How Does One Stay Positive In A World So Negative?

For awhile now (some... years other a few months) I have noticed some "odd goings on" (Sorry we're huge Horton fans...I couldn't resist) with Family and Friends. Well lately I have been getting so frustrated over these changes that I think I have finally had it and am giving up....But I would like your input so please help. Here's the situation...
Over the last...well years actually I have noticed some things about family and friends that have really been either hurtful or have made me angry. I thought I was dealing with them ok but realized that I was starting to become a little angry and bitter. I have felt like "Mr. Cellophane" on the movie Chicago. I don't want to be the center of attention by any means...in fact I don't like even like that....but I do like getting some recognition. For those who don't know, I am the "baby" child in a family of 8...That's right I am #8. With 20+ nieces and nephews and 2 great grand kids...it's a lot to have to remember. I do realize this. However I do not see the justification of how I have been treated...not only by my family...but by friends too. I am one of those unusual personalities...I can be kinda "clingy" as James calls it but for the most part I am pretty independent...the one thing that I find unusual about me is that I don't understand mean..ness..I don't even think that's a word. But that's the only way I can think to describe it. Anything that can be mean... it just doesn't click in my head...some of the times even when it is directed towards me. So when this happens I have a really hard time with it. Lately I have felt that people have been treating me like they are better than me and I can give examples...but I don't want to make it seem like I am "pointing fingers". But it has gotten to the point that I just don't want this...I have thought of a few things I can do to make it "stop". Stop giving advice that I know will get thrown back in my face, wait to be approached instead of approaching...this way I don't come off as annoying, stay neutral...except to things pertaining to my beliefs, focus on James and I and our family, focus on the positive things in life and enjoy every beautiful thing that this life has to offer...even if it upsets "grumpy Gus", always remember that the Lord is over all and make sure my relationship with him doesn't falter. I am a firm believer that if you think something then it's true...if you think your going to have a bad day...you will...you already made the choice to have a bad day so you will make sure that it is carried out. So no matter what bad things happen in life...directed towards me or not...If I continue to have a good positive attitude and focus on these things then it will be alright....Or am I just being selfish. Any feedback will be helpful.

I gotta stop thinking so much. :p

Baseball pictures

Here are those pictures that I talked about in the last post...
James was so into the game he wouldn't even take his eyes off of it....even for a picture. :pI got this shot just as he was hitting the ball. You may have to look close. :)

Update

Well this past week has been really crazy busy with work, visiting teaching, work, running, work, weekend stuff, work and having an uncle/aunt day with the kids. Oh did I mention work. :p Last weekend I didn't have to work on Sat and Jason and Melissa invited us to go to the BYU Utah baseball game. It was a lot of fun. they played at Franklin Covey (which has a new name that we find a little gay...so we aren't going to call it by it's new name. :p) it really got us wanting to go to a Bee's game. It was a lot of fun though. Jason, Melissa, James and I met up with Jason's parents who were already at the park. I got some really great pictures of the game....but I lost my camera cable so I haven't been able to download them yet. We had a lot of fun joking around with them and cheering on the teams. James and I didn't really have a preference to who won. But we were with some hard core BYU fans...so I guess secretly we were hoping the Utes would win. :p They didn't they were ahead for a long time then in the last 3 innings BYU lead by one and won the game. the uproar from the crowd was....well...loud. :) After we decided to go out for Ice Cream and Jason and Melissa invited us over to watch a movie. THAT was A LOT of fun. Jason's brother came over with his cousin and set up a projection screen outside and we watched National Treasure sitting in bean bag chairs on their drive way looking up at the screen which was on a flat white area just above the garage. hee hee :) It was WAY fun. Thanks again you guys for a great time!!! Sunday was a beautiful day so we were able to go to the park with the family after dinner and play a little Frisbee and football....together. :p it was sometimes scary to see a football and a Frisbee coming at you at the same time. I also had to work that night so I had to cut out early. Tuesday was another beautiful day so I sat outside for awhile reading till my visiting teacher came over. After she left ( I don't know why that was so relevant) James and I went and picked up the kids at Nikki's house for a movie night. The kids were ready to go in their jammies and were super excited. We made a quick stop at little ceasers for a pizza and then off to the theater to watch Monsters vs Aliens. Gavin fell asleep half way through it but Nate and Abby stayed awake the whole time. They were a little sad we couldn't stay for the second movie...but after all they had school and we had work. the whole ride home they talked about their favorite part and the funny things....till they fell asleep. :p it was really a lot of fun taking them. The best thing about it is because I work there for my second job I can get myself and 3 others in for free.....Anyone want to be my friend? :p James and I want to go see Fast and the Furious next week...or at least I do. Then I had to work last night so ...yeah. Well that's pretty much been our week It's been a lot of fun. :) Oh yeah on top of all this James and I are really trying to get ready for a 10K in September so we have really been trying to run every other day. It's been hard...but fun. I'll post the pictures of the game as soon as I can.

