afraid to try anything! Whenever I hear about a new trendy craft or skill, I'm sure you've already done it.

· *I'm thankful for you because you are as sweet a friend as they come. I liked you even before you broke out of your "shy" stage, and I admire how you look at life and live it to the fullest. You fulfill every single goal you set and are a light to others.

· *Man, sometimes reading about your life makes me tired! You're a very cute mother of 3 and are probably the most considerate wife I've ever known. You're honest. You're also very self-less and I admire your patience!

· *Every time I read your blog posts I laugh! I'll tell you again, please write a book!!

*I don't think you know how beautiful you are. I know it's not fair why some people are blessed in certain ways and others aren't, but you deserve to be happy and to have everything everyone else has. You're a good friend, and you're always very sincere.

· *Some women are born with amazing maternal instincts, some have to work at it (like me!). You are a wonderful mother and never think twice about serving others.

There.

Thank you.

Everything's shaping up for 'ol Erika

Last week was bad. Our car almost died! I was driving home on Friday (Oct. 29th) from the party store when I noticed that our oil light was constantly blinking at me. I called Dustin right away and told him what was happening. He asked if the car was smoking, was making funny noises, or even smelled questionable- None of the above. He then inquired where I was and finding out that I was only about 1 1/2 miles away, he told me just to come home. I was watching the dashboard like a hawk making sure the temperature didn't rise. It was an intence and scary drive, especially since I had Lillie in the car with me.
After I pulled up and got out of the car, I noticed there was a trail of oil down the road I just traveled. I went inside and in a panic-stricken voice called out to Dustin. He went outside and popped open the hood only to find that every square inch of the hood and engine was covered in oil. He even took one of our wheels off only to find more and more and more oil. The dipstick was bone dry, and even after adding 2 more quarts of oil, nothing was registering. That night was the Trunk-or-Treat, so we hurried and blew-up 50 water balloons for Lillie's costume (pictures to come in a later post) and all packed in to the 2-seater pickup to drive a little over 1/2 mile to the church parking lot, don't tell.
Luckily, we found a guy in our ward who specializes in Honda/Toyota mechanics (thank goodness!). We towed our beloved car over to his place a couple days later. A butt-load of money later (which would have been at least doubled at a 'real' place) we got our car back ONLY TO FIND that there must be car-angels out there watching over us. Apparently when that oil light flashes, it means there's no oil pressure at all going to the engine.... and usually when that happens, when an important seal has broken and all the oil has been gushing out of your engine, your engine usually explodes in about 15 seconds- rendering your car as a 2,000 pound paper weight.
You see why there must be car angels? Because I drove the car for a good 6 minutes after that happened. I was even driving it on I5 at a high speed for a good mile.

Well, naturally I didn't see it as a blessing at first. I was pretty upset! It's not like we just have that money laying around for this kind of set-back. All the money we had been saving to go to Idaho for Christmas has now gone to repairing our only vehicle. Another blessing, though, is that with just 90 dollars remaining to our name until the next payday (2 weeks later), I was miraculously able to buy groceries for our family of 4 for only 36 dollars. I bought all the usual stuff and have a dinner menu for at least 15 meals. Coincidence?

Things started shaping up in the most inconceivable way. Not only did the previous 2 miracles happen, but I also received a ticket to Time Out for Women! To make a long story short, My bro-in-law's mother wasn't able to go so she gave me her ticket. I spent this past Friday and Saturday at the convention center in Portland with Tacie and Laura. We even stayed in a nice hotel, ate at Red Robin and everything. No kids, no diapers, no bedtime routine, no accidents, no tantrums. I haven't slept that good in years. The speakers were incredible and with the theme of "Hope," I really did come back home with a renewed importance of my role as a mother- something I have been struggling with. It was an experience I had been praying for and that I really needed.

On top of THAT, I just received tickets for the Mo Tab Christmas Concert featuring David Archuleta! Tickets were so difficult to get that they turned the entire thing into a lottery, with just one entry per address. AND I WON! I've been trying to get tickets to this thing for 4 years now. We're not sure if we're going yet, but just receiving the tickets in the mail made my day yesterday.

PLUS, Dustin is on-call for his work this week. That means he's still working 40 hours a week, but after work from 5pm-7am he has an activated cell phone for emergency maintenance matters. It's a blessing (contrary to what your instincts might think) because all it means is more moo-la. So, maybe we can afford gas to Idaho and back plus a moving truck rental/expenses?! We'll see. Hopefully he gets called in a lot... (he want to, too)

So there you have it. It looks like things are finally turning around!