Saying Goodbye to a Good Old Friend

We have had to make a hard Choice this week. We have had to decided what would be the best thing to do for our old and trusted horse SHOOTER. He has been a family friend for a long time. We got him at a time of another loss. Our mare BABE had gotten really sick with sand colic. (that is where a horse will eat rocks and sand, either by accident while they eat or just because they like to eat rocks) Babe had eaten so many tiny rocks that they had filled her stomach and had impacted in her intestines. Anyway dad took her down to Logandale in the middle of the night to see if there was anything they could do, but it was too bad and we had to put her down. Babe had sort of been Allison's "go to" horse so we were now one horse short. We put the word out around Alamo and a good friend, Andy Bailey, called and said that he was looking to sell his rope horse so that he could get a new one. We jumped on the opportunity and a beautiful palomino gelding came to live at our house. Alli fell in love with him as did all of us. He was so dependable that we parent never had to worry about our kids when they were on him. We knew that he would get them safely to the corral at the end of the day. He has been the first horse and only horse allot of our grandchildren have ridden, so there are enough pictures of the old guy around that I know we will never forget him. Anyway, over the past few years he has really gone down hill. He was 28 years old . This past winter was tough on him, we kept him in the barn as much as possible and he never lost his appetite, but he wasn't using anything he ate. Over the last couple of weeks he had started dragging his feet when he walked and he had lost ALLOT of weight, becoming just skin and bones. We couldn't stand to watch him suffer so we made the CHOICE to give him a dignified way out. Dad took him out to to Meghan and Cassidy's this past weekend so that he could be buried out on the range. It was hard and I will miss him but it was an easier choice that to come home and find him gone. The one thing I do know, is that Grandpa Jim and Grandpa Dodge just got one heck of a horse to ride.

Sometimes Life is Just Plain Yucky

Our house has had a rough week. We have been really busy with things, Dad has had his end of the year FFA banquet and I have ended up working almost everyday. I also had to get my application in for the full time job I am going to be getting.( choice to send out positive thoughts) So it has been a bit crazy. Then on top of all of that, Dad was notified that his job was going to be cut to a half time job. This would mean that he would not get any health insurance or retirement paid into the system. Not the kind of news a person wants to hear, especially when jobs are so few and far between. We still can't figure out what people have against dad or FFA program, but it is hard to keep up your spirits when we have had to have this fight EVERY year. It just makes a person tired.
Here is where the CHOICE part comes into play. We all have bad things happen to us and like I have said before what we do with our attitude during these times is the real test of a person. I read a story a long time ago in one of those "Chicken Soup for The Soul" books. It tells about a couple who had been away for Christmas. They had driven all day to get home and had arrived late at night. Instead of unloading the car right then, they had decided to just go in the house and get some sleep. When they got up the next morning they looked out the window and saw that their car had been stolen, with all their Christmas presents still in the car. Now the wife was really upset and was ranting and raving around. The husband, just looked out the window, walked into the kitchen for breakfast and then went to get ready for work. Now that really made the wife mad. When she accused her husband of not caring he simply asked if her getting mad brought their stuff back. That comment made her stop and take a breath. He went on to say that he was going to call the police and report the theft and then call their insurance agent, but him getting upset was not going to make the car come back. If he got upset all it would do would ruin his day and he CHOSE not to have his day ruined.
I love this story, and every time I have been tempted to get upset or let hate and anger take over my life because of a situation ,I think about this story. So, even tho I don't like what people have done to my husband, and I don't like the stress they have put us under. I won't let them make choices for me. I choose to try and find a solution, to not dwell on their pettiness. To look at every positive option and work on those things that will get me to a positive solution. I hope I can help Dad find this Choice in his life. We have lived through this same scenario before and it wasn't pretty, I hope that I can be positive enough for the both of us until he can get a handle on his emotions and make the positive Choices I know he will eventually make.

