Category Archives: Inspiration

A different outlook, a new path – my life.

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It’s very easy for me to allow life to get in the way of my faith.  Not a statement I’m very proud of, and definitely not a statement I enjoy being able to say.  But it’s a truth for me.

Today I finally took the plunge and went back to church.  I needed it.  I needed to hear whatever message would be awaiting me – and THANK GOODNESS I did.  Every message in every class was like this amazing breath of fresh air – the kind you didn’t know you really needed until your soul expanded with it.

My journey with church really hasn’t been a very long one.  I just can’t count my childhood experiences with church in my journey, because it wasn’t stable, consistent, nor did it have much of my thoughts and heart into it.  Back in 2007 when my family first started going to church I found myself molding very quickly in the “Mormon” form.  I think that I molded into what was expected of me so quickly that it just was too much for me.  I actually found myself being overwhelmed with it all, and when I’m overwhelmed I tend to want to turn around and walk the other way.

I started to compare myself to others at my church, realize that my thoughts will never be like theirs {funny I even thought I KNEW what their thoughts are}, and found myself not agreeing with certain aspects of the church.  I do 110% with all of my heart and soul believe in the Mormon church – there has never, ever, EVER in my entire life ever held one ounce of doubt on that being what I believe to be the church of Jesus Christ.  HOWEVER…. certain things that the church was putting energy into just really bugged and annoyed me.  One example: Proposition 8 – I don’t believe that our church needed to put forth so much effort in trying to stop gay people from getting married – I don’t share the same views on this as the majority of my church does.  I don’t see anything wrong with allowing them to be married, to be happy – who are we to stop that?  I didn’t like how I felt like certain members held themselves at a higher level than other people.  These were the things I struggled with.

I’ve had a lot of time to ponder things and I think it took me a while to realize that NONE of the above matters.  Those are things that are happening in not only my church, but a heck of a lot of other churches as well.  At the end of the day all that matters is my relationship with Heavenly Father and my example to my children.  I don’t need to worry about the social aspect of the church, the people of the church, some of the things the church does that I don’t agree with – all that matters is that I am there with my children to soak in whatever message Heavenly Father has for me and to give my children the values that I think are important.  And I have no problems with being ME while going to church.  I’m not perfect, I never will be – and I’m not going to change me.  I’ll continue to grow inside and keep the principles that are so important within me, but I’m not going to completely change who I am just to go to church.  I’m going continue watching R rated movies, and reading books that have hot as hell scenes in them.  I’m not going to stop doing the things I don’t have an issue with – and this is what I believe separates me from the majority of the members of my church.

So – I’m here at a new road in this journey, with a different outlook and attitude for it.

I feel so good about how my life is going right now.  Gino and I have been setting some amazing goals to tackle together and are continuing to just grow closer and closer together as a married couple.  Marriage is definitely not a walk in the park, but I feel overwhelmed with thankfulness that we are so blessed to be rewarded with happiness together for sticking with each other through all of the hard times.

The exciting thing about life, is we each have our very own; we each get to direct our own courses.  I love that what’s constraining for me might be an area of expertise on the people close in my life, and vice versa – I love this because together the people who are amazing forces in our lives are people who we can learn so much from.  I hope through my life’s journey I might be able to enlighten my friends and families on values and philosophies that I learn along the way just as I have learned from them – and continue to learn.

I am one lucky person to be surrounded by so many inspiring and selfless people on this journey in life that I am venturing on.  I love each and every one of you who have ever put any sort of profound effect on my life.  Everyone always enters our life for a reason, and Heavenly Father uses us all as tools to help Him do his work on this earth.  I want to be able to look back at my life one day and smile knowing that I was aware of the different lessons and attributes that each soul bestowed into my life.

 

Some of God’s greatest gifts – unanswered prayers

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The days are long, but the years are short.

Funny how true this quote is. Lately it seems like I’m tapping my fingers WAITING for bedtime, then I turn around and wonder how in the world is my baby turning 2 this year?! How in the world is my baby starting Kindergarten this year?! How in the world is my baby turning into such a handsome young man?!

When I was in highschool I had this dreamy vision of my life – New York City, High end accounting firm, living the fast paced life. It WAS going to happen.

