Only

I am going to stop using the word only.

Only has so little merit...a silly word used in disparaging, minimizing ways...I would rather maximize my life...use all my tools....
positive ideas and words. And only? Well it is kind of a load...

See?

But I only had one...
If only you loved me...
Only Buffy and Tad spoke to me at the cotillion
Dad only loves you
Mom only loves you
If only I had not eaten,said,done,that.
You only get one
Who is it? Only me
Only a face a mother could love
I only did it once...

I am not great at setting goals, I am great at wanting to.....so I will try again...what else do we have except to try again.
My new goal is to avoid the onlys in my life.

I am adding, myriad...many...numerous...innumerable....multitudinous....

A life of bounty and abundance...

Doesn't that sound great? I am not confusing bounty and abundance with wealth and power...I see bounty and abundance as dispelling worry. And worry is what we do when we can't do anything else....

But we can do so many things, in fact we can do almost anything.

I asked a friend of mine how she lost weight and got in better physical shape...she looked at me for a long time and then said, "I just did it, I got up one day and ate differently and went for a long walk...nothing more profound than that."

So today just do it.....argue with no one....let everyone else win the argument. Let them all "Be right" That is your gift to your family, friends and neighbors....if you see an argument coming...walk away. The Savior never argued, when there was contention, he walked away. Think of all the fights you have had simply because you had to be right...you couldn't let it go....

Now go!! Read good things, think good thoughts, and eat good food.....throw away the onlys!!

Love to you all, especially Kathey...her sweet son is going on his mission today..

He is Home!!!

Can you believe it? He really is home.....we have been making fools of ourselves since he came down the escalator at the airport Tuesday night.

We touch him......a lot.

And we smile even more....

There just aren't a lot of times in my life that equal the other night. Seeing my son after two years was almost surreal.




When I saw him, and he looked so great, and had the biggest smile it was as though he had not ever been away.



But he was away...for two years. He sure grew up a lot. Now he understands that the most satisfying parts of life revolve around helping other people. And he found out how to work hard, to love without expecting anything in return.

And can you believe it? He eats fruit now....

So he is home. I think he is glad to be home, but sometimes I am sure he misses being a missionary. He will be thinking about these last two years for the rest of his life. There is nothing else he could have done over the last two years that could have even come close to the experience he had. We drove up to Utah today to see about school....and on the way back he told me story after story....some were sad, some were funny, and all of them were life altering for Mikey.




Welcome home Mikey, thanks for the ride, it was so much fun. But I am so glad you are home!!