Past Choices

I know we aren't supposed to look at the choices we have made in the past and feel guilty about them. We are supposed to learn and move forward. But sometimes it is hard to move forward when something happens and you know that if you had made a different choice in the past you would have been in a better situtation in the present. I am going to have to make a choice now that I should have made a long time ago. I am going to apply for a full-time job, so that I can help out here at home. It is going to be hard and I know that I will have to work to over come some feeling I know I will have about not being able to spend as much time with my grandchildren but I really feel it is a choice that I have to make right now. I hope my kids will understand and I hope I can find a job.

Eternal Choices

I have been thinking a lot about how some of our choices in life have a greater impact than others. I guess that goes without saying. The choice of what you eat in the morning doesn't matter near as much as the choice of who you marry. Anyway, the thing that I have been really thinking about lately is the fact that there are only a few choices that a person makes that truly have ETERNAL consequences.
In my humble opinion the first eternal choice would be about membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I was born to a part member family. My mom was a member as were my maternal grandparents. My dad on the other hand was baptised but not active. My mom took me to church but never forced me to go. I was one of those teenagers that went to church, but I don't think I ever really had a testimony of my own. I made some choices in high school that I am sure didn't help my efforts to gain a testimony and I struggled a bit. When I made the choice to become an exchange student and was sent to Australia for a year, I looked at it as an opportunity to find out some answers for myself. I was away from family and friends so the only real influence I had was what I would seek out. I made the choice to read the Book of Mormon and actually think about what I read. To look up , study and ponder things. This was the first time I had really put some effort into finding a testimony for myself. When I got to Tasmania, I made the effort to find a Branch so that I could try and get to church. I couldn't go every week, but I made sure that I would study and read every Sunday. Guess what, by the time I finished reading the Book of Mormon, I had truly gained the testimony I had been seeking. I made the Choice then and there that when I got home I would not waver and that was the best Choice I could have made. I have gained such strength and comfort over the years knowing what can be ahead of me.
The next choice I made that I know has eternal consequences for me, was choosing someone to marry. I knew that I wanted to be married in the temple, I wanted that eternal marriage so that I could be assured that I could have my family together forever. I tried to make sure that I dated guys that could make that wish come true. It is funny how Heavenly Father will put us in the right situation to make things happen if we will just listen. The summer job I thought I had in Fallon was given to someone else and I was able to get a job out of the blue in Wells, Nevada. That was were I needed to be to meet the person I was supposed to marry. The decision to say Yes to the marriage proposal from Cortney Dahl was pretty easy. Heavenly Father had put me there so I actually didn't argue with him this time.
The third eternal decision that I have faced was to have children. This choice was a no brain er, of course I wanted a family. I am so grateful that I was able to have children. I know that sometimes a husband and wife don't have children in their home, but I am sure that for the most part this isn't a choice they make, and that they will be blessed with an eternal family of choice spirits that need great moms and dads. Anyway, I have come to realize that the choice to have children is a great responsibility. As a parent you always feel responsible for your children's eternal welfare. I know that they have their free agency, but it is my job to make sure that they have the tools and knowledge that will help them make the choices that will get them back with me in the end. Each day, I worry and weigh my efforts, so that I can be an example to them, so that they can make the eternal choices they need to make in their lives. This is definitely one of the on going choices in a persons life. I know that my mom worried about me until the day she passed away. I hope that the choices I make in my life are up to the task of being a good influence in my children and now my grandchildren's lives.
My son, has made great choice lately. He has made the choice to be of service to the Lord by accepting a call to be a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He will be serving in the Maryland Baltimore U.S. Mission. I am so pleased that he made this choice. He will be a great missionary, because he is a great person and has a testimony of the gospel. I will miss him, but I am making the choice to be supportive and excited right along with him.