Today I haven’t showered, I’ve been in my gym clothes since 3:00pm, pajamas before that – I’m rugged, no makeup ever graced my face, and I’m shocked as all hell that after this day I managed to floss AND brush my teeth today. At around the time that I’d probably be in some gorgeous board room, with exquisite chairs that have foam that remembers how my ass likes to feel in it, I was teaching my child pronouns. My plans changed SO much. My plans that I thought I wanted…. turned into what I realize my true dream was.

I’ve been thinking back on things that I really thought were going to happen, and things I thought I would accomplish by a certain age. My life was planned out by the time I was 16 – I knew who I was going to marry, what college I would be applying to, what career was going to make me the big bucks, and the city I would live in. It’s funny that not ONE of those things have happened. Starting with the boy – it’s amazing to me to see that what I thought was one of the most life crushing heartbreaks of my life, was just the entry way to my true destiny and happiness. What we truly think we deserve in life isn’t always what God has planned out for us – this I’m certain of.

New York City? HA! The town I’m living in I can walk from one end to the other within 15 minutes probably seeing a couple of people I know. There’s only 3 stop lights and there’s a little bar down the street that every once in a while you’ll see a horse parked out in front of. Definitely not New York City.

I don’t regret a single thing. I don’t regret my heart aches, and I definitely don’t regret not living my fast paced life in New York City, because here I sit the mama of 3 of the most beautiful little souls I could have ever asked for. I have been given the blessing to be able to be at home teaching them the things they need to learn from their mama. When I get frustrated in my long days with them, I really need to remember how blessed I am to be able to have them ask me ten million questions, because I could be holed up in an office in the middle of a busy tax time not being able to spend one hour of the day with them. I really need to treasure the messes, the loudness, the cuteness, the frustrations, and every second of my days with them. Because whether I realize it or not, the years are fluttering by fast and soon it will be quiet when once I heard screams, laughter and commotion. I won’t hear the pitter patter of feet running across my ceiling when they’re SUPPOSED to be sleeping. It’ll just be me, my rock star of a husband and our quiet thoughts and memories. These little people of mine have an amazing, fresh start at life that is so full of possibilities, dreams, and wishes. I have to remember that I as their mom have the sole duty of slowing down and making sure that I’m here to fully embrace their desires and help them fulfill their dreams. It is my duty as their mom to not get so frustrated over the little things in life, and the messes that stress me out, because honestly…. what’s the big deal?

All of my plans changed over one boy. One boy who wasn’t in my plans. One boy who swooped in to heal my broken heart. One boy who ended up being the best damn thing that ever happened to me. Together we have formed this life that I can’t help but be so proud of. We’ve got to travel down many different roads together as a couple – some unmarried, unhappy, and ready to throw in the towel – some happy, married and living in bliss. There’s been roads we’ve traveled down that I could have done without, but I know if we didn’t travel down those bumpy, rocky roads and experience the pain and loss and heartaches that we have together, we wouldn’t be us. My life as I know it starts with this boy – this boy I never knew would end up being my soul mate and the best damn partner in this crazy life of mine.

Through all of these detours in my dreams, somehow, some way – one of those dreams has fluttered back into my life. I applied to Southern Oregon University today after spending the last 2 years working towards the credits needed to enter the school of business there to FINALLY reach my dream of becoming a CPA. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever get to this point – kids, a husband, a house to run – but I’m here! I don’t know if we’ll ever end up leaving our little havenous place we’ve found here in Oregon to move to New York for the remainder of my dreams to unfold. No matter what, all that matters is that I have this amazing family of mine backing me up every step of the way.

Some of God’s greatest gifts TRULY are unanswered prayers.

The impact that it had on me was astounding

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I’m raising a sneaky little snake.  Jayden lost his tooth last night and stuck it under his pillow with so much excitement in him I felt it flow through me.  The kid is almost 10 and believes in all the magical things still – including the tooth fairy.  He goes up later that night to go to bed and looks under his pillow to check on his first molar that he’s ever lost, and it was GONE!  After searching EVERYWHERE for it, we decided that he just needed to write the tooth fairy a letter explaining what had happened.  At that point Ella decided that she would go up and help him find it – the little sneaky butt girl led Jayden right to her pillow where his tooth was!

Yesterday I saw Jayden’s sensory issues truly affect him – pretty much broke my heart in two.  We went to a birthday party at a place called Science Works – there was a lot of kids, and a lot of parents, and a lot of noise which all caused Jayden to end up in the corner with his ears plugged. It made me so sad for him, but it made me feel so secure in our decision to bring him home from public school.  I wonder how many times something like that happened at school and how his mom wasn’t there to snatch him up and flee the situation.  I know that there are a lot of kids out there that have this and their parents probably aren’t putting them under a rock like I’m probably doing, but I can’t stand to see my sweet Jayden feeling that way. 

