Simply Jaimie

My sister gave me the idea to do a general conference store. During conference the kids gain "money" that they can use later in the store. There are so many cute ideas for this store and I will link them on pinterest here Our kids gained money for being reverent and completing their conference packet (which had coloring pages, hidden pictures, bingo and other stuff I found online.) Your kids will love it!

Last April 2016, the girls and I came to Utah to visit Aaron (who was already working up here, but we hadn't officially moved there yet.) We were sitting in our hotel room, the Thursday night before conference, not doing much when we decided to go into Salt Lake City. I had never been before and was itching to go see the temple. While we were walking around the temple grounds, an older missionary couple approached us and told us that the choir is practicing in the Conference Center tonight. We headed over there and watched them practice for a little bit. It was so exciting to be listening to the choir in the conference center (something I had never done before.) Then we stopped at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and got hot chocolate (for Aaron and myself,) and chocolate bears (for the girls). When the October 2016 conference came around we decided to head into Salt Lake the Thursday before and do the same thing. And that is how our pre-conference tradition began!  This ...

After every General Conference concludes, I always set the goal to read the talks before the next conference begins. That gives me six months to read approximately 35-40 talks. I have failed all but one time . A couple years ago I managed to read all the talks from conference.  Yes, I waited till a month before the next conference began to read them. Yes, I had to double and triple up on talks in a day to finish. But, I did it and it felt awesome. I still have my notebook I used that one time, and feel a great sense of pride every time I stumble upon it. This time I was determined to not only read all the talks, but to do it before crunch time (mid September.) I decided that if I read one talk after my daily (almost daily) scripture reading, then I would get through the talks pretty quickly. Guess what? I did get through them quickly. In fact, the summer hadn't even officially began yet and I was all done. It was a great accomplishment but also left me wondering now what? I sti...

I loved this quote from the general women's session of conference (if you would like to watch or read it click here.)  It is a great reminder to stay focused on those things that actually matter in life. What things matter to you? I know snuggles with my baby won't last. Every day he looks more like a toddler than my baby. I know cuddles and kisses and quiet time with him matter. My girls love playing Ladybug Girl and Cat Noir. They always want me to be the bad girl, Lady Wifi. I have so many other things I would rather do, but I know playing with my girls matter. So I will take some time away from laundry, cleaning, or simply relaxing on the couch to chase two very giggly and happy girls. I couldn't care at all about fantasy football, however, my husband loves to tell me how his league is going and how well, or not well, his players are doing. When he starts telling me about it, I will sigh, roll my eyes and then start to half heartedly listen. Then the spirit reminds...

If you missed the General Women's Session of Conference you can watch it here It was AMAZING! I was sitting in my stake center surrounded by women, but it felt like each talk was specifically wrote and presented just for me. I needed to hear everything that was said.  here are my notes  (these are quick notes and not word for word from the speakers) Sister Eubank - be righteous develop an inner relationship with God repent - be articulate about the reasons for our faith use you voice and power (social media) share what Jesus Christ means to you - be different  innovation and creation are spiritual gifts - be distinct practice living the gospel -do all the above in happy ways build and lift others energy that comes from happiness put yourself in a place where you can feel Heavenly Father's love Sister Marriott How are we going to accept His invitation to draw near unto Him? here to learn and grow ...

This was our first year hunting witches at Gardner village. The kids had a blast and bonus - if you find all the witches you get a free cookie!! So fun having cousins close to do these kind of activities with, and thank you to my sister, courtney, for taking the pictures.  

On Sunday, Aaron and I celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary. We spent the day, inside our cozy little apartment, caring for our three unwell kids. Aaron watched some football and I read and browsed around on Pinterest (do people still use Pinterest?) I also had a lot of time to think and reflect on these past seven years. When I got married, I had this idea in my mind that our wedding day was the start of my happily ever after. I thought I would live every day in a state of matrimony bliss. However, our new life together didn't start out as perfectly as I imagined. In fact, it was the hardest, saddest, and most stressful time of my life. Aaron and I just weren't in sync. I was surprised when we made it to our first wedding anniversary, even more shocked we made it to our second. There were many discussions about ending it and parting our separate ways but we never ended up going through with it. Somewhere, deep down we both felt a mutual love and respect for each other....

I heard this quote while watching a  Ted Talk on Youtube. In this talk, the speaker said this quote . It was one of those stop and frantically search find a random piece of paper so you can write it down before you forget it. This quote has been stuck in my head all weekend. I know, for me personally, that I needed this simple reminder.  Sometimes in life we are so busy waiting for the next big thing to happen in our lives that we forget (or maybe it is just me) that today matters too . It is like that quote about not wishing away your days for better ones to come. Start creating your life today. Do those things you love today. Be content with the things you have now! In time you will look back and see you were already living your dream.

click here to read this months message you are welcome to use these handouts for visiting teaching to print simply click on the image to enlarge it, right click to save as and print