It's the women...

I got this email from a family member. This is my way of sharing it.

I would like all to see this short video, then I'll tell you a story. Here is the video:

http://firefromtheheartland.com/

And Here's the story:

"A few years ago, I took Constitution classes from Glenn Kimber. For those who don't know him, he is the son-in-law of W. Cleon Skousen. He has been with Skousen for many years, often accompanying him on his lecture tours and giving nation-wide lectures himself. Today he runs an academy for the youth, Kimber Academy, in Lehi. In one of his classes he told the following story:

He was in Phoenix Arizona at Sky Harbor airport some years ago to pick up Ezra Taft Benson for some function. As they were on their way to the function that Elder Benson was to attend, Glenn asked him, in essence, "Elder Benson, will this country be destroyed by the secret combination among us, or will it be here when the Savior comes again?"

Elder Benson answered him," Kimber," (he always called him that,) "I didn't write the book, And This Nation Shall Endure thinking that it would be destroyed before the Savior comes. The American flag will still be waving at the Second Coming. The only question is how far down the road to socialism will we go before we turn things around."

Then Glenn asked, "What will wake up the people to fight this combination?" And Elder Benson answered, again paraphrasing, "It's the women. They will become so fed up by the education establishment that brainwashes their children, and the news media that promotes family destroying values, that they will become motivated to do something. They will also push their husbands to enter the fray."

Well, to me, this video represents a fulfillment of that prophecy.

Women across the country are getting fed up with everything that is happening to their country. They are organizing and participating in political activities on a massive scale. Nationally, we see Devvy Kidd, Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin, Michele Bachmann, Jan Brewer, Sharon Angle and thousands of others besides those shown in this video; who are actively participating in the political process. Just notice how many of the challengers to the incumbents in both the House and the Senate are women!

In the state of Utah there is Cherilyn Eager, Becky Pirente, Loma McKinnon, Shawna and Peggy Cox, Shirley Wood, Carolyn Alder, Susan Sorensen, Susan Craven, Sharla Christie, Suzette Allen, Stacey Mudgett, Sharon Slater and literally hundreds of other women who are taking the bull by the horns, so to speak, in this battle. I hope I didn't offend anyone by inadvertently leaving out their name. lol.

It is to the women, that we of this and future generations will look up to and acknowledge that you have been touched with the Spirit of the Holy Ghost who inspired you to enter this fight. We will win in the end, but exactly how that will be accomplished is known but to God."

i just don't know...

It has been awhile since I blogged about well... anything.

So I hit new post and sit and stare at the screen. I am thinking that maybe something will come to me as I sit here typing my thoughts... nope, I got nothing.

I am watching my grandson Atticus as both mommy and daddy are working now. It has been a joy to watch him as he is developing so much. He is just a little over 13 months old and has the cutest lil'-bit-goofy personality, probably taking after his dad. Would love to be able to see the other two grandkids more often, they live up in Logan area so we can't get up there all the time.

As far as for me goes, I have been experiencing shortness of breath and a rapid heart rate again, an old foe of mine. But since I have been having some chest pain upon exhertion, not at the same time but on top of, I finally made a call to get into see my cardiologist. So we will see what happens there. I am hoping no big deal. Got plenty of people that love me and keep on top of me to make sure I take care of myself, as I am a stubborn mule and think I can do it all. I know Meg and Criss would whole-heartedly agree with that statement... so to them I say... "shut up, and I love you guys!"

Nip it in the Bud

You ever had your feelings hurt and kept your mouth shut?

Then have those hurt feelings fester into a monster that erupts months of years down the road, only to unintentionally hurt someone you love the most.

What about having a strong opinion about something and afraid to say anything for fear of what others will think of you?

Then later wish you would have opened your mouth and kept someone from making a big mistake because they thought you were okay with it.

It has been my experience that it is best to communicate our feelings and opinions early on, nip it in the bud as they say, while it is still raw and fresh. But with tenderness and much love. Especially with those we love and care for, they deserve it, they earned it, it is a healthy practice for all parties involved.