All of the kids at the party looked like they were having so much fun and clicked and connected together – even my Ella – but Jayden was a different story.  He didn’t cling to any of the boys, just played with himself.  I went to some of the exhibits with him and he honestly didn’t care that he was looking at the stuff by himself.  That’s just him – he’s okay with who he is and that some kids probably find him odd.  He told me recently when we were discussing how one of his really good friends at school called him gay that “friends just sometimes are there and sometimes go and do their thing, and that’s okay.”  Saying I’m thankful that God trusted US with HIM is a complete understatement, because I will probably learn more about life through that little boy than I ever could have without him.  And he’s right, friends do come and go and they leave their marks on your heart, teach you a lesson that you needed, and when they’ve served God’s purpose in being in your life they flutter off.  It’s like seasons, they change.  One of my favorite quotes is “Don’t be sad it’s over, be glad it happened.”  I hope that Jayden will be able to keep his optimistic views on life and people that he has forever.  My goodness that boy is amazing.

I was introduced to Stephanie Nielson’s blog {Nie Nie Dialogues} yesterday.  The impact that it had on me was astounding – all of the petty stuff that I’ve been worrying about suddenly felt so insignificant, and the bigger picture of life shone down on me and put chills all over my body and tears in my eyes.  For somebody to have such an enchanting and positive outlook on life after having 80% of their body burned is UH-MA-ZING!   I then went and found her {interview done} on Conversations, which is a Mormon podcast that sealed the deal on my new addiction to her life.  WOW. There are no words that can even explain what that interview can do to your faith and your direction in life.  Yesterday I felt down about all sorts of happenings going on in my life, especially the challenges that Jayden is and will be going through throughout his life – But the Nielson’s story touched me.  It just sheds light on the fact that we can and should find the silver lining in life.   

Spiritual Expedition

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I have this drive inside of me that wants to go on a spiritual expedition. I want to search within the depths of my soul; within the depths of God’s words.

I want to get lost in personal and spiritual growth.

I want to devour in delicious words that feed my inner self.

I want to attain these things while having no other care in the world.

But it’s not possible.

There’s three perfect, beautiful little beings that require about 140% of my attention 24 hours per day. Not to mention a marriage that needs just as much attention so that it remains a marriage. Of course there’s school work that’s due every Friday, and hobbies that brighten my world.

So I’ll attempt to start this journey in addition to the rest of it all.

A little over a year ago I realized that I needed to grow.

I realized that petty stuff was getting more attention that the stuff that mattered.

I realized that I was living my life day by day and not dreaming, not planning, not prioritizing.

I’ve grown a lot since then.  In fact, I don’t think there are enough words to describe the changes that have happened in me.

But I know there’s so much more to grow; so much more to learn.

I’d love suggestions from YOU.  What books have you read that inspired you? What are your favorite scriptures that you can read over and over again?

Just a Motivating Monday ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

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I LOVE inspiring things to motivate me and I thought what better of a day to read inspiration than on dreadful Mondays. If you would like to write something you think will inspire or motivate others PLEASE link up!! I’d love to read your words and I’m sure that others would as well!

Sorry I’m late here, but last night and today were so difficult with little Aliyah so I’m just now getting to posting something inspiring for your Monday.  Aliyah’s doing okay, she just decided to boycott eating throughout the night and a majority of the morning.  It was unenjoyable for the both of us.

My cousin Angel has been posting some great quotes from Martin Luther King Jr. and I thought I’d steal them and use them today.

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.~

Trust me, faith is a hard one.  It’s not something that’s an easy thing to pick up, but it’s something that is an absolute blessing to have in your life.

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

I hope these quotes inspire you in some wonderful way.  Martin Luther King Jr. was an amazing man and his words are so powerful.

Don’t forget that if you have written an inspiring post, PLEASE grab button, spread the word that Motivating Monday does go on and link up!!

Just a Motivating Monday ~ Attitude

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I LOVE inspiring things to motivate me and I thought what better of a day to read inspiration than on dreadful Mondays. If you would like to write something you think will inspire or motivate others PLEASE link up!! I’d love to read your words and I’m sure that others would as well!