Happy Birthday

Today is my nephew Andre's birthday. Andre is a fun little boy with a lot of imagination and big dreams. He LOVES to talk and hang out with his friends. I believe he is also a big video gamer. :) He's a really sweet and loves his family and spending time with them. Also just like his family he is an avid Ute fan. He loves watching the games on TV or right there in the stadium. He knows the players names and really gets into every game. So to Andre on his big day. :) I hope it's a good one for you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Happy Birthday

Today is my niece Natasha's birthday. Her and her family are living in Blanding right now and they are thoroughly enjoying it. :) Tasha is a very smart girl and has been since she was little. I have been a babysitter for Tasha and her sisters and brothers since she was a toddler. She always amazed me. When she was younger she always talked of these big dreams about visiting Hawaii, going on a mission, becoming a singer or actress. She really knows what she wants and she goes for it. Before I left on my mission I worked for my sister babysitting her kids till Tasha could take over. We would always have these good talks on the way home from school or getting ice cream. She would tell me how she wanted to be on the volleyball team and the softball team and to be a cheerleader. When I got home from my mission she was all three. She is also a very loving person, She makes friends very easily and with anyone. She is a very beautiful person both inside and out. :)

P.S. Sorry about the picture Tasha it was the only one I had left on my computer. :) I printed and scrap booked the rest.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Easter Weekend

We had a really fun weekend and Easter. Friday night Nikki dropped Nate off for a sleepover. After playing with Rosko and our neighbors dog Ginger it was time for some video games. :p James and Nate played video games while I cleaned up the house a little. At 11:00 James and I started to get really tired but Nate was going strong. :) That boy really loves his video games. but we finally called it quits and we all went to bed. Early the next morning Nate came into our room asking if he can play a game. Then he would come in ever few minutes to give James an update on how he was doing. Close to 8:00 James and I gave up on trying to sleep and decided to go downstairs. Nate asked if he could have pancakes, so I started pulling together all the stuff I would need but remembered that South Ogden was having an Easter egg hunt at the park and if you came early you could meet the Easter bunny. Nate said he wanted to do that. So it was cold cereal and trying to get cloths on. When it was time to leave, Nate was having second thoughts so we missed the egg hunt and the Easter bunny but decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather anyway and went for a walk on the nature paths. Nate had a lot of fun walking/running with Rosko. :) If he ever got tired he would hand us the leash then go on ahead just to come and take Rosko back. It was fun when we got home Nikki called and said that they were going to come and pick up Nate soon. So we let him play some more video games till they came to get him. Thanks for coming over Nate we had a fun time. :) I was suppose to work later that night so James and I decided to have an early date night. James had gotten an Apple bee's gift card for his birthday and we decided to use it. We went out to eat and had a really great time talking and enjoying the atmosphere or the restaurant. It was a lot of fun to have time like that to each other without worrying about bills, debt, jobs, cleaning and anything else. Thanks Bob! After we had to get some grocery shopping done and knew we couldn't put it off much longer. So I dragged James with me kicking and screaming. :p He really doesn't like grocery shopping. Since I was going to be at work the rest of the night James decided to ride up to Mom and Dad Armstrong's with Nikki and spend the evening there. After I dropped him off at Nikki's I made another stop at the grocery store to pick up some Easter things for James. Then off to color some eggs before work. :) James called while I was coloring them and was really sad that he couldn't color any. So I put the rest away for him. Just as I was about to leave to go to work my supervisor Doug called me and said that I didn't have to come in. Because of the rain they didn't think they would get a lot of people and might even have to close down early. So I drove up to mom and dad's to spend the evening with the family. :) It was fun watching the kids color eggs and get all excited about Easter. Sunday we had beautiful weather I was so excited. After church we went over to Kim and Gordy's for family dinner. I was so excited to hide the eggs that I had made for the kids. When we got there mom and already hid her eggs so James and I started to hide ours. James said we really didn't have to but I told him until we have kids of our own I want to do this. :p In the end we had 70 eggs for the kids to find. :p They seemed to have a really great time.
Happy Easter everybody!

