Category Archives: Faith

Jayden’s Baptism

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We believe in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints that children are innocent and do not fully understand the difference between right and wrong until they reach the age of 8. Baptism is for the remission of sins, and a very special ordinance between Heavenly Father and yourself. We wait to baptize until the age of 8, because before this age you really haven’t sinned, or understand what commitments you are making with Heavenly Father.


With that being said…. on April 10,2010 Jayden entered the waters of baptism, and it was such a wonderful and special day. We had the honor of having my Grandfather, Jayden’s Great-Grandfather come up from California and baptize him. It was absolutely special!

We had great friends that all showed up to witness this special day for Jayden. We sang a couple of his favorite primary songs and had delicious chocolate cake afterwards. One thing I’ll never forget is when he stepped into the baptismal font he says “HOT!” and then after he got baptized he actually started swimming in the water! Oh that boy keeps me laughing.

Jayden & his Great-Grandpa


I’m so proud of you, Jayden, for the decision that you have made.  I know that the decision that you made was the right one, and I know in my heart that this church is true…. and I’m so proud of you for taking this journey to discover it on your own.  I love you so much and I hope that you always follow your heart and listen to the Holy Spirit, because he will NOT steer you wrong…. I can promise you that.  Your relationship with Heavenly Father is such a personal one, and I hope you strive to strengthen it and grow closer and closer to him and soak in his teachings.  I love you so much.  Love, Mama
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His First Meeting with Bishop

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The first part of this post really isn’t my Pour Your Heart Out ~ it’s more towards the end.  I originally didn’t write this post as a Pour Your Heart Out post, but realized that towards the end that’s kinda what I did 🙂  




We’ve set the baptism date {this Saturday, 5:00pm LDS church in Ashland on Clay Street} So, if you didn’t know about it, now you know about it. You can consider this your invitation 🙂


A picture of my favorite LDS Temple in SLC ~ Jayden loved going to this temple


Today Jayden had to go talk with the Bishop like every member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints gets to do before baptism. When we set the appointment I thought to myself… ‘Uh oh! Does Jayden even know what he’s doing?! Why he’s getting baptized?! What the heck this all means?!’ So, we sat down to ask him a few questions to see how much he knew. Even though he goes to church, loves Jesus, loves God knows that the Holy Ghost is a good thing and not a creepy thing…. he really didn’t have a clue.

I’ve tried to explain it to the best of my abilities, and I was very pleased today when he got out of his appointment with the Bishop that Bishop said… “He did great! Answered all the questions I had right.” THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! I really didn’t think he was paying attention to the things I was telling him.

I’m so excited for my handsome, little man.

I look at our lives 5 years ago, when Jayden was only 3 and wow, what a difference. I never would have thought in a million years we’d be where we are at in our lives. I never thought in a million years I’d be back at church let alone bringing my entire family with me. I never thought I’d be planning my son’s baptism. 5 years is a HUGE difference. 5 years ago my marriage was on the rocks, 5 years ago I never thought my family would last…. and now look at us. It makes me smile and makes feel so proud of US, because we did this together ~ and it makes me borderline emotional to think about it.  I think that we have the church to thank for where we are at in our lives right now, because it gave us the missing piece in our lives that we never knew we were missing.  It’s really funny how that can happen, how you can discover that when you thought your life was complete it really wasn’t.  Just another interesting little weirdness about life.


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Just a Motivating Monday – Quote by Julie Beck

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If you’re just joining in:
-Write a blog post about ANYTHING at all that inspires you, or something you feel will inspire others. 

-Please link back to Garibay Soup 

-Please snag my Just a Motivating button on your post.

-I hope that we can all go and visit each other’s blogs and read what everyone has linked up ~ I hope that this carnival can bring more traffic for you 🙂 So, spread the comment love!


“A good woman knows that she does not have enough time, energy, or opportunity to take care of all of the people or do all of the worthy things her heart yearns to do. Life is not calm for most women, and each day seems to require the accomplishment of a million things, most of which are important. A good woman must constantly resist alluring and deceptive messages from many sources telling her that she is entitled to more time away from her responsibilities and that she deserves a life of greater ease and independence. But with personal revelation, she can prioritize correctly and navigate this life confidently.”