Attitude determines how much of the future we are allowed to see. It decides the size of our dreams and influences our determination when we are faced with new challenges. No other person on earth has dominion over our attitude. People can affect our attitude by teaching us poor thinking habits or unintentionally misinforming us, or providing us with negative sources of influence, but no one can control our attitude unless we voluntarily surrender that control. ~ Jim Rohn

I think my favorite part of the about quote is No other person on earth has dominion over our attitude. Our attitudes are the one thing that we have COMPLETE control over. When our attitudes turn sour, there is no one to blame but ourselves. We are so fortunate to be able to rise above the norm and compose ourselves with an good attitude even towards the crappiest things, because it’s our choice….. that’s it!  We can choose to have a good attitude or a bad attitude.  Choosing bad only hurts us, so why not choose a good attitude and thrive?

Last week was not a good week for me. Actually, I think the past few weeks have been rather difficult. Saturday I woke up and here’s a snippet from my personal facebook page:

Amanda Reese Garibay
Raspberry hot chocolate, a better attitude than I had yesterday {by choice 😉 or maybe an effect of the hot chocolate} Today IS going to be a good day.
Yesterday at 10:27 · · Like · Comment

I made the conscious decision that my attitude was going to change and my day was going to be much better than the prior days were, and you know what ~ it worked. Saturday was a fantastic day! The main thing that I focused on all day was how I was feeling, the minute I started feeling annoyed or upset or anything along those line I checked my attitude. Our feelings are an amazing hint to our attitude.

With the right attitude we can conquer just about anything.

And as Andy Andrews said:

A positive attitude will make you feel better. And it will annoy enough people to really make it worth the effort!

Just a Motivating Monday

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I LOVE inspiring things to motivate me and I thought what better of a day to read inspiration than on dreadful Mondays. If you would like to write something you think will inspire or motivate others PLEASE link up!! I’d love to read your words and I’m sure that others would as well!

Your future is not determined by the conditions around you.  It is determined by your faith, your choices, and your efforts. ~ Elder Paul V. Johnson

The turn of a new year is so fresh, so flawless and it’s the PERFECT opportunity to start working on the power of your choices.  You’re choosing to have a fresh start New Years, right?  So why not choose to start living your life the way you dream to?  Why not choose to happiness?  Why not choose to be the person that you want to be.

These things are so easily in our grasp, but we fail to choose them.  We spend most of our lives choosing to be everything that we don’t want to be.  Don’t forget, when you’re living your life the way that you don’t want to be living it – it’s a choice.

Living our dream life takes effort, you can’t expect different results by doing the same thing you’re doing now…… right?  I believe that would be the definition of insanity.

You have to have faith in yourself. You have to believe that you can achieve whatever it is that you are setting your mind out to accomplish.  Having faith is so important in the realm of life.  Whether you believe in God or not, without faith you aren’t believing in anything ~ including yourself.  You have to have faith in order to choose happiness, you have to have faith in order to choose your dream life.

Don’t let the negativity that surrounds you shape you.  Don’t let the mess of our government affect you.  Make your life YOUR life and CHOOSE to live it to its fullest potential.

The bad news is the past was in your hands, but the good news is that the future, my friend, is also in your hands.. ~ Andy Andrews



Just a Motivating Monday

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I LOVE inspiring things to motivate me and I thought what better of a day to read inspiration than on dreadful Mondays. If you would like to write something you think will inspire or motivate others PLEASE link up!! I’d love to read your words and I’m sure that others would as well!

It’s been so long since I’ve done Motivating Monday, but it’s back! One of my favorite books that I think every single person alive should read is called {The Traveler’s Gift by Andy Andrews}. Today for Just a Motivating Monday I wanted to share a quote out of it that sang to my heart when I read it.

“Circumstances do not push or pull. They are daily lessons to be studied and gleaned for new knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge and wisdom that is applied will bring about a brighter tomorrow. A person who is depressed is spending too much time thinking about the way things are now and not enough time thinking about how he wants things to be.”

I know that when we go through a hard time in our lives it’s hard to not dwell and focus on just that. Changing our focus to how we would rather things be going turns a negative situation into a positive one. Focusing on what lesson we can learn from our hard times only betters our lives in the future.

I’m hoping that this quote inspires you in some way in your life.  And I hope if you have some inspiring words or posts that you’ll link them up!  I love to read inspiring things.

