Don't You Quit

"Whoever we are and whatever our problems, his response is always the same, forever: “Come unto me.” Come see what I do and how I spend my time. Learn of me, follow me, and in the process I will give you answers to your prayers and rest to your souls. Beloved friends, I know of no other way for you to succeed or to be happy or to be safe." - Jeffrey R. Holland

Let's be honest: sometimes life is just hard. We all have our moments where we just wonder when it's going to get better, like Elder Holland talks about in this video. We all have different personalities, different backgrounds, different upbringings that cause us to react to things in different ways. What may seem trivial and unimportant to one person might be one of life's greatest trials to another. But we all have trials. There's no way around it. We don't always get to choose what life throws at us, but we do get to choose what we do with it. It's not always easy, and more often than not, it seems like the hardest thing we've ever done. Yet somehow, some way, we always make it through and there's light at the end of the tunnel. & can we have another little honesty moment? - we all know we'd never amount to anything without those trials; those hills that seem infinitely steep and never seem to stop coming.

So maybe life is good for you right now. Perhaps you're reading this on a beach in Oahu watching the sunset and you have zero troubles (& if this is you, what are you doing with your laptop in Hawaii? Weirdo). But for the rest of us, I have one thing to say - keep going. "Don't you quit". Keep breathing (cause it would be really sad if you stopped), keep working, keep smiling, and keep loving. Life has a way of working itself out, so keep going. You'll make it. & you'll be better because of it.

I promise. : )

Happy Sabbath!

50/40 days of summer

50 days of swim lessons, to be exact. Now only 40. (I just finished up my first session.

For those of you who don't know, I teach swim lessons during my summers off. & let me just tell you, Bill Cosby knows what's up - kids do say the darndest things!

Friday May 27

     Me: Ava, let's swim across the to the other side!
     Ava: (She's currently sitting right in front of the heater) Hold on! My butt is sweating.


     Lauren: (after swimming across the pool on the kick board) What are we going to do now?
     Me: Well, I think we'll sit here for a few seconds and then swim back.
     Lauren: While you decide what to do next?
     Me: Yes. Because I never plan ahead for swim lessons.
     Lauren: I know that.

I feel like this sums me up pretty well...

PS: I had such a great moment today at work. I teach this squirmy little four year old who, in all honesty, I want to just dump in the deep end sometimes and say, "figure it out yourself, twerp!" (In case you hadn't figured it out, I teach swim lessons) Anyway, today as he was making his fifth or sixth attempt to escape the pool I grabbed his leg, and he stopped his panicked screaming just long enough to marvel and say, "You're SO strong!" 

Why, thank you. I don't even work out. 

Happy Thursday, everyone. Now go & enjoy yourself some Ingrid.

What Matters Most

Happy Saturday : )