Don't Back Down

I am a believer that there are many things that happen in life that do have significant meaning, if we but look, listen and learn. After tonight i won't back down!

BE inspired. Watch this and... Stand Your Ground!

I have malice for no one. I am strong. I follow my conscience and stand up for what is in my heart. I wish the same for you in your journey!

Steppin' Up

To BE RESPONSIBLE! And whom are we responsible to i ask? Is it to our parents, boss, employees, children, spouses, siblings, friends, teachers, coaches? And what are we truly responsible for?

ahhh, if only it worked this way....

I will be drafting a "responsibility/ job description" for myself, my manager and my new to-be-hired front desk coordinator this weekend. After 25 years of business this is definitely no new task, but things change, in business and in life, so we go back to the drawing board, so to speak. If others change, I believe i step up to the plate and change too. It's not always easy, it is what is required for success and happiness. It's never about changing who we ARE or our integrity, it is about personal growth and taking on the challenges life sets before us.

I ask... "In life what am i really responsible for? Now? right now, because that's all that matters." Again things change. They always do. My boys are grown, does that make me less responsible as a mother? I think not! I just parent differently now. The days of reminding them to brush their teeth are over, if they haven't learned that by now, they ain't never be gettin' married cause they's be havin' bad breath! 

These days i talk with my boys several times a week, i know what is going on in their lives, what troubles them, what successes they are having, how their relationships are going, the days of 'shoulding' all over them are over. I mourn with them and i celebrate with them. I laugh with them and i cry with them.  My 3 boys live life deeply and i share it with them. How lucky and how blessed am i that they allow me in!

I had a conversation with a friend the other night, a truly wonderful friend. True friends are the ones who you can count on to be: in your face honest with you, not pass judgment, there for you during good times and bad, love you in spite of yourself, and above all, you know you can trust them to have your back--no matter what. These friends are few, Cherish them and be responsible to their loyalty.

I take care of myself now. All the Fall Guys have left, and in truth, there never really was one. In truth, be careful, cause there never really is, unless you believe in God.

A caution to women, you MUST have a means of taking care of yourself and your family if necessary...things change...and then again...some things never do, 

What's hiding be Hind the Expert?

  It is a Sunday afternoon; I sit peacefully in my living room with Zion faithfully at my feet.

 

Crazy times with fam at 4th of July parade

It has been a week full of fun, laughing, visiting family, talks with my boys, long hours working, disappointment and hope.

I have attended parades, parties,
been in a court room, conducted meetings, reconciled bank accounts, posted payroll and played affectionately with the Grandogs.

I have wondered...the Ups and down(er)s of life, "are we pro-active or re-active to them?" I ask myself this question and i ask it of those i choose to be involved with. You may do the same?

I live deeply and passionately, no matter the direction life is taking. I love life. I am blessed with spirit and challenges that exercise my strengths. I ask myself, "what and whom am i responsible to? How can i improve my life and positively effect and influence those around me?" Being pro-active in the affirmative to answering these questions make me happy, even if circumstances and situations are not perfect.

You JUST MAY not know EVERYTHING

I don't live in a perfect world. If you do, could you invite me in to visit for but a moment? Interesting question because everyone has their own definition of "perfect" and possibly, just possibly... everyone views it differently?! What i find interesting and quite comical in a room full of 'EXPERTS' on any given subject is, how arrogant and opinionated they may become!

To put oneself in another persons shoes is compassion. To evaluate or judge without experience is egotism.

As for me, I am approaching my 49th birthday with great zeal, knowing that the more i learn the less i know; the more life i face willingly the more authentic i become.





I wish you enough challenges to make you strong;

enough humble pie to teach you to cry,

enough sun and children in your life to make you smile...











and of course...a dog that pierces your heart so even when you're grumpy, you feel love. All ways.

















Lori~

High Winds on the Yellow Brick Road

Last Thursday December 1, 2011 was an unusual day for Utahn's, particularly in Davis County. As I drove to and from the University of Utah I was thinking, "could I be in Kansas or better yet could I wake up in Oz?" But naaaa, no yellow brick roads around here, just another day of dodging shrapnel from the latest wind storm. This one was a bad one.

I-15 littered with semi-trucks on their sides.

Greasy side up!

Wrong place. Wrong time. Definitely.

So do you consider yourself lucky, unlucky, blessed, better, worse, privileged, ahhh, not so much if you were the owner of this car. How about the truck driver's who got the protected spots under the bridges? Lucky? Were they smart or did they get there first, maybe both.

As i tossed about in my low profile car quite confident, although shaky, i still felt safe. Then i thought about the vulnerability of these unsuspecting truck drivers innocently passing through this stretch of highway, only to be tipped completely over or halted for hours. The line of high profile trucks stopped along the side of the freeway was nearly comical. Do they still use CB's these days? "HEY good buddy, you got your ears on? Cuz there's a whole lotta greasy side up..."

As a child one of the scariest movies I watched repeatedly was the Wizard of Oz. I was terrified by the Wicked Witch, even though I knew the outcome, I still had that anxious and scared feeling throughout the movie. It has taken me a life time, as i now close in on 50 to face my fears, step up to all my responsibilities, and weather out the storms that come when least expected. I suppose I have always had this strength, I just now earned enough life lessons to get my red ruby slippers.

These things skip through my mind...are some born wearing red ruby slippers? Does this entitle them to privileges above others? Do some never get any slippers at all, possibly because they never even considered they were good enough to wear slippers, let alone red ruby ones? What entitles or differentiates one soul from another? I may have to travel to Oz to figure that one completely out. 

One thing I do know, Dorothy was lucky to have Toto...