Living Life To The Fullest
What is your mission?
You know what I really strive for……I really try to give some peace back into peoples lives.
My mission is to alleviate some of the stress and chaos that one has in their life.
To give hope.
I understand the fragility of this life and I want to give people back their time. At least I try to.
This is why I write. Ultimately it’s to help others. To give people more beauty and color and freedom.
Doesn’t the world need that?
I was listening to a podcast the other day with Andrew Huberman and Dr. Jordan Peterson. At one point, Dr. Peterson said, “Order is the antidote to chaos.”
I just loved that.
Synonyms for order include words like sequence, organization, and arrangement. Synonyms for antidote are remedy or cure.
Ponder that for a moment: Order is the antidote to chaos. Organization is medicine for disorder, disarray, and confusion.
In other words, take a look around—what does your home look like? Your car? Your desk? Your bedroom? Even more importantly, what’s going on in your mind?
The cure is decluttering. The cure is setting a routine. The cure is giving everything a home. The cure is embracing the philosophy of less is more. The cure is, quite simply, to “get your life in order.”
As a mother of four, I’ve learned just how necessary order is in our household—not only for myself but for my children and their well-being. They may not fully understand the impact of their surroundings, but I do. When there’s order, there’s peace, and that peace benefits everyone in the home.
By establishing order, it’s possible to alleviate, or even eliminate, things like anxiety and depression—or at the very least, to minimize them. A great reward awaits when you take the responsibility to bring order into your life. It isn’t always easy, but it’s absolutely worth it.
Take the time to find order, and you’ll discover more clarity, focus, and peace.
I recently started reading Different Kinds of Minds by Temple Grandin. It’s incredibly insightful and thought-provoking. In one part of the book, she shared a fascinating rat study. Researchers found that rats who had to dig up their treats became far more resilient when faced with challenges compared to rats who were simply handed their treats.
The rats who didn’t have to work for their reward gave up more easily when obstacles appeared.
What an eye-opening observation!
This speaks to a universal truth: challenges and failures aren’t bad things—they’re vital. They build strength, resilience, and perseverance. Struggle teaches us to appreciate the rewards of our effort.
The hard work, the setbacks, and even the failures are what shape us. They’re the chisels that carve out our character and growth.
So remember, with growth comes failure—and that’s how it’s meant to be. Failure isn’t the end. It’s a stepping stone to something greater.
Tell us one thing you hope people say about you.
One thing…..
Hmm…….
I would hope people say that I am luminous in a way.
I choose that word because I do want to be a light for people, especially for the ones I love.
I want them to feel comfortable, safe, loved, seen, heard, believed….every time they are in my presence.
Anytime someone is in my company I would want them to leave feeling hopeful in some type of way.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding
Proverbs 3:5-6
As I witness my children grow, I also witness their world expand.
They ask more questions, are hesitant on their choice of words, they remain curious, and there is more confidence that I see.
As their world begins to take a shape they believe they understand it all. The connections are beginning to take place. Children are incredible observers. Since they do not have much life experience they are able to hyper focus on what’s in front of them.
It’s like they see things through a magnifying glass.
I think deep down they know they don’t know everything but who wants to admit that. Even adults don’t want to admit that.
To have been a child and then to an adult is humbling to say the least on how ignorant and innocent we were. How much we really didn’t know.
But also recognizing that in a way we are still very much children but in these “adult” bodies.
What is it that we don’t know yet but will find out soon enough? Or, what do we think we know but really are only sitting at the top of the iceberg?
I believe many of us lay in our beds just wondering. Wondering all sorts of things.
Wondering. Wondering. Wondering.
And it’s frustrating that we don’t have the answers. We have a difficult time trying to figure out where to start looking too.
But what if, we just aren’t ready. We just aren’t there yet.
We have to wait.
And we can wait with frustration or we can wait with confidence because that is how much we trust God.
Surrendering to God is not a one time thing. It is something we must do daily.
We have to give all those anxious thoughts and worries to God and know that God is guiding us.
This world if full of pain and sadness as many of us know and we cannot endure this place without Gods hand. We need Him. You need him. He waits for us.
This I do believe.
What You Need:
3 poblano peppers
2 teaspoons of minced garlic
A handful of cilantro
2 cups of hot water
1 tablespoon of chicken bullion seasoning
1/3 cup of Mexican cream
1/3 of a block of cream cheese
1 small onion chopped
Steps:
That’s it!
My favorite way to enjoy this sauce is with some cooked shrimp and rice on the side. Mix the shrimp with the sauce and then scatter shredded Monterey cheese and broil until nice and melted.