A powerful quote by Sister Julie Beck that really touched home with me.  I just wanted to leave this simple for you to reflect on your own.  If you’d like to read her talk in its entirety {CLICK HERE}

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Just a Motivating Monday – Quotes from LDS Conference

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If you’re just joining in:
-Write a blog post about ANYTHING at all that inspires you, or something you feel will inspire others. 

-Please link back to Garibay Soup 

-Please snag my Just a Motivating button on your post.

-I hope that we can all go and visit each other’s blogs and read what everyone has linked up ~ I hope that this carnival can bring more traffic for you 🙂 So, spread the comment love!


It’s hard to put into words what I experienced this weekend. One thing I wanted to do for Just a Motivating Monday is share some very heart touching quotes that came from the semi-annual conference that the members of the LDS church get to experience.

This weekend the conference seemed to be based on families, parenting, motherhood. Things that I feel I personally needed to be strengthened on. The words that were spoken this weekend spoke straight into my heart.
“The most important work you will ever do are within the walls of your own home.” ~Elder Ballard

“Hold your tongues about things that don’t matter.” 
 ~Elder Ballard

The two above quotes by Elder Ballard really touched me.  How many of us sometimes put what’s in our home 2nd?  I as a mother needed to hear this ~ what work we put into our families is the most important, and I need to put more effort into ensuring that we are all growing spiritually together.  In this life NOTHING should ever be more important than your family, and passing on your faith, wisdom, and knowledge to your children so they can take that with them throughout their lives.  It is our divine responsibility to teach our children about Jesus, and the gospel.

The 2nd quote ~ There are so many things that don’t matter, so why do I even talk about them?  This quote I REALLY needed to hear, and am so thankful that I did.

“Every person we meet is a VIP to our Heavenly Father.”
 ~ President Uchtdorf
“A tattered & worn $20 bill is still worth $20.00. ~ I am beat, worn, torn & crumpled, but I still have worth.” 
~ President Uchtdorf
“We can speak of love all day long, but until we manifest that love into action, our words are nothing.”
 ~President Uchtdorf
“Jesus talked the talk and walked the walk, but he walked louder than he talked.” 
~ President Uchtdorf 

President Uchtdorf is one of my most favorite talkers.  I am always pleased at every talk he has given and was definitely not disappointed this time as well.  He put in beautiful words how we should love everyone.  I think the $20.00 bill analogy was PERFECT.  We’ve all been worn and torn but we all still have worth, and to God we are ALL His children and he loves us all.  Something I thought long and hard is how would you feel if someone was mean one of your children?  It hurts you, right?  I think that’s how Heavenly Father feels when we are mean to His children, because that’s what everybody is.  We are all important to Him.

I hope this inspired you this Monday to realize that first and foremost, our homes are the center of everything. We need to strengthen our families, and teach our children the things we want them to take into the world with them as they grow.  In my case, it’s the gospel of Jesus Christ.  To you, it might be different, but it’s our duty as parents to teach our children.  

I also hope that these quotes have inspired you to love others.  After I watched this conference I realized that there are many people that I stress about and have done so much wrong to me and I’ve realized they are the ones that need my prayers and love the most.   

There are so many more quotes and heart touching things that were spoken during the conference and if you would like to hear these talks you can do so {HERE}
Did you already hear the talks?  What was one of your favorite quotes?
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I’m thankful to be ME

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A lot of my friends started life out a little differently than I did. They went to college, met, fell in love, got married, had kids, breastfed, completely started out in the mother/wife role…. this is how they were raised, this is how they did things. It’s all they’ve ever known to want.


I’m different. It’s noticeable that I am different. I get questions like when did you and Gino get married. May 15, 2004. Yes, you do the math… that was 5 years ago, and *GASP* our oldest is 8. We met, got pregnant, and just grew up and learned together…. yes, the THREE of us.  The fact that I was pregnant in no way made me want to get married.  I knew that I would be getting married because I was in love.  Lucky for me it happened to be the father of my child that I decided to spend the rest of my life with.  Ella came at a much more stable time in our life.


When talks of breastfeeding are going on, I just put a smile on my face and stay out of the subject because *GASP* I CHOSE not to breastfeed. Yup, I gave my kids that horrific poison that made it so that my kids NEVER got sick until they were way past the 1 year mark. No ear infections…. EVER. Healthy and smart…. can you believe it?!?! I’ve thought about IF there was ever to be a 3rd that I would possibly breastfeed, but I know that 2 times in a row now my kids have had tremendous success on formula. Did I mention that I too was formula fed, and I too am still alive?