Communicate, communicate, communicate.

Only in fairytales...? I don’t think so.

In late December 2009, after totaling my car in a bad accident, I had a difficult time coping with the fine line of coming so close to it ending in tragedy and leaving so much undone and then just walking away from it. I finally came to grips with my Heavenly Fathers plan for me, and having much left to do here on this earth. It took a blessing, many prayers, and a sweet friend to bring me back on top and put it behind me.

Then I was hanging around on LDSMingles website one day on Dec 27th, saying hi or sending emails to some of the new guys. I was just mostly killing time, I was bored. I didn’t give any of them a second thought, as it does no good to think about it any further unless they get back to me and are interested. I welcomed this one gentleman to the site with a short email, as he was new. I liked what his profile said, he was honest and had been thru the refiners fire like me.

Around about the same time, I think it was shortly after that, I started to feel some chest excitement. Like my heart was swelling with joy, it was a tremendous “feel good” feeling that kept welling up inside of me. There was no reason or explanation for it, it would hit me from out of the blue. So I decided I was just going to ride the tide of joy, it was mine to enjoy, even though I had no clue what it meant.

Then on Jan 14th, Criss sent a smile that just said he was looking for friends. Sure! I thought, I can be friends. That is what I was looking for anyways. So I replied with an email telling him I was looking forward to being his friend. Now keep in mind, I had about three other gentlemen showing interest at this same time too. So, I was still not thinking much of it. But all the while still getting those unexplained “heart swells”.

One week later Criss finally paid for a subscription to Mingle and sent me a “about me” email. I did the same, but before I logged off of the site he caught me on IM. We chatted for awhile, hitting so many similarities in our lives....I told him we needed to talk. The IM conversation had reached a “can’t believe this is real” level. So he called me about a minute later, lol. We talked for about an hour, about everything, especially our journey back into the gospel. It was an amazing conversation, and most amazing of all was the tremendous heart swells we had both been feeling thru this entire conversation (although keeping it to ourselves at the time). I immediately sent him a message after our conversation thanking him and telling him (after saying he was going to think I was crazy) that it felt like a spirit to spirit conversation. He replied that he felt it too and looked forward to getting to know me....YAY!!

We talked everyday, more than once and text every chance we got for the next week. Each time we connected it felt like the relationship accelerated ahead several weeks, even several times in one day. By Thursday of that week, I was completely in love with him. But not willing to say it first. After I text him the next day that I wasn’t supposed to fall into that four letter word with him, he asked if I could talk. I told him I could in an hour, lol. That conversation was so beautiful, Criss was in love with me....ME. I was absolutely bawling, he was bawling....

The next day, on January 30th...we finally met for the first time at the Layton Hills Mall parking lot. Hard to describe...but it was like coming home, “OH, WOW!!” is all I could get out. He was the most beautiful sight these sore old eyes had ever seen. He thought I was gorgeous (and I tell him if he keeps telling me that, I will have to believe him someday, lol). It was a day Criss and I will never forget, it was tearful and joyous. We knew we were done, we had found THE ONE, our forevermore without hardly a word spoken. Priceless, just priceless.

We couldn’t wait to start our life together, so long story short (I know...too late!)...we got married in front of family and friends on March 6th by my Bishop. We are so happy! We didn’t know a love like ours was even possible and it is a beautiful thing to experience! And oh...the heart swells are still amazing!