Just a Motivating Monday ~ a marriage post

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**Just a Motivating Monday Button will be uploaded later**
If you’re just joining in:

I LOVE inspiring things to motivate me and I thought what better of a day to read inspiration than on dreadful Mondays. If you would like to write something you think will inspire or motivate others PLEASE link up!! I’d love to read your words and I’m sure that other’s would as well!

Editing to add that I am submitting this in for my Pour Your Heart Out post for the week.


 
Lately there have been some things happening in a marriage to a couple I know, not close with, but I know them. I know the details of their marriage through an individual who is close with me and close with them. {can’t give details on who it is exactly for their privacy}

Their marriage is in utter turmoil. A girl has entered into the man’s life, a girl who has no respect for family or marriage, and this man is willing to just throw away his MARRIAGE over some young girl who will walk away from him when the drama of his wife finding out starts. For now they’re just both enjoying the excitement of LUST nothing more than just that. While they’re enjoying this, there’s a wife at home with a baby that has no idea.

No idea that the man who is supposed to stick with her through thick and thin, for better for worse is planning to end their marriage over a girl that it is in my best interest to not describe my opinion of her, because I am better than that. 

When learning of the events going on currently in this marriage I can’t help but feel sad. I haven’t always been an advocate of making your marriage work. My marriage by no means has ever been perfect ~ in fact we’ve had problems in the past that would make your head spin and most people run to the family courts for divorce papers.

But we’re here.

We’re happy.

We’re not perfect, but we know that our marriage matters. We know that our children matter. We know that there is no force out there that can interfere with our happiness. Period. There is nothing too big that we can’t talk and work through. Resorting outside of our marriage is not an option. Period.

These people are not friends of mine, and I don’t know why it’s bothering me so much, but it is. It’s made me reflect A LOT on marriage and has me very grateful for mine and the small problems it contains.

My heart aches for his wife. I’m sure she’s not perfect in her marriage, probably has taken him for granted for the most part, but all it takes is a little communication. TALK! If you’re having issues in your marriage roll up your sleeves and get to work on it. Don’t be a coward and go find the first young home wrecker and destroy your family.
At the end of the day…. Your immediate family is ALL YOU HAVE. Friends come and go, extended family even comes and goes, LUST comes and goes…. It’s what is under your roof that will love you unconditionally, be there for you when you need it the most. So, doesn’t that deserve the most devotion and work from you?
I’m posting this as my Just a Motivating Monday post because for some reason this situation is motivating me in a weird way to pay extra special attention to my marriage.  It’s making me think A LOT on what’s important in life, in family, in marriage, in parenting ~ a whole mess of thoughts are going on through my mind. 

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Just a Motivating Monday

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If you’re just joining in:


I LOVE inspiring things to motivate me and I thought what better of a day to read inspiration than on dreadful Mondays.  If you would like to write something you think will inspire or motivate others PLEASE link up!!  I’d love to read your words and I’m sure that other’s would as well!  

I need a major dose of POSITIVITY! I am such a firm believer that our lives are what we create.  So, if this is what I believe, then why don’t I always practice this?  HUMAN.  I’m completely human and sometimes I let some negativity overtake my thoughts and then in my life starts to reflect my negativity.

I’m in the middle of reading an amazing book and there was a quote from it I can’t stop thinking about.

“The bad news is your past was in your hands.  But the good news is your future is in your hands as well.”

I can absolutely look at my decisions from my past and see why I am where I am in my life.  I can also see where I chose wrong and that I need to NOT repeat any decisions or actions that just made my future into what I didn’t want it to be like.

I do know that if we can focus our thoughts on positivity and our dreams we can achieve amazing results.  I know this, and sadly I haven’t been putting my energy into this.  I need this to change, so from today forward I’m going to make it a goal of mine to watch my thoughts, make sure I’m sending out positive frequencies so I can get positive results.

Lately I haven’t been reading any self improving books, which I truly believe helps shape our lives.  Today I chose to get my first Kindle book (can you believe I have had a DROID since February and haven’t put the Kindle app on it yet?!?!  CRAZY!) and I chose {The Traveler’s Gift by Andy Andrews}.  Probably the best decision I’ve made in my life in the past few months.  It’s amazing what a few positive, life changing words can do to your state of mind.  If you’ve never read this book before I HIGHLY SUGGEST GETTING IT!

I hope that today’s post will help you in some way to start being aware of your thoughts, because I truly do believe that they shape our lives.