I will never be them. I will never be the perfect housewife, the perfect mom, the perfect stranger, or the perfect friend. My differences from my friends is obvious. I have always felt that I am different. I’ve experienced things in life that they haven’t. I’ve experienced things in life that have made me grow into who I am. I know who I am. I do not follow in the footsteps of ANYBODY.   I have created my footsteps through trial and error. My faith was not handed to me. I didn’t have the privilege of being taken to church every Sunday and being told that THIS IS WHAT WE BELIEVE.  I know that you eventually get your own testimony, but you are given the opportunity to gain that.  Nope, I got to experience *prior edited out, because it was written out of frustration…..if you were lucky enough to get here before I decided against writing it, then you know more about me than others know* things that I can look back on and say…. 

Thank you, God.  Thank you for for giving me the opportunity to find my way back to the church that I once was a part of as a very small child.  Thank you for showing me that even though all of that stuff was FUN it didn’t give me JOY.  Joy to me is something that I hold so dear to my heart, because before a couple of years ago I didn’t have joy in my life.  I was happy, but I wasn’t complete.

But I’m most thankful for the path I took to get here.  I’m thankful that I found my way and I will always be me.  Whether people like it or not, I am who I am…. and I love myself.  I know that I will never be perfect.  I’m going to do things that my friends would NEVER in a million years do.  Because I am me.  And just because I’ve grown to love something so much, I will always be ME.  I love the mistakes I’ve made, because without them, I wouldn’t be ME.  Without those mistakes Gino and I wouldn’t be a WE.  
 
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Just a Motivating Monday – Forgiveness is a Virtue

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If you’re just joining in:
-Write a blog post about ANYTHING at all that inspires you, or something you feel will inspire others. 

-Please link back to Garibay Soup 

-Please snag my Just a Motivating button on your post.

-I hope that we can all go and visit each other’s blogs and read what everyone has linked up ~ I hope that this carnival can bring more traffic for you 🙂 So, spread the comment love! 


Carissa over at Good N’ Crazy had a great topic on her blog for Church Talk. It’s something that has totally stuck in my mind since reading it and I think I’m going to spin off of her post for Just a Motivating Monday.

Virtue is a beautiful word. It’s a word that I’m trying to master into my life. I want to be virtuous. I want people to look at me and smile with the thought in their mind… she has so much virtue about her.

For the next few weeks I’m going to pick a virtuous trait and talk about it for Just a Motivating Monday.

This week: Forgiveness

Everybody has been hurt by someone they love.  Or maybe you hurt someone you love.  The point is… we have to be able to forgive in our heart.

President Hinckley of the LDS Church once said in an article:

“Somehow forgiveness, with love and tolerance, accomplishes miracles that can happen in no other way.”

I know it is so hard at times to forgive people, but are you perfect?  Have you gone through your whole life not doing a thing wrong to someone?  Have you been forgiven?  Forgiving somebody, especially yourself can be one of the hardest things in this world to do.  But if you are virtuous and want to be forgiven, you yourself  MUST do this.

Tips to Forgive

  • Pray to Heavenly Father and ask Him for His help.  He can soften your heart and help you to forgive.
  • Get rid of the bitterness.  If you’re still plotting out ways to get even the forgiving process is no where near.
  • Once you have forgiven, let it go.  Don’t hold on to it, because that’s holding a grudge… which does not mean you have forgiven.
  • Don’t focus so much on the negative things that have happened to you.  If you are focusing on the positive things in your life, and the positive things people have done for you, you will be able to forgive the negative things easier.  There’s no point in holding on to negativity when there’s so much positivity to welcome into your heart.
  • You need to remember that when you are forgiving, it’s for you.  It’s not for the person that did you wrong, but it is for you and your exaltation.  It’s a process you must go through, and you will be forgiving others for you.

A very good friend of mine… you can find her on twitter @jenhoehne contributed to this post by saying:

“I think that forgiveness is one of those words like “love” that people use loosley. To truly forgive someone means you have let go of any ill will and no longer harbor feelings of anger or angst toward another person.
Forgiving ourselves goes hand in hand with forgiving others. We are often times harder on ourselves than the person or people we have wronged. Forgiving others means letting go of hurt they have caused you and forgiving yourself is learning to love yourself after you have caused another person pain. Both are crutial in the eternal realm of this life and critical to our salvation and prosperity hereafter.”

