Baby Ben

I couldn't get enough of him. It was certainly love at first sight - but my love grew every second after. This little dude is the best! It's amazing how little babes can change the feeling inside a home and family - and all the people inside a family. I am absolutely crazy about this little guy. And I can't wait to watch him grow up.

Stay tuned for more Christmas 2012 updates. It was the best Christmas I remember!

What a guy

Robbie Parker is an amazing man. We should all strive to be more like him. In the hardest moment of his life, harder than anything I can imagine experiencing, he extends love and compassion and forgiveness.

Anger is a horrible thing. Perhaps its the worst thing.  It makes us do things that we otherwise wouldn't do. It makes us call each other names or vandalize property. It creates road rage and violence. Anger causes retaliation. Perhaps anger is what caused the shooting in Connecticut.

Truth is, as unfortunate as it is, there are other people in our midst that are capable of repeating what happened on Friday.  People get angry and sad and lonely - which leads people to do horrible things. Spreading love is the only thing that can eliminate anger and sadness and loneliness. So lets use our agency and spread love. Every day. To everyone.

Connecticut

I am sad. I am so, so sad. 

I woke up to news about the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. I called my sister, mother of my favorite kiddos on the planet, hoping I could tell them over and over that I love them. I couldn't. They were at school.  

I just can't believe it. This morning kids were shot. And killed. 

Every news outlet has been flooded with coverage about the event and my Facebook feed is spewing out debates about gun control and people are asking, 'what's wrong with people' - referring to the shooter.

To me, that question is what's wrong. Instead of asking, 'what's wrong with people' why aren't we asking, 'what can I do to help people?' My heart goes out to the families of the victims and the entire Newtown community. But my heart also goes out to to Ryan Lanza - the shooter. 

What was his life like? Why was he so unhappy? He was only 24. Kids that age are supposed to be filled with love and hope and adventure and excitement. Was there not love in his life? Did he not have friends? He must have hated himself. 

I am certain that there are people we pass on the street everyday that are sad and miserable and that have thoughts of hurting themselves - or hurting other people. There are people who are bullied and secluded. There are people whose families don't love them. Typically, those are the people that are behind these horrible tragedies. 

I believe that we are all part of the same family and that it is our obligation to spread love and joy and kindness to all those around us. Even the people that are mean or bad or different. Because of my religious upbringing, I believe that the kids who were shot and killed today are my brothers and sisters - and their families are, too. And so is Ryan Lanza. He is my brother. And I am broken hearted for him, too.

My prayers are for all the families associated with this tragedy. My prayers are also for all us - that we can use this horrific situation and come out better and stronger. I pray that it will remind us that this world needs more love and compassion and forgiveness. It needs less guns - but i don't have control over that.  I have control on how much I  love and forgive and include.

Long days - and its only 9am!

Today I am mostly thankful that tomorrow is Friday and that the next day is Saturday. Some days are so long and so tiring that I count down the hours til the weekend.

And I am thankful that I get to go home next week. I am sooo thankful for that!

Mormons

Being in Washington for 5 years, or maybe it's being away from Utah for 5 years, has made me forget things that I loved about growing up there.

Today I remembered some of the things I totally love about Utah and the 'crazy' Mormons.

I love that drinking was never the reason for bad behavior and that my friends could have fun without alcohol.
I love that most of my friends were and still are totally close with their families.
I love that while growing up, friends asked how many boys I had kissed - not how many I had had sex with and I love that most of my friends have only had sex with their spouse.
I love that it was understood that Sunday's wasn't like any other day. It was a day for God and for family and for yourself.
I love that I hardly ever heard 'bad' words and saying bad words wasn't ever cool.
I love that being good was cool and being bad wasn't. Seriously.
I love that I said family prayers - sometimes twice a day - but lucky if we said one.
I love that there were  a lot of temples and churches in Utah. Even though I don't go to church anymore, it is always comforting to see the churches!

There are so many things that I love about Utah and the crazy Mormons. I'm telling you, even though some of the things they do are 'crazy', they have a lot of things right!

Do the right thing

Last night I was out with friends. We met for dinner. And drinks. And football. It was fun - and it capped a great day and a great weekend.

Yesterday I did something I didn't think I would ever do. I was a college mascot for a men's basketball game. A good friend of mine works for Seattle University athletics and bribed me (I actually didn't mean much bribing) to be the mascot because the normal person couldn't do it. Umm. Hilarious! Some kids loved me - others looked at me and screamed out of complete terror.

Anyway - after I was Rudy the mascot I went and met up with a few friends. We laughed a lot but there were a few take aways for me. It was an almost empty hot dog bar and about an hour in to me being there I noticed one of the other patrons was a girl I met a few weeks ago. Her name is Julie. When I met her she told me that she had lived in Seattle for nearly 5 months  and hadn't met one friend. She hadn't found a job yet and people in her building weren't very friendly. She told me that she went and watched sports sometimes - and hoped to meet people doing that - but she hadn't - until she met me and some of my friends.

I was excited to see her last night. I checked in to see how things were going. She has a few job interviews coming up. She still hasn't met many people from her building.

I talked to Julie for a few minutes and then went back to my friends. I told them about her. One of my friends said that some people try to be nice but it comes across as slimy and maybe there are hidden motives. Another friend pointed out that maybe some people view me that way.

Maybe people think I am fake. Maybe people think you are. It doesn't matter - or it shouldn't matter. It should never matter what people think when you know you are doing the right thing - or a good thing.

There are people around us that need love. People need friends or a random act of kindness. I believe that God uses people - he uses me and you - but we have to have the eyes to see people in need. And honestly, everyone is need of something.

Washington is beautiful x2

These were all taken within 2 miles of my house :)