The Candy Shop War

This book was another surprise I must say. I really like Brandon Mull's writing style. He does things just a little differently and just when you think you have things figured out it completely changes things. I don't believe myself to be a great reader or even a moderate reader. I am a person who can be very picky when it comes to books and this is a book that I have passed many times and never thought anything of it. Then my niece lent it to me and it sounded kinda interesting but once again I didn't think anything of it. The story was really good and was very strong the whole way through. I would recommend this book to anyone.

Sunday Thoughts

What better Easter message could we have then one spoken by our prophet....

"In recognition of the Easter season, the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued the following Easter message today:"

"At this Easter season of hope and renewal we testify of the glorious reality of the atonement and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The empty tomb brought comforting assurance and provided the answer to the question of Job, “If a man die, shall he live again?” (Job 14:14).
Because of the Savior’s resurrection we will overcome death and become the beneficiaries of His mercy and grace. In a world of trouble and uncertainty, His peace fills our hearts and eases our minds. Jesus is in very deed “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).
We give our sure witness that Jesus is the Christ. Though He was crucified, He rose triumphant from the tomb to our everlasting blessing and benefit. To each member of the human family He stands as our Advocate, our Savior, and our Friend."

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As I sat in church yesterday listening to the speakers and soaking in the beautiful Easter Sunday I was overwhelmed with a sudden feeling of the pure love that the Savior has for each of us. I am so thankful for a loving friend and brother that we have. To go through all that he went through, the unspeakable pain not only physically but mentally and emotionally as well. I can even begin to testify of the love I have for our Savior or for the deep gratitude I have towards him. I know that our Savior lives. I know that he loves us and wants us to return to live with him and our Heavenly Father. I know and can testify that these things are true.

SOLD

Well we did it. We sold the Jeep. We also got $300 more then what we were hoping so that's way nice......But.......I MISS MY JEEP!!!!! I know it's the right thing and that we didn't really need it and this way we can get out of debt faster. but I really loved that Jeep even more then my last Jeep. This was a great Jeep and did AWESOME on trails. We sold it to a guy named Nathan Poindexter and his girlfriend. They seemed very nice. We got a chance to talk to them for a good 30 min or so while the bill of sale was underway but one thing I know is going to happen to my poor Jeep is that now it's going to smell like cigarette smoke. James said he did try to convince the guy not to smoke in it...but it's his now what can you do. The only thing that I have to look forward to once we are out of debt is that we can buy another one...with cash and I can add all the bells and whistles I want to it....I just hope it's as good as this one. Who knows maybe someday I'll be able to find my Jeep again and buy it off this guy or someone else...I know I know wishful thinking but a girl can dream cant she? Here are some pictures of the great time we had in the Jeep... And these are just pictures from last years Jeep Safari.....FAREWELL MY FRIEND!!!

P.S. you can laugh at me and make fun of me all you want...I don't care

Craziness

Sorry I haven't posted in....almost a week. Wow I guess it hasn't really been that long. Well things are going good...a little crazy right now but good. We had a great conference weekend and enjoyed all the talks. I was going to add some of my favorite highlights but didn't get around to it...sorry. Today is graduation here at the LDS Business College and this whole week has been crazy trying to gear up for that and this morning hasn't been an exception either. Things are good though. I was able to get a second job at the Coleman's Motor-Vu drive in (theater) and I started last weekend. It has been really good so far. The people all seem nice and it's very laid back and easy. I think I'll like this as a summer job. :) That's pretty much what has been going on right now.