A Little Success

OK, here it is the first of April, now a person could make a whole bunch of choices today and then when they don't follow through they can just say it was all an April Fools joke. I am not going to be one of those persons. This past week has been pretty good, in the follow through with choices department. I have finally kept up with the diet and eating better dept. The drinking of eight glasses of water is about killing me,(anyone need to know where the best restrooms in Fallon are, just ask) but everyone keeps telling me that after the first week or so your body will get used to it and things will even out. I sure HOPE so. I have also been fixing better meals and eating earlier in the evenings. I feel better when I can eat around 5. It also makes it so a person can go outside and work dinner off a bit before going to bed. Guess what the exercising is finally off the ground too. I have been able to get on the elliptical for a few minutes a couple times a day. I read in the "17 Day Diet" that if you will just exercise just 15 to 17 min a day it will make a different. So that choice is less overwhelming than 45 min. Trying to make it longer each time. Now that the weather is better I am going to get on the bike. Trying to make the choice of whether to try a garden again this year. Our water is so salting that I think that is what is killing everything. Might try the container gardens that the girls keep talking about. That way I can bring in some different soil, and run the water through the compost tea maker we have. Again more of those choices to make. It has been a while since I have done a complete deep clean of our house including shampooing the carpets. So I have made the choice that I am going to try and get this done this spring. I figure if I take one room and de-clutter, clean and spruce up stuff and then at least shampoo the living room and dining room (minus moving the china hutch, or maybe I will just to clean it out) I will be doing good. So since I have had success on follow through lately, lets all keep our fingers crossed that this choice will also find success. I have been working on getting our financial situation on better footing. Made the choice to try and get our house refinanced. Hope it all goes through because I was notified today that our payments will be going up 200.00 a month. yuck Keep your fingers crossed.

Why are the Easiest the Hardest

Okay, will someone please tell me why, when it comes to what food I put in my mouth I seem to continually make the WRONG choices. It seem that I am pretty good for a little while but in the end I seem to go right back to the wrong stuff. I want to eat healthy and really it isn't all that hard to do, but I keep making the choice to put that bag of chips in my belly instead of that apple. I don't really have much weight to loose it mostly a "feel better about myself kind of thing" but for me, at this age, I am really having a hard time sticking to the right choices. I bought a new diet book "The 17 day diet" There are four different levels with each one having different foods so that a person doesn't get bored And each level lasts 17 days . The author says that a person can stand anything for 17 days. Well he hasn't met me. I made a choice that I was really going to do this and it has been just two days and I am already making the choice to start again day after tomorrow. What a weakling. The bad thing about the whole thing is while I am eating the wrong stuff I will sit there and point out to myself that I am putting things that are off limits into my mouth, but it always tastes so good. What to do, what to do. Somewhere I have to find some determination(I used to have an abundance of the stuff) and make my good choices stick. I have to I am down to two pair of pants that fit, and I am not going to buy any more. That is this weeks major choice. Choose to eat what I am supposed to. (Guess I better hide the chips)

Will I ever progress?

March came roaring in like a lion, so hopefully it will go out like a lamb. Missed last weeks weekly progress report because I don't like to report negative things. I just can't get myself moving. The mornings have been really hard because I haven't been sleeping very good, but the afternoon isn't working so great because I am tired. (does that sound like I am making the choice to makes excuses) I guess that is what I am doing. The sad thing is I really think that I would be able to sleep better if I would just follow through with my choice to exercise. So I am going to try.
I have been trying to figure out how I can make some extra money to help get caught up on some bills. I made the choice to make some headbands and have made forty dollars so far, hope I will sell more soon. I don't really want to work full time but that choice might be made for me. But what could I do, or what would I want to do. Substitute teaching has gotten me spoiled I kind get to make the choice when I work and when I don't. I am not sure how much I would like not being able to make that choice.
I made a big choice this week. I had to figure out some health insurance issues for myself. It was all so confusing but I think I made a good choice, at least I hope so. I guess I will find out as soon as I get sick and have to use it for something. (which I hope won't be in the near future.)