Gratitude/ KIndness

"A little consideration, a little thought for others, makes all of the difference."

Today I'm thankful for people, who are kind to one another. Kindness is a value that I need to think about and practice more in my life. Sometimes I think we all get wrapped up into our day to day activities and we always do not stop and think about how our actions can impact people and their feelings. So with that being said these are my goals that I'm going to try and practice during the upcoming week.

1. Smiling more at people.

2. Saying thank you more frequently.

3. Making sure when I'm around others, sending e-mails, posting comments on FB, talking to others in social settings that everyone feels that they are appreciated, valued, and included.

4. Doing more random acts of kindness for others.

These are huge goals for me, but during this past week I have been reminded that it is truly important that we are kind to everyone.

Gratitude Excercise/ Music

"I am unwritten, can't read my mind, I'm undefined

"I'm just beginning, the pen's in my hand, ending unplanned

"Staring at the blank page before you

"Open up the dirty window

"Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

"reaching for something in the distance

"So close you can almost taste it

"Release your inhibitions

"Feel the rain on your skin

"No one else, no one else

'Can speak the words on your lips

"Drench yourself in words unspoken

"Live your life with arms wide open

"Today is where your book begins

"The rest is still unwritten."

Natasha Bedingfield's Lyrics.

Today I'm thankful for music and excercise. It now has been 11 months since I began my healthy lifestyle and decided to dump away my "weighty issues". During my workouts, I have found the above song to be my favorite because as I workout and get better I always feel like I have opened up a dirty window and started to let the sunshine back into my life again. I also like the line that reads "No one else can feel it for you." This is so true! No one knows how wonderful it feels to sweat out all of the toxins in your body, and not to mention how emotionally good you feel after a hard workout. I have been very pleased with the results that I have made this year. I'm not always perfect with working out or eating, but I do give it my best every day. All I can do is take it one day at a time!

Gratitude Post #5

Falling Behind!!!!

Today I'm thankful for Daylight Savings Time. I love falling back and gaining an extra hour of sleep. For all of you who know me well you know that I love my beauty sleep. Before I married Kirk, my father told him to make sure that I get my 8 hours of sleep. This is so true!!! If I get my sleep, I am for the most part a happy person, however, if I do not get enough sleep watch out!!!!

Gratitude post #4

"Had a Ruff Day Today"

Today I'm grateful for rough days because if we did not have rough days we would not learn to appreciate good days. Today Zachary lost his Beta Fish and he was very sad. Kirk came home from work feeling sick and had to attend class until 10:00p.m. I did not get everything done that I would have liked to accomplish. Needless to say, we are all ready for tomorrow to begin!

Gratitude #3

" Whenever I hear the song of a bird Or look at the blue, blue sky, Whenever I feel the rain on my face Or the wind as it rushes by, Whenever I touch a velvet rose Or walk by our lilac tree, I'm glad that I live in this beautiful world Heavnly Father created for me." Song from The Childrens SongBook, pg. 228.



Today I'm thankful for our beautiful world. I love watching the leaves change color, and feeling the cool brisk air on my face. I love watching the birds swiftly flying through the air, and feeling the cool Northwest rain. I'm so blessed to live by tall evergreen trees and large bodies of blue water. What a beautiful world that our Heavnly Father created for you and me!

Gratitude #2

"He that LOVES Reading has Everything within his reach."

Today I'm thankful for good books! When we read books we get to go on a personal journey. We sometimes get to be a Princess in a castle, a cowboy riding in the West, or a variety of other characters. We also sometimes get to travel back in time or the even into the future. Reading also enhances our knowledge and wisdom. It adds more dimension to our souls. So during this Holiday season, find time to read a good book! It will be one of your best journeys that you have ever taken!

What am I thankful for?

"Because just being Together is enough"

Since Thanksgiving is just right around the corner I thought I would write about one thing I'm thankful for today. And today I'm thankful for my small family Kirk, Zachary, and Isabella. Tonight I met a mother of one of Zachary's classmates, who told me that her husband passed away two years ago and what a challenge it has been for their family. As she shared her story with me it started making me think about how blessed I am to have my small family living, happy, and healthy. Too often I take for grant it that they are all around, and I find myself just doing daily tasks and not stopping and thinking about how much I love and care for them. This young mother, whom spoke with tonight brought tears to my eyes as she shared with me how her son believes that his father is going to come home, and how he also has night terrors every night about his Father's death. I hope to be a good friend and listener for this lady. I can not imagine losing my husband at such a young age. I'm so thankful for the Gosple in my life and the knowledge and peace that it brings into my life. During this season, I ask each of you to please keep this lady in your thoughts and prayers and please find the time each day to embrace and love each of your family members because we never know when we will be called home.

The Walker Halloween

"Trick or Treat Smell our Feet"

The Walker clan celebrated Halloween one day early. We went to the mall in Bellevue. Zachary rode in a Nascar and Isabella got to see a Princess. They got a lot of candy and had fun!

The Ward Party!

Here are some photos of our ward Halloween Party. Zachary and Isabella had a lot of fun. There is also a photo of one of my Primary children with Isabella.

TP

"Children reinvent the world for you."

Last Friday it was our ward's Halloween Party and this is my class, who helped decorate a room. Mind you this was their entire idea! They are very creative.

The Big Meeting

"Life isn't a matter of Milestones.... But of Moments"

Today Kirk and I attended Zachary's IEP meeting. First of all I'm so thankful again for Zachary's Kindergarten teacher Mrs. Cichy and his OT. I know that these two people were and are inspired to be currently working with Zachary. We learned today that the OT Zachary is seeing at school was the first OT who evaluated Zachary back when he was three years old. I remember when I first met this OT I wