"The family. We are a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together."
--Erma Bombeck
"People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway. For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway."
--Mother Teresa

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Days off are the best!!

Things Geoff gets to do when he has a Saturday off...
Sleeps past 4:30 am
Enjoys some scrumptious dutch oven cooking
Watches basketball...even though the Cavs lost
Sits on his rear-end for most of the day
Oh...and he has a blast at the park....







Can't you just feel the glee gushing out of him?? Days off are the best!!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Memorial Day weekend

Our holiday weekend began with a quick drive up to Rexburg for the baptism of Benny, our sweet sister-in-law's little brother. Benny has been through some tough things and is now permanently living with Russ and Amber. How proud we are of Benny for making such an important decision to be baptized! I love baptisms! The spirit is so strong and I always come away from them wanting to be a better person.

On Monday we had a great time spending it with family. The Meredith family has a tradition of visiting Jeanie's grave and then heading over to Tastee-Treat for some yummy ice cream. I love this tradition!
Afterwards, we enjoyed a BBQ with the entire family....except Rex & Jeigh :(. Emily had so much fun playing with her cousins!!
Emily, Anna, and Mason

Carter, Rylie, Emily, and Anna having fun on the tramp.

Anna, Emily, Rylie, Livvy, Carson, Carli, and Carter...so dang cute!!

Emily's new "eyes"

These are Emily's new eyes. She absolutely loves them! And I love that she calls them "eyes"!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

A Closed Chapter

Well I guess this chapter of my life closed about 2 years ago...but, it officially closed on Monday when Inkley's shut their doors for good. This may sound strange, but my heart broke just a little when I found out my store was closing. Dumb, I know...but I loved the time I spent there. My job wasn't the most exciting and it didn't pay very good, but I truly loved working in the Photo Lab. I have so many great memories and have made life-long friends. So, goodbye Inkley's #655, I will miss you....but we always have our memories.


Monday, May 18, 2009

Smack dab in the middle of Happy Town!

For that last few weeks I have really been trying to come up with something cool to write about…sadly, I still haven’t come up with anything. For this little branch on the Meredith Family Tree, life is just fine…nothing exciting happening…just getting through each day and trying really hard to end it with a smile. The strange part is that this has really been bothering me and I don’t know why. I guess I’ve just been feeling a little dull…. like I’m not improving myself or moving forward in any way. But, I’m starting to realize that it’s okay to be dull….it’s actually quite refreshing….no life altering problems (just a few annoying ones), no contention, no heartache, just...life, I guess. And I'm happy with that!
Mary Ellen Edmunds said: "Enough of negativism! There has been too much recounting of trials and highlighting of personal martyrdom. On with remembering that life is about gladness, too. Yes! Find the joy!"
So, I guess I wanted to share with you where I find my joy (in no particular order). You know that feeling of pure joy. I just get goose-bumps when I think about what brings me the most joy.
1. My sweet red-headed husband
2. My sweet red-headed daughter
3. The gospel and a loving Heavenly Father
4. Going for walks on cool, crisp evenings with my family
5. A really good lightening and thunderstorm
6. My little apartment (especially the a/c!)
7. Picnics with our families
8. The sound of Geoff and Emily's belly laughs
9. The smells of camping in the mountains
10. Listening to good, uplifting music
This is just a small handful of things that I love.


So, what brings you joy????

Monday, May 11, 2009

A day of mourning....

Well, today is a sad day. After much thought and heartache, I'm announcing that it's time to be done with my daily guilty pleasure. Oh friend, how I'm going to miss you. I've decided to start making some changes in my life and you, my friend, are the first to go. What a sad, sad day.