OR, this taste great with some spaghetti noodles and shredded rotisserie chicken. Top with cilantro!
Enjoy!
List your top 5 grocery store items.
lol, the is a silly one. I like it.
Now I’m going to go read yours!!! 🙂
Have you ever performed on stage or given a speech?
Sure, I’ve done stuff like school dance recitals and little plays here and there but what sticks out the most to me is the talks I would get called to do in church.
I was pretty active in religious activities during a few high school years at the Latter Day Saints Church.
Every Sunday, your bishop speaks—shares something spiritual—followed by members of the church (all ages) who get to speak and share something as well.
When you are called to give a “talk” the bishop usually pulls you aside and asks if you can give a talk on forgiveness, grace, gratitude, etc. Whatever really.
And you do have the choice to accept or decline but I always accepted because I guess, it felt right.
I honestly didn’t mind whenever I got an opportunity to talk to the whole church because you were really listened to.
If we want to dig deeper on that, that could be in fact why I did enjoy it. I was being heard, where at home I felt ignored. It wasn’t like my parents didn’t talk to me, it was all just surface level conversations. We never talked about hard stuff. I was always just given books to inform me. The stuff I wanted to discuss in person just didn’t happen.
Anyways after you gave your talk people afterwards would come up and make polite remarks about what you shared. Truthfully, I enjoyed it.
Interesting though where we find strength and comfort in talking to a whole group or audience versus talking in front of a group of peers at school (highschool/college).
That’s another story. Never enjoyed those.
What is something others do that sparks your admiration?
What sparks my admiration in others is their willingness to be vulnerable.
There’s something profoundly beautiful about someone revealing a raw, intimate side of themselves. It takes courage to truly let others see you. I believe some people would rather get physically naked in front of a stranger than emotionally exposed, it’s that terrifying to some.
But when someone allows themselves to be raw, it creates this type of bridge. It’s in those moments of vulnerability that I feel the strongest connections to others. I love hearing their stories, understanding their experiences, and seeing the world through their eyes.
Maybe that’s why I’m so drawn to memoirs, they’re a window into someone’s truth, a reflection of their courage to share the parts of themselves that are often hidden. When people share those things willingly, I can’t help but feel a deep admiration for them. Vulnerability, to me, is one of the most beautiful acts of bravery.
Traumas in your life are the very difficult emotions that you processed alone.
Reread that, and think about that for a moment.
.
.
.
A trauma that I have been healing from for the past couple of years now has been my adoption story.
I was adopted into a family with no connection to any of my biological relatives. I felt incredibly alone for many, many years. Discussing my adoption was taboo; it was as if I were an apple tree trying to grow in an orange grove, and nobody ever acknowledged that I was, indeed, different.
It wasn’t until 29 years later that I met any of my biological family. That’s 29 years of trying to process everything by myself. It’s been a journey—a lifelong one—and it still is.
When I had my own child, I truly believed I could finally put my adoption story behind me. I thought I wouldn’t feel so alone anymore. And, in a way, having my daughter did bring healing, but only temporarily.
Then, when my daughter was 10 months old, we fostered and later adopted my sister-in-law’s daughter, who was just one year old at the time. While fostering her, so many repressed emotions resurfaced—emotions I had buried deep within myself for decades. They came flooding back, sending me into a depression. I couldn’t escape my story. I couldn’t escape myself. I couldn’t escape “adoption/adoptee/adopted” And I hated it.
I didn’t want to feel this pain anymore, but I had no idea what to do. I just knew I could no longer ignore this. Now having a new type of adoption story with actually adopting I knew this had to be dealt with. And I knew if I wanted to be the mother that I wanted to be to my children then I had work to do.
Eventually, I surrendered and accepted that this really was a part of my identity—not my whole self, but a huge part of me. And that’s when the healing journey began.
The traumas we experience cannot be erased, but we can learn how to identify and understand them. Only then can we begin to heal from them.
One way to begin healing is by acknowledging what you went through, validating your experience, and sharing it with others. It’s not enough to think about it in silence. You need to talk about it. Take what’s swirling in your mind and articulate it into words.
For years, I thought I was alone, but I’ve learned through my own journey that I never really was. I’ve also learned how many people out there suffer in silence, just as I did.
I want you to know: You are not alone. There’s so much strength in sharing your truth, in finding connection through the pain. Healing doesn’t mean erasing your story; it means finally allowing yourself to be seen, to be heard, and to be whole.
The Wild Gems 