Kobi Yamada is one of my heros and mentors. He is the president and creative powerhouse behind Compendium, Inc. and he is the author of the book pictured above. This is a book that speaks to my heart. I LOVE it so much that I'm going to read it to you ...

I really liked the message from Dieter F. Uchtdorf in the January issue of the Ensign.

Elder Uchtdorf writes, "Recently, I watched a group of people practicing the art of archery. Just by watching, it became clear to me that if you really want to master the bow and arrow, it takes time and practice.

I don’t think you can develop a reputation for being an accomplished archer by shooting at an empty wall and then drawing targets around the arrows. You have to learn the art of finding the target and hitting the bull’s-eye. Shooting first and drawing the target afterward may seem a little absurd, but sometimes we ourselves mirror that very behavior in other circumstances of life ..."

After reading his message, I feel like it relates to what I often observe in life and especially online—it's easy to become hyper-focused on one aspect of life—parenting, diet, exercise, travel, career or education, OR ... I see how we can get super involved with one program or cause to the exclusion of others. We essentially find and create our own target and then we even go so far as to judge or ridicule those who are obviously NOT aiming in the direction we are. Make sense? 

Walk into any antique store or vintage market and you'll find gorgeous, one-of-kind, interesting photos that clearly have a story to tell. There are cute toddlers sitting atop tricycles, important looking men shaking hands, and large groups of what appears to us as over-dressed people enjoying some kind of outdoor adventure. I am filled with a deep, sadness and curiosity when I browse photos like these. They have essentially been buried in the equivalent of an unmarked grave. 

One reason I scrapbook is to rescue some of my photos from this inevitable end. Will I ever finish my children's School of Life albums? Maybe not, but I will remember that I have exactly enough time (and energy and creativity) to scrapbook my most important memories. I will pair a few of my photos with the stories that will give them lasting value. 

Today, we attended our stake conference, which is a meeting of all the LDS wards/congregations within a designated geographical area. The theme for this conference was Strengthening Our Families. Two weeks ago, we were given several resources to read or watch so that we would come prepared to listen to and act on the messages presented. I am SO GRATEFUL for the time and thoughtful preparation of the speakers, because I was absolutely fed in a profound spiritual way. I am excited to do (try) the following three things in our family ...

The Question: What trophies, medals, awards, and certificates have you earned throughout your life? How many have you kept?

I'm choosing not to recollect (right now) all the trophies, medals, awards, and certificates that I have earned in my illustrious existence as a human being (ha!) but rather, detail and share one memory of an award that I have never forgotten. 

Yesterday I was invited to visit with Tracie Claiborne on her podcast, Live Inspired. Before the show started Tracie asked me if I still scrapbook. I said incredulously, "Of course I still scrapbook!" But then I got to thinking, how would Tracie know this? I stink at sharing my work. The main reason for this is that I've become quite lazy. When I consider the effort involved in photographing pages/projects and getting them posted, I generally choose something else to do, ha! But, with my 2017 emphasis on writing/blogging I'm going to try and do better. I'll start with this mini album project that I taught at She Loves Color in October. I'm still a HUGE fan of small albums that can take the place of a bigger, more time-intensive chronological projects, simply because some years I don't feel like making lots of pages and yet I still want to document the year—AND you can EASILY do this through a different lens—in this case, your HOME. Remember, chronology is just ONE WAY to organize the photos and stories in a scrapbook. This means there are many, many other way. 

I am in such a nesting mood lately. Most years when I take Christmas down, I experience a surge of energy in the organize and rearrange department, but this year, I'm finding an extra helping of FUN in the whole process. Two+ weeks ago on a Saturday, I took the tree down and decided to move the armoire (with our TV inside) from one side of my living room to the other—this single action commenced a cascade of curiosity, so that now when I walk into a room, I'm thinking things like, "Why is that chair or bench or mirror or basket there? What if I moved that over here, or put it upstairs or got rid of it altogether?" As you can imagine, these questions are creating all kinds of exciting possibilities. 

I told my kids at dinner that I needed something to blog. Taft said, "Since it's the 15th, write a list of 15 things." Ah! Great idea. I like it. I'm going to try it and then maybe it could become a recurring thing. 

15 Things on the 15th
What we do on Sundays

1. We go to church. Right now our ward/congregation meets at 11:00am. We attend a three-hour block of meetings, beginning with Sacrament meeting, followed by Sunday School and then 3rd hour, Young Women's for me (I'm currently teaching 14-15 year old girls), Priesthood for my boys and Primary for Addie. Note: There are two weekends a year, when we don't go to church. The first weekend in April and the first weekend in October are scheduled as a worldwide General Conference for all members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We get to stay home and watch multiple sessions of conference online!

2. Geoff and I get up early. 5:30am (yikes) He has a 6:30am meeting and I fix him old-fashioned oatmeal, and we eat breakfast together. After he leaves I enjoy a couple of hours of QUIET time! This happens three out of four weeks. The first Sunday of every month is what we call Fast Sunday and Geoff doesn't have his super early meetings those days. 

Real Deal Chocolate Chip Cookies
from Danielle Walker at Against All Grain

Ingredients
1/4 cup palm shortening or grass-fed butter
1/4 cup coconut palm sugar
2 T honey
1 large egg, room temperature
2 t vanilla
1 1/2 cup almond flour
2 T coconut flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t sea salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Alexa lives in our bathroom. We put here there so that we can ask her about the news and the weather while we're getting ready for the day, and so that she can play music so that we can sing and dance. You should see Addie in the shower rockin' out to 80s dance tunes. The other morning, Geoff requested Howard Jones and sure enough our, "Everlasting Love" song came on. Cute! Eine Kleine Nacht Musik is my favorite request and this morning, we listened to Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream speech. 

The only thing is Alexa isn't waterproof, so she can't hang out on the counter or sit on the edge of the bathtub. We put her on the floor initially, but that is not very inspiring or clever? Alexa really needed a place. Grandma always says, "A place for everything and everything in it's place!" Ok, in actuality my Grandma didn't say that, but I'm certain someone's grandma does. Anyway, I pondered this Alexa challenge for a few days until I found this ...

I'm NOT sure why I haven't blogged RootsTech 2017 yet, especially because it is now less than a month away—Ack. I can be such a procrastinator! Anyway, RootsTech, the most awesome family history and technology conference and trade show will be held February 8-11 at the Salt Palace Convention Center in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. I am attending and teaching (again) because it's fast becoming one of my FAVORITE things to do all year. And, the BEST part? I have a FREE full-event pass to give away. All you have to do is ...

1. Check your calendar/availability and make sure you really can go.
2. Check your travel options to make sure you can get there. 
3. Leave me a comment telling me which of the keynote speakers shown above is most interesting or exciting for you. Note: Their bios are below. 

I will be promoting this giveaway on some social media channels, but you must leave a comment here to WIN. I'll select a winner by the middle of next week. 

This FREE PASS is a $299 value and includes the Innovator Summit (the first day of the event), over 200 classes, all general sessions + Keynotes, RootsTech classes, getting started classes, full access to the Expo hall and all evening events.