Charity

Go and read about charity by Holly.

She made me cry.

Recovery

I am so grateful that there are 12 step groups

within the LDS church.

Working the12 steps has changed my life.
I will be always indebted to
Cokesbury Methodist Celebrate Recovery
where my journey
with overcoming codependency began.

I am also so totally grateful for my
weekly support group
here in Utah
that happens to be at the LDS church.
It's great to share the 12 steps with
my brothers and sisters in the gospel.

Here is an awesome news story
about the LDS 12 step program.
It's a breathe of fresh air to me
to see the honesty.

So many people need recovery
from so many addictions.

This program is truly inspired.
I encourage you with all my heart
to find a program near you
if you feel you need help.

Codependency is tricky.
It's not as obvious for the sufferers.
If you have an addict in your life,
and sometimes feel personally out of control,
I also encourage you to research codependency
to see if you can be helped.

Really Important Stuff My Kids Have Taught Me # 32

Never ever miss the fireworks

on the 4th of July.

Advice taken from the nifty little booked entitled

Really Important Stuff My Kids Have Taught Me

by: Cynthia Copeland Lewis

July's Game - Joke Contest

If you don't feel like reading my lead up, just scroll to the bottom and hit the read more button to get the skinny on entering into the July contest for a $20 gift-card of your choice.

The neighbor girls keep telling this really lame joke about a Chinese man who gets to marry a princess because unlike the American or the Italian, he was able to keep his camel from pooping in the dessert voyage. "Me stick cork up camel's bum." Then all the kids roar in laughter. I remain dumbfounded.

When I was a kid we had a joke that we thought was HILARIOUS.
It went something like this:
A doctor, a police officer, and a lawyer were captured on a deserted island by savages.
The savages tied them to a tree and told them that they would be dead by sundown.
They said, "We're savages, but we're civilized savages, so before we kill you, we'll tell you what we are going to do to you. We are going to drink all your blood. We are going to use your bones for jewelry. And we are going to use your skin to build canoes." Then they granted all three one last wish.
The doctor requested a knife and slit his wrists and bled to death.
The police officer requested a rope and hung himself.
The lawyer requested a fork. He proceeded to poke himself all over and resiliently proclaimed,
"To heck with your canoes."

Hundreds of times, this joke was retold and every joke teller was guaranteed a laugh by all listeners. Nothing like that to encourage a girl to grow up and write on a blog that tries to make people laugh.

So I got an idea.
My contest for July is a joke sharing contest.

Winner - June Game - Commenting Contest

I waited until midnight to see if Sheila was going to pull it out, but, Holly is the winner with 30 comments over Sheila's 29. I loved watching you two duke it out all month, but even more than that, I love hearing from you in the form of comments. It makes my day to hear from my friends and you two are some of my most loyal commenters every month, not just when there is a contest to win.

So guess what? You are both getting a write up. Because you both deserve it!

Let's Party

In the past year, as I've delved into the facebook world, I have been amazed at the achievements of my high school classmates. (BTW - if you haven't liked me on facebook yet, you can do it here, or on the sidebar.)

Joe Weirzbecki is a tea-party guru.

Alex and Chelsea are the founders of BreezyMama.

I already told you about Ted Johnson.

Jeff Keirns is a producer in the world of Reality TV.

Ty Gurney runs a successful surf school in Hawaii.

But some of the achievements that I have been the most impressed with are the ones I won't reveal. They are the few classmates who have confided in me about their sobriety. I am so proud of them for realizing that they had a problem, and doing something about it. I am so grateful for Alcoholics Anonymous that helps so many people realize their dreams. I  am such a huge believer in the 12 steps and have found great happiness in my life by following its principles with my codependency. Sometimes just living a normal healthy life is the best accomplishment of all. And really, we all have addictions to overcome. It takes a lot of courage to admit that.

What's your talent?

LG and I share a talent.
We both play the piano.
Kind of.
He sent this video to me this morning.
How cute of him, huh?
I love it when he finds cool things online and sends me the link.
We have a cyber love, what can I say?

I wanted to pay it forward.
So I decided to share the video and tell you that it made me happy for two things today.

One - Harry Potter, the final movie, will soon be here.
Two - He loves the piano like I do.

I remember the first (and quite possibly the only) purchase I ever made from an infomercial. I bought it proudly with my newly obtained credit card. Right off that 800 number. I was 17 and had just gained my independence. And what did I buy? The three set cassette tapes of Masterful Piano. Oh how I loved the variety of the song choice, the beauty of the moods and the tone of the piano. I should have known then that I only needed to consider then men with talent on the keyboard as suitable suitors.

Many things make me happy in this world, but listening to my man play the piano is at the top of the list.

Today, I interviewed again for that same job. This time it is a daytime position that I was encouraged to apply for when they turned me down last time. I humbled myself and endured another interview. I hate selling myself, but I knew I had to do a better job. So I socked it to them. I hope I wasn't overboard.

"What is my greatest strength?" they asked.

"I'm a people person."

It's my talent. What can I say? I can talk to anyone. Sometimes (o.k. oftentimes) I might stick my foot in my mouth, but if you are in my vicinity, I will know something about you before I walk away.

Like today, when I changed my goal of upselling them on the sharpies to upselling them on why they needed me in their call center, the lady interviewer told me that her favorite color sharpie is purple.

If I land the job, I will be taking her a purple sharpie.

Not just because she is cool, but because she laughed when I told her if I had to come for a third round of interviews, I expected a purple sharpie at the desk next time.

Your daily funny

I am trying my darndest to keep you guys entertained.

Smile.

Laugh.

And thank God for all your blessings.

Thank me in a comment. :)

June Visiting Teaching Message

In the Mormon church, we try hard to take care of one another.

One way we do so is through visiting teaching and home teaching.

We visit with each other every month to check in.

We ask, "How are you doing?"

We say, "I sure love you."

We discuss the topic of the month.

I loved the part this month that said, 

"providing for ourselves and others is evidence that we are disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ." ~ Julie B. Beck

Consider yourself visited and taught.

So, how are you doing?

I sure love you.