Xavier & Alice Anne: 60-Day Hiking Challenge: The "Y": Week 4

Fave Quotes

"By adopting a child and helping them reach their potential, they help us reach ours. ...[This is] a child who was searched for, prayed for, cried for, begged for; received by arms that ached, making empty hearts full. Love is meant to be shared." -- Author Unknown

"They came to see that family need not be defined merely as those with whom they share blood but for those for whom they would give their blood." -- Charles Dickens ("Nicholas Nickleby")

"...no misfortune is so bad that whining about it won't make it worse." -- Jeffrey R. Holland ("The Tongue of Angels")

"alis grave nil" (nothing is heavy to those who have wings) -- Latin phrase

"Adoption is not a breaking of trust but a keeping of faith... not the abandonment of a baby but an abandonment of self for a baby's sake." -- Curtis Young ("The Missing Piece: Adoption Counseling in Pregnancy Resource Centers")

"...could we consider this one possibility about our
eternal female identity...? Eve was given the identity of 'the mother of all living' — years, decades, perhaps centuries before she ever bore a child. It would appear that her motherhood preceded her maternity, just as surely as the perfection of the Garden preceded the struggles of mortality. I believe mother is one of those very carefully chosen words, one of those rich words — with meaning after meaning after meaning. We must not, at all costs, let that word divide us. I believe with all my heart that it is first and foremost a statement about our nature, not a head count of our children." -- Patricia T. Holland ("'One Thing Needful': Becoming Women of Greater Faith in Christ")

"Miracles DO happen." -- Ashley (from Feigning Fertility)

"...it's about making an ugly thing beautiful, it's about making a wrong thing right, it's about making a bitter thing sweet..." -- birth mother from the www.itsaboutlove.org video "Adoption and Abortion"

"Everywhere in nature we are taught the lessons of patience and waiting. We want things a long time before we get them, and the fact that we want them a long time makes them all the more precious when they come." -- Joseph F. Smith ("Children: The Richest of All Earthly Joys")

"Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy." -- Alma 36:21 (BOM)

"He is mine in a way that he will never be hers, yet he is hers in a way that he will never be mine and so together, we are motherhood." -- Desha Wood (Birth Mothers 4 Adoption)

"And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." -- Ephesians 6:4 (KJV)

"For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him..." -- 1 Samuel 1:27 (KJV)

"If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done." -- Ecclesiastes 11:4 (NLT)

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

"If I get it all down on paper, it's no longer inside of me,
Threatening the life it belongs to
And I feel like I'm naked in front of the crowd
Cause these words are my diary, screaming out loud
And I know that you'll use them, however you want to." -- Anna Nalick ("Breathe (2AM)" Lyrics)

"Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You." -- Dr. Seuss

"...in all of living have much of fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured." -- Gordon B. Hinckley ("Stand True and Faithful")

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." - 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NIV)

"Women are like lionesses at the gate of the home." -- Julie B. Beck

"With God, all things are possible." -- derived from Matthew 19:26

"Who am I to judge another when I walk imperfectly? In the quiet heart is hidden sorrow that the eye can't see." -- Susan Evans McCloud (Hymn "Lord, I Would Follow Thee")

"And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." -- Ephesians 4:32 (KJV)

"So often we get caught up in the illusion that there is something just beyond our reach that would bring us happiness: a better family situation, a better financial situation, or the end of a challenging trial... Sometimes in life we become so focused on the finish line that we fail to find joy in the journey... Doesn’t it seem foolish to spoil sweet and joyful experiences because we are constantly anticipating the moment when they will end?" -- Dieter F. Uchtdorf ("Of Regrets and Resolutions")

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." -- Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." -- 1 Peter 5:6-7 (NIV)

"Let us relish life as we live it, find joy in the journey, and share our love with friends and family." -- Thomas S. Monson ("Finding Joy in the Journey")

"Whatever hour God has blessed you with, take it with grateful hand, nor postpone your joys from year to year, so that in whatever place you have been, you may say that you have lived happily." -- Roman philosopher Horace

"The process of adopting a child pushes your personal envelope as a woman, as a mother, and ultimately, as a human being. It takes more courage than you think you have, offers more self-knowledge than you think you want, and reassembles your characteristics into someone familiar but changed." -- Jana Wolff (Secret Thoughts of an Adoptive Mother)

"Laugh as much as you breathe and love as long as you live." -- Johnny Depp

"You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching, love like you'll never be hurt, sing like there's nobody listening, and live like it's heaven on earth." -- William W. Purkey

Thursday, January 3, 2013

60-Day Hiking Challenge: The "Y": Week 4

This past summer I decided to challenge myself physically. I needed something repetitive that I didn't have to think about each day - I would just get up and go. I wanted to be outside. I wanted Kal with me. Most of the time I wanted it to be just me & him, so I could use the time to meditate and think. It was a very cleansing experience. Brought a lot of peace in my life to be in nature and to spend that much one-on-one time with my son. I decided on a 60-day hiking challenge up to the "Y" in Provo. The goal was 6 hikes a week for 10 weeks. This was Week 4.