My 2010 Mantra

"In 2010 I will embrace new opportunities, places & people again and again"

This is a big deal for me for those that know me well. I am basically a shy person, so I tend to stay away from opportunities, places and people. I am trying hard to change the "known" Lynda, which I am finding isn't killing me...lol.
Even showing up late for church in the past would have been reason enough for me to skip that meeting and show up for the next, or skip them altogether and go to a singles ward as if that was the plan all along. Today, I showed up more than 10 minutes late for Relief Society and while getting ready to get out of the car I got a phone call from a gentleman I just met recently. So I talked to him for a few minutes after telling him, yes...this is a good time to talk, hehe. Even still I went into RS 20 minutes late, without freaking out inside.
As for new places and people, a little more of a struggle there. I haven't traveled much on my own, but I am hoping this year will bring more of that or with a companion, I love to travel, just haven't had much opportunity to do so. People... well, they just plain scare me for the most part (new ones anyways). I have been reaching out and trying to be a friend to a gentleman I don't know very well, which is definitely out of my comfort zone, but he is a crusty creampuff, so it makes it easy. I am also trying to get to know more people in my ward, again, another stretch.
Hopefully I will finish the year filled with gratefulness for my new will to become more involved in the world around me, it's people and places. I have to, if I am going to change my status quo.

Blessed

Ever since I have become active in the church, so maybe 3 months now, things keep getting better and better.

I feel so blessed in many aspects of my life, I have great kids who are responsible adults. I love my kids so much, I couldn't ask for better parents, and I have a great extended family. My health is not so great, but as always, I roll with the punches. Because of my job change in April of 2008, the insurance is much better now, so I can afford to take care of my health.

I am understanding many things of the gospel that I didn't before. Things make sense to me now, on a very deep level, which translates into a stronger testimony. I can't wait to be able to attend the temple again, whenever that is. To be able to do His work, and actually have a strong desire to do so. I want to do the things that I should be doing. I don't want to associate with people and places that may compromise my values. I don't take it for granted anymore.

I feel the most profoundly blessed by the friends that have found me, no doubt with my Heavenly Fathers help. I met Ann at my current job, we got along right away because we are so much alike, but with nice complimentary differences. We work in the same room, and have had many talks. We grew closer over the months and started to confide in each other. We both had experience and wisdom in areas that the other needed. How blessed I feel to have such a friend.

There was a day this last May, where I had no one to go with me to see a play I had free tickets for. It hit me like a ton of bricks, I was inactive and I had no close friends. Sure, I had my family... but that is not what I needed at this moment in time. I felt completely and utterly alone, I felt I had no one to turn to, no one to lift me up. I did not have the spirit with me, it was void in my life because of the choices I had been making. I did things based on gut instinct and experience. It was the very next day, Easter Day, that my dear friend Ann from work, invited me to dinner at her home with her and her roommates. What a turning point that invitation was, I just sobbed to know that I was accepted and loved. The one thing I had wanted for soooo long. I later found out that she was inspired to invite me and argued the point with the spirit by saying "maybe another time." All she got was a persistent "no, invite her to dinner today." She thankfully, complied. Then to later understand that my Saviour had the spirit removed from Him during the Atonement, so He would know how we felt at our very lowest, brought such comfort to me as I looked back at how dark and lonely it was during that day.

My friend, Meg, found me when I was on LDS Mingle, a LDS singles website. She talked to me when I ventured into a chat room, to show me the ropes, so to speak. The rest is history, we have so much in common. She lives in Missouri, but that doesn't seem to matter. We just clicked, and buoy each other up alot. Communicating via IM, text, phone calls, whatever works. We have experienced much of the same pain, struggle with the same feelings and share the same joys. She is such a nut, but so can I be. She just happens to bring out the nuttier side of me. She is exactly what I need, at this very moment in my life. Talking to her, she says the same thing about me. I pray that we always need each other and never lose touch. She is indeed a very dear friend to me, we feel we have known each other before. She calls it BFBF, best friends before and forever. And I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that she is right. Hear that Meg, you are right, again!

I absolutely LOVE MY FRIENDS! I am not just talking about Ann and Meg either, while they are my best friends, I love all of my friends. If I have ever hung out with you, shared stories with you, laughed with you. You are my friend. You all keep me grounded, connected and make me feel accepted.

Now if I could just find my other half... but in the meantime, working on being the right person, so I can find the right person.

Crash Course in Diabetes

I was diagnosed with Diabetes in February of 2006 after some minor heart problems were found in November of 2005. Those diagnoses' came after 2 1/2 years of being sick. It took nearly everything out of me to be able to hold down a full-time job, let alone managing the kids and home needs (which fell short).

