7 Quick Takes - Vol. 6

1. I tried something new this week: going to bed early. It worked out great Monday night! I was in bed by 8:00 and about 10 minutes later on Tuesday. That was the start of my downhill spiral. I was on the phone with Marc the second night and then got a call from Julianna. When all was said and done it was close to 11:00 when I went to bed. The good news is, I am honored to be a bridesmaid in Juje's wedding in a few weeks! :) But I digress... I can't remember why I was up late Wednesday night, Thursday I babysat, and we'll see how tonight goes. I still need to get my work out in. Monday night was so wonderful that I think I will try again next week. I'm shooting for two goals: getting sleep and waking up early for morning prayer. Try, try again!

2. Another thing I tried out this week was focusing more on the Sunday gospel. I'm going to try to read each gospel mid-week, Sunday, and again a couple of days later. I think to really live out the gospel, I need to make it a greater focus in my week.

3. BfL has gone well again this week...as long as I work out tonight. :) It's nice to be back on track and even nicer to step on the scale and at least realize you haven't lost your hard work, just a bit of time. :) I went ahead and cancelled my gym membership. I had to pay for my last month when I signed up, so I'll be living up the elliptical until the end of September. After that, I better get used to running again. I'm looking forward to working out at home, using everything I have accumulated, and saving a bit of extra money!

4. I was happy to see the sun peeking out again this week. I was able to get to the park a couple of times with the kids, despite tonsils being removed, and some pretty sick other kids. :( They have all been such troopers this week though and everyone is back up and running. Thursday was especially great because my sister came up to Seattle for a play date! Riley stayed in the shade and I ran around with the kids in the spray water toys. So much fun!

5. This afternoon Jaden and I made brownies. :) I definitely like cooking with little kids. Here are some pictures:














































6. Tomorrow Marc and I are heading down to Oregon to meet his best friend Nick on the Pacific Crest Trail. He is about to cross into Washington via the Bridge of the Gods. For those of you unfamiliar with the trail, it runs from Canada to Mexico. He has been hiking solo from the beginning and will continue through until he reaches Canada. Crazy! This will be our chance to give him support and encouragement as he gets closer to his goal which is an incredible feat. I'm pretty excited to see him! Here is his blog if any of you interested in hearing about his journey.

7. I came across an anonymous quote in Rediscovering Catholicism today that I really liked. It was speaking to leadership or more specifically, servant leadership. It may be the military girl in me that likes it so much :) but I do believe it can be applied to leadership in any role.

I submit to you that leaders will never be more or less than their soldiers' evaluation of them. This is the true efficiency report. From most of your troops you can expect courage to match your courage, guts to match your guts, endurance to match your endurance, motivation to match your motivation, esprit to match your esprit, a desire for achievement to match your achievement. You can expect a love of God, a love of country, and a lot of duty to match your own. They won't mind the heat if you sweat with them, and they won't mind the cold if you shiver with them.

You see, you don't accept the troops; they were there first. They accept you. And when they do, you'll know. They won't beat drums, wave flags, or carry you off the drill field on their shoulders, but you'll know. You see, your orders will appoint you to command. No orders, no letters, no insignia of rank can appoint you as a leader. Leadership is developed within yourselves; and you'll get stronger as you go.