Our Song

It's my first Valentine's Day being married to the love of my life.  To honor our relationship, I'm posting the words to our song, "Then" by Brad Paisley.

I remember, trying not to stare the night that I first met you
You had me mesmerized
And three weeks later, in the front porch light
taking forty-five minutes to kiss goodnight
I hadn't told you yet
but I thought I loved you then

And now you're my whole life
now you're my whole world
I just can't believe the way I feel about you, girl
Like a river meets the sea,
stronger than it's ever been.
We've come so far since that day
And I thought I loved you then

And i remember, taking you back to right where I first met you,
You were so surprised
There were people around, but I didn't care
Got down on one knee right there once again,
I thought I loved you then

And now you're my whole life
now you're my whole world
I just can't believe the way I feel about you, girl
Like a river meets the sea,
stronger than it's ever been.
We've come so far since that day
And I thought I loved you then

I could just see you, with a baby on the way
And I could just see you, when your hair is turning gray
What I can't see is how I'm ever gonna love you more
But I've said that before

And now you're my whole life
now you're my whole world
I just can't believe the way I feel about you, girl
We'll look back someday, at this moment that we're in
And I'll look at you and say
And I thought I loved you then
And I thought I loved you then

I thought I couldn't love my husband any more than I did the day he proposed, but by the time our marriage date arrived, I realized that I loved him even more. And now, my love for him increases every day. He does so many little things to show make me feel cherished and protected. I couldn't ask for a better man to share the rest of eternity with.

How about you? What's your favorite love song and why?

My Cover!

I've been patiently (sort of ) waiting to see the cover for my new book, I'll Know You by Heart.   I was busily rushing around yesterday and didn't check my email until late last night, and little did I know, but it was sitting in my email inbox most of the day. 

I've received some interesting feedback, both positive and negative.  Let me know what you think.

The Week in Words

Since I started following The Week in Words, I've been more aware of how many amazing words are around us every day. I have read so many inspiring things this past week, it's difficult to know what to share with you.

I belong to a writing group called LDStorymakers. It's a very supportive group of like-minded writers. This week one member asked how to overcome a writing slump. She received tons of great advice, but I would like to share one bit of wisdom from Linda Garner that spoke directly to me.

"And don't forget to pray. Ask Heavenly Father why He gave you the gift of words and the tools to use them. Ask Him what He wants you to say. You'll find your voice, again."

What great advice! In any area of your life, ask Heavenly Father why He gave you your talents and what He would like you to do with them. To see other blog posts with The Week in Words, visit Breath of Life.

Linda Garner is the author of Some Secrets Hurt. To read more about the book and Linda, check out her website.

Friday's Fave Five!

My current life circumstances have given me more time to spend in blogland.  I've met some amazing people I never would have met without the internet, and they've brought untold blessings into my life--mostly unbeknownst to them.  You never know how your words will affect someone else's life.

One of those new friends is Susanne at Living to Tell the Story.  She holds a fun meme every Friday, called Friday Fave Five.  If you'd like to participate, you can read more about the details here.  In short, think back over your week and post your five favorite things from the week.  It can be anything--quotes, posts, pictures, recipes, internet finds, etc.  Then go back to Susanne's blog where you can read other bloggers fave five lists and add your link to Mr. Linky. 

Here are my fave five for the week:

1)  I found a great website that has over 500 FREE scrapbooking and handwriting fonts.  You can check it out here.  You'll be glad you did.  The new fonts on my blog came from there.

2)  I got glowing reports from my children's teachers at Parent Teacher conferences this week.  Makes me feel like I might just be doing something right as a parent.  Or they just came that way.  Probably the latter.

3)  I woke up this morning to a clean house.  Okay--a ten and eleven year old's version of a clean house, but nevertheless, cleaner than it was when I went to bed.  My son is getting baptized tomorrow and we have oodles of people coming over for lunch afterward, so their efforts were much appreciated.  Thanks, Josh and Dakota!

4)  My cute friend, Ali, keeps me smiling with her new Ask Ali Vlogs.  Check them out here.  She's so creative and talented.

5)  I'm grateful for the hours from midnight to three a.m.  It's the time when the house is quiet, and I can snuggle in my husbands arms as we talk over the day.  The lack of sleep is oh-so-worth-it.  It makes me feel that all is right with the world.

I hope your Friday is as fabulous as mine seems to be so far.  :)

Honest Scrap!

