Joy in the Journey

I have really been struggling lately. I have found myself barely hanging on by a thread. It has been a long time coming...about a year to be exact. I did the best that I could for so long. My husband works a lot and I have 3 small, demanding children. To say that I have been overwhelmed would be an understatement. The day to day dealings with my young family have been a real challenge for me to handle (mostly) alone. However, through it all, I have been offered great support by my extended family and friends. I have found strength that is beyond my own through prayer and spiritual comfort. My husband has also really tried to understand where I was coming from and help me through this time, even when he can't actually be home to help.


As I sat down to write my official "GOALS 2009" list, I realized that all of the ideas that I had were beyond my capacity to work on right now. I would love to set a time frame for working out and loosing those last few pounds... I would love to set goals about meals, scripture/gospel study, family time, keeping a cleaner house, etc. I stopped myself. I don't want to be overwhelmed again by good goals. So I decided on only one goal for 2009.

My goal for 2009 is to Have Joy in the Journey. Along with that, I need to: find something every day that I am thankful for, something that made me laugh, or brought me joy and take a picture of that thing (person).

I figure that if I can do that, my attitude will improve as I constantly seek to have joy in the day-to-day happenings in my life. I won't miss the little things that I love about my children at this age even though I am constantly struggling to keep up with the messes that they make. I hope that by setting this goal for myself, everything else will come with time. I wanted to face the new year with a better attitude and not feel overwhelmed.

These are my first "Joyful" photos for 2009. Just looking at them has made me laugh all over again.

January 1st - Jenna helping me juice some oranges! She loves to help. That is something that I need to appreciate more.



January 2nd - Jadyn requested that I grab my camera and take some pictures of her. She took me outside where she had set up a blanket in the grass. She is at such a fun age.


January 3rd- Jenna playing with the water hose in the backyard. Granted, she got Hyrum and the wall behind her pretty wet, but she laughed the entire time. Simple joys.

January 4th - Oreos and Milk.

January 5th - Jenna is such a beautiful girl - even with her chopped hair.

January 6th - Hyrum sticking his tongue out. He does this all of the time - especially when he is concentrating on something- and I love it.

January 7th - Even with a messy face and messy clothes, I love this little boy! It really isn't important that he stays clean as long as he is happy, right?

January 8th - Cousins. I love that we have Razzie so close and that she plays so well with both of the girls. She and Jenna had a blast driving the car off of the patio. They laughed and did it over and over.

January 9th- Horsee! Jared came home early enough to see the kids before bed. After we do family prayers, he is the Horsee. The kids were so excited to have Daddy home for this family tradition. Since I couldn't choose between the photos, I had to include one of each child.

January 10th - Zoo Lights. Daddy got off work around 8 so that we could go to Zoo Lights this year. Hyrum kept saying, "Wow" and "Whoa" with all of the lights. He was the cutest watching the musical light show. He was dancing in the stroller. Here he is with Daddy on the carousel. He normally doesn't sit on one of the animals, but with Daddy with him, he was brave enough.

January 11th - Jadyn went to a birthday party with her friends/cousins. She saw me taking pictures and blew me a big kiss. Thanks, Jadie!

If you want to add a list to your goals for 2009, this is something I recommend. I am already doing better. I am noticing things throughout the day that I appreciate even more. I am finding that my journey is already becoming more joyful. I appreciate the excitement of my kids. I reach for the camera instead of despairing when things are rough. One photo a day is kind of hard, but I am looking forward to this journey.

Anyone else want to join in?