Final Thought:

I know it’s hard… forgiveness is one of the hardest things that we do, but it’s something that in time needs to be done.  I haven’t completely forgiven everybody in my life that needs forgiveness, but it’s definitely something I have been working on.  Some of the people I have forgiven I have chosen not to have in my life.  Reasons being that they just aren’t a good influence on who I’m trying to be, but I have forgiven them in my heart and with God.  It’s something we should all have… it’s a virtue and if you want to be virtuous it’s a step you should take.


I hope that this post inspires you to start the forgiving process if you haven’t already.  I hope that it inspires you to always have a forgiveness attitude in your heart ~ it will only make you a better person.

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Tonight My Heart is Heavy

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Life is short. Boy is it ever so short. I talked on my blog a while back about my problems with my IUD and how I was going through hormone testing and the Nurse Practitioner that I was seeing was WONDERFUL. She was so nice, layed back, took the time to hear you out. I loved her! I just found out that in April she fell and slipped into a coma… and she never came out of it.  Just like that, a wonderful person gone from this world.  





Today is a little girl that will just melt your heart’s 2nd birthday.  However, she’s not here to celebrate it.  I’ve seen her pictures all over people’s blog and waited until today to finally head over to her mom’s blog and get to know sweet Maddie.  Oh my goodness….. I sat here tonight reading her mom’s letter to her today and cried and cried and hugged my babies.  One day she was here, the next day she was gone.  Life is so short.  And Maddie’s story really makes you stop, think and appreciate every moment that you are given with your babies.


To read all about Maddie… go {HERE} for her mama’s blog or {HERE} for her Daddy’s blog.  I waited a really, really long time to suck it up and cry with them… but I’m so happy I did.  I hope you too will go and become a friend of Maddie… she’ll melt your heart.

I have been so close to losing Ella, that stories like these crush me.  I’ve been there…. I’ve actually sat there hearing them call codes on my little girl.  At one point I thought she was gone… I know what it’s like to drop to your knees and pray that your baby won’t die…. and I’m so fortunate to still have her here.  I can’t imagine what not only Heather & Mike (Maddie’s Mama & Daddy) but all of the parents in this world that have had to suffer the heart wrenching loss of a child have had to go through… and still go through every, single day.

My heavy heart can go on and on.  I feel like I’m mourning a sister.  I haven’t unleashed the drama that’s been going on, but I’ve decided to break my silence and talk about how I feel.  My sister has turned into somebody that I do not like.  Somebody who talks disgustingly and someone that I am ashamed to say is my sister.  My sister wouldn’t act the way she’s been acting.  But in the end I think I’ve learned something that I’ve always known.  You turn into who you hang around.  So, it’s so vital that you choose to hang around people that inspire you, challenge you to grow, and have virtue, values & morals.  Because if you choose to hang out with anything less, unfortunately you will be less.  I am in mourning, because things that have been said can’t be taken back.  I have been challenging myself to personal growth, and during personal growth you need to ensure that you are not surrounded by people who hold you back, live negatively and have no virtue, values or morals, because the last thing you want to do is turn into them.  

Life is short though, and I’m sad to say that I’ve had to accept the fact that my sister and my brother are both individuals that will always be stuck in their rut.  Living a life that is not something to be proud of, and until they accept this and learn and grow from this they’ll never change.  They will continue to always be hustling their way through life.  A life without honesty, a life without morals…. it’s so unfortunate.  But I have to remember that in order for me to continue with my personal growth I have to stay away from them.  I have to look at the negativity they hold, the hate they hold, the evil they hold in them and pray for them.  My brother is not someone that has ever had good in him.  I’ve been through it all with him, and honestly feel quite secure in not being in his life.  Anybody who can walk away from their own flesh & blood child and deny them is evil.  My sister, however, I’ve always loved her.  It’s unfortunate what’s happened, but I’m okay with it now.  Yes, Jessica, I do check your myspace status, because I want to see how my niece and nephew are doing.  The things you put on there lets the ghetto and trash in you shine on.  I wish we could mend this crap we’re going through, but I’ve realized since it’s started that you are not a person that I want in my world… and fortunately I get to choose who’s in my world.  I choose class, virtue, morals, and people striving to better themselves, which are things you don’t hold.  I hope one day you learn how to.

