Here are ten wonderful things in my life:

1. Lots of my missionaries are getting engaged and/or married. It is pretty sweet.

2. My J. Crew gingham blouse is loose on me. This means  I am losing weight. Losing weight is almost never a bad thing.

3. Sasha (our black kitten) was asked to be a therapy cat. No, she did not say "Yes", but I said "Yes" for her.

4. Cheerleading is almost over. I love watching Mandy cheer, but once the season ends, we can start going to Ward FHE again.

5. I get to test this week to renew my LNA. My friend Kristie is helping with that; I am lucky to have a friend like her.

6. I get to see my friend Marie in 12 days!

7. My friend Beth and I are planning a movie night soon. Beth trained me at AJH. If it wasn't for her, I probably would have been tossed out my first week there.

8. My girls brought home really good grades this first term.

9. Molly and I have something special and inspirational in store for the next session of Activity Days

10. Chippy's favorite missionary, Elder Warner, gets to go home next week. I am so happy for his family!!!!

  Mandy and I had a chance to watch cable television today in a friend's home. We do not have cable in our home, and so this was a treat. I decided to turn on A&E's Scared Straight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blcQMNAqVJw
(WARNING: language....remember, peeps, this is prison!)

  Scared Straight is a program where teenaged terrors are sent to prison for a day where, with help from guards and current prisoners, they learn the error of their delinquent ways. The show is frightening, fascinating and, yes, funny. Seriously, the show makes a "team control" ( a hospital's version of a patient takedown) look like an afternoon spent hanging out with Rebecca on Sunnybrook Farm.

 Mandy ate it right up. I explained that some of the kids on the show probably started middle school much like she plans to...full of hopes and dreams. Then, something distracted them. Drugs, alcohol, truancy, promiscuity, the list goes on.

 We talked about agency and making positive choices that benefit ourselves and   others. And, then, I shared with  Mandy the Back To School 2014 theme for our family :

                                                                        (  from "Families Can Be Together Forever" )

 

(less than an hour away in Belmont, MA......love this place)




 I am a Mormon, and I believe being worthy of entering the Temple (as mentioned in the above hymn) is essential to living a good mortal life. This privilege is qualified by keeping high standards of faith and purity. Living these standards can help anyone, and I explained this to my daughter, a Catholic. Following the Word of Wisdom **, being chaste and following Heavenly Father's commandments are, without a doubt, the ticket to success not only here in this mortal life but through eternity as well.

   It is my hope that Mandy and Isabella feel the love of their Heavenly Father as they navigate the somewhat trying years of middle school and that, perhaps, they can touch the lives of others,

:)Mary
PS-Don't despair....the snark comes back soon, my friends....and there is plenty to share!

**No, Word of Wisdom isn't the name of a heavy metal band....to find out what it is, go to lds.org!!!