I could barely lift my legs, most days I was using a cane or walker to get around. I was short of breath a lot of the time, so fatigued that just the thought of going to the grocery store made me sick. When my kids went with me to the store (I almost always had to have help), they could hear me coming from an aisle over as I shuffled my feet. I can't even tell you how many doctors appointments I had consisting of neurologists, cardiologists, pulmonologists, rheumatologists, ER visits, etc. or how many tests such as mri's, spinal tap, muscle, blood, etc., etc., etc. All netting nothing, so all me and my family could do was live day to day and wait it out.

I finally got a break when a local hospital was doing free screenings for PAD, peripheral arterial disease. The test consisted of taking my blood pressure in my arms and ankles. Well, my legs showed signs of mild to moderate blockage. This got me into a cardiologist that did a angiogram on my heart, lungs, neck and legs. There was no blockages, but the left side of my heart showed some weakness. My blood pressure was high on the diastolic reading getting as high as 150/110. My diagnoses was diastolic dysfunction. I had always had a little high readings on my blood glucose, but not so much so that yelled diabetes. So heart and diabetic medications were my fix.

My primary care doctor, worried that my blood glucose may get too low on the medication had me check my blood sugar on a daily basis and ran an A1C test. My first result from the A1C test was 7.0, and that was being on diabetic meds for 2 months. Any reading 7.0 and over puts you at risk for complications, like heart, eyes and circulation problems with limbs. A non-diabetic would have been closer to the 4 range.

Okay, so I have some pills now... all fixed, for a couple of years. I developed another heart problem starting in April of '07, but wasn't diagnosed until September of '08. I had these painful attacks that progressively got more intense and more frequent. I had pain in my chest, straight thru to my back and down my left arm. Towards the end of them, I also had pain in my jaw, neck and nearly passed out. They found I had PVC's, premature ventricular contractions or my heart was beating an extra beat. These can be harmless to a healthy individual, or deadly with someone that has a heart problem already or an unknown heart defect. Too many PVC's can trigger a cardiac arrest to a heart that has a defect like to an unsuspecting athlete. Good thing my problems are being treated and kept under control, so no worries there.

This diagnoses resulted in taking me off of one of my heart medications, and alas... no more attacks... I was so relieved, whew!!

Ever since my diabetes was diagnosed as the early stages, I thought all I had to do was take my meds and it seemed to keep everything under control. Hahaha... I even wasn't checking my blood sugar, my last A1C was 6.1 from a previously 5.5 result a few months prior to that. I just told people I wasn't a severe diabetic, thinking they caught it in time. Well... I got sick this past Monday, suddenly vomiting, I was shaky and overall felt really sick. My meter had stopped working (probably from lack of use, lol), so I had a co-worker take me to my mom's close by as she had a meter. My blood glucose was 76 after I had just eaten an hour previously, it should have been at least 30 points higher. So I had some fruit to bring it up and borrowed my mom's meter to keep track of it for the day.

I started doing some research on diabetes and found out it was a progressive disease O.o, what?! Something about the wacky blood glucose levels fatiguing the cells and even making the cells die off if the numbers stay up for too long. Which means the longer you are diabetic, the more progressive it becomes and less the cells handle the highs. Sounds like a vicious cycle to me.

I called my docs office, got my own meter and an updated RX for my glucose strips. Checking my blood glucose, especially when I felt sick. After my sugar dropping to 66 after eating again on Thursday, I called my doctor for an appointment. She cut my meds in half, because it was more critical that I didn't get low numbers than getting high ones. I will go back in 8 weeks instead of 5 more months to get my A1C checked again. She didn't want me to change how I eat, so the test reflects med change only and not confused by other factors.

I have been absorbing all the information I can on diabetes, trying to understand it the best I can. Understanding it is time to take this ugly beast seriously. I already have heart problems caused by the disease, so I cannot be so passive about it anymore. Gonna become an expert!