My darling friend, Elizabeth Mueller, recently gave me two awards, Honest Scrap, and The Lovely Blog award.  For those who don't know Elizabeth, check out her blog.  She is super talented.  Her blog posts always inspire me, and she throws in plenty of fun as well.  Not only is she a great writer, she is an amazing artist.  You can see some of her artwork here.

For the Honest Scrap award, I'm supposed to share 10 honest facts about me.  I'll try to come up with things you might not already know. 

1)  I LOVE reality TV.  I know it's a big waste of time, but I can't help myself.  Currently, I'm watching The Bachelor, The Biggest Loser, and American Idol.

2)  If I'm at home, I'm usually wearing pajamas.  Okay, I admit, I wear them to Walmart too. 

3)  People often think I'm snotty, but I'm just uncomfortable in social settings, so I avoid people if at all possible.  (Any tips on overcoming this are more than welcome.)

4)  I love colorful, crazy socks.  My husband tells me they don't match what I'm wearing, but I don't really care.

5)  I sometimes feel guilty that I don't seem as passionate about writing as some of my friends.  I like it--I really do--it's just not my first priority.

6)  I'm a high-school dropout.  Gasp!  Okay, I finished later and even got a Bachelor degree, so that makes up for the follies of my youth.  Right??

7)  I generally get along better with men than women.  I don't really have any girl friends I can just hang out with.  (Working on this one, though!)

8.  I love being with my teenage kids and their friends.  They make life fun and interesting.  Maybe I just need to grow up?  Ya think?

9.  I am Directionally challenged.  I would get terribly lost without my darling husband.  Never take me into the middle of a city and drop me off.  I'd be lost forever.

10.  I love, love, love to learn new things.  If I'm not constantly trying to figure out something new, I go crazy.  My latest attempt is trying to learn html so that I can make all my blogs cool.  You'll be seeing some new blogs from me as I practice all the new things I'm learning.

Now I get to pass this fun (??) award on to 5 unsuspecting bloggers:

Keith Fisher 

Nichole Giles

Tristi Pinkston

Heather Justesen

(Okay, I cheated!  These are the members of my critique group.)

And one more:

C.L. Beck (Cuz she's so dang funny!)

Happy Birthday, Heather!

Today is Heather Justesen's birthday.  I've known Heather for almost two years.  She is a member of my Super Edits critique group.  If you don't know her, you should really put that on your list of things to do.  She is one AMAZING WOMAN!!

I'm not exactly sure how she does it all.  She's a wife, works two part-time jobs, fixes computers, bakes and decorates unbelievable cakes, and moonlights as a zookeeper (dogs, cats, geese, fish, ducks, chickens, turkeys, guineas).  I'm really not sure how she manages to find time to write, but she does--in copious amounts, and extremely well.  Not only that, she drives and hour and a half each way to attend our critique group.  Is she crazy? 

Maybe so, but all her hard work has paid off.  Her debut novel, The Ball's in Her Court, was released in October and has been a huge success.  You can read my review of it here.  Her second novel, Rebound, is slated for release in the summer of 2010.   

If you want to learn more about her, or wish her a HAPPY BIRTHDAY, you can visit her at her website or blog.

Happy Birthday, Heather!  I'm grateful for your friendship.

The Week in Words

Because of this meme, as I read this week, I paid closer attention, looking for things that were inspiring that I could share with you.  I found many, but wanted to share the one that was most meaningful to me.

"There are a lot of distractions in the world. We have people telling us left and right how we should be. What we should think. That we should act or dress a certain way to be accepted. We listen. We participate, trying to fit in. Into what? Why? Because the one thing we want more than anything else is to feel accepted, appreciated, included—that we are loved. The reality that often eludes us is that we are already loved and accepted in the most divine way—by God—completely and forever. What can top that?"

Cynthia Legette Davis from Peace in Us

I've done a lot of self-reflection over the last few weeks.  Because my book is coming out, I'm trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I'm going to have to promote myself--in public--gasp!  It is so far out of my comfort zone, and I know I'm going to need my Heavenly Father's help to do it. 

This quote reminded me that He loves me exactly as I am.  Does that mean He doesn't want me to stretch, and learn, and grow?  No.  In fact, He knows exactly what I'm capable of becoming.  I pray with His help I can do all that is ahead of me and come out knowing that I've made Him proud.

To see more inspirational quotes from this weeks' Week in Words, visit Breath of Life.