My heart is heavy, but at the end of the day I have a wonderful husband that makes me happier than I ever thought possible.  A son that never fails to put a smile on my face and warm my heart and a daughter that is and always will be  my rainbow after the storm.  My heart is heavy, but I love every thing I have in my life.  I feel fortunate to have the blessings that continue to pour down on my family.  I will continue to keep my prayers with those in this world that truly need it….. and I will continue to send my balloons to the people in heaven like Mya, my precious daughter who will always have a huge piece of my heart with her, Maddie, who has touched a world of people with her beautiful eyes and smile, and Karen… my nurse who woke up one day and didn’t know it was going to be her last.
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She Prayed… and my heart melt

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I wrote a couple of minutes ago a Just a Motivating Monday on a special poem that touches my heart. There are moments in my life where something so precious, so sweet happens that I just want to stop and kiss that precious smile.

Yesterday my daughter did something that was downright PRECIOUS! The girl is only 26 months and in the middle of playing she walked over to the ottoman put her hands by her eyes, her face into the ottoman and started rambling. I heard her say princess and a couple of odd off the wall things, then she says “Amen” stands up and smiles… I said to her “Were you praying?” and she says… “YUP!” and my heart melt at that moment. And I felt like an extremely good mom, and am proud of the example that I am setting for her.

They watch everything that you ever do…. make sure that you’re setting the right example.

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Just a Motivating Monday – Being a Woman of Example

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If you’re just joining in:
-Write a blog post about ANYTHING at all that inspires you, or something you feel will inspire others.

-Please link back to Garibay Soup

-Please snag my Just a Motivating button on your post.

-I hope that we can all go and visit each other’s blogs and read what everyone has linked up ~ I hope that this carnival can bring more traffic for you 🙂 So, spread the comment love! 


Every week I do a post on something inspiring. Something that might touch your soul and inspire you in some way. Sometimes people link up with things that motivate them, and that’s okay. There’s no wrong way with this carnival and I just wanted to throw that out there. You can link up motivating or inspiring…. either way it will move us 🙂
I believe that we as women should stand and be an example for the things we believe in. I believe that the way we present ourselves to people, and the way we treat people should reflect a woman of faith, of passion, of love, of respect for self and respect for God.

I personally have a very strong Faith that I hold inside. Do I always present myself with this? No, I don’t. I should, and I strive to, but sometimes being a human gets the best of me. Sometimes I say things I shouldn’t, sometimes I do things I shouldn’t, but I have my own personal goals between My Heavenly Father and I and how I achieve these are between Him and me.

We as woman hold such a strong key to our eternity. There are very successful men and women, but in the beginning what makes them succeed the most is if they have a mother who followed Proverbs 22:16 “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” In order to train up a child in the way he or she should go, don’t you think you need to be the best example to them? 

You don’t have to be religious to hold a certain respect for the woman that you are. Why not be an example for other girls in your life. Why not show them that you are a respectable woman, you have a great purpose on this earth and you are rocking it as a mom, because you are striving to be everything you can. It takes no more and no less to be that awesome.

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A Sign?

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Occasionally we hear of things that make our eyebrows raise. We don’t fully understand or believe until the unsight is seen. It’s hard to grasp the unnormal, or even to fully understand it. Last night the unseen happened to me.
I was in the bath last night, reading The Shack. Such a powerful book, even in the beginning… it just has this thing about it that really draws you in. While deep in my book my towel, which was perfectly hung over the towel rack started moving. I have never seen something move like that in my life. I have seen channels change, buttons on phones pushed, but those are electronics… there was definitely some explanation. I have had my Mya necklace go from the medicine cabinet to the Washing Machine with no explanation as to how, but then again I didn’t see it move by itself with my own eyes.
I quickly jumped out of the bath, feaked out, grabbed the towel that was just moving by itself and wrapped myself in it, dried off, got dressed and ran downstairs. I told Gino to pause his show and told him what had happened. The look on his face was different, and then he told me, “Okay, I was just sitting here and the wipes that were sitting on a box moved and fell off of the box onto the ground.
What are the odds? We could be freaked out, but I think we’re taking this as a sign from Mya. Mya telling us that she’s still here with us, and she knows the pain that we feel over here, especially with her anniversary being this month.
I feel fortunate to have that happen to the both of us. I feel fortunate to know that there is something bigger out there, and when we leave this life we still exist, we still love, and we still can come to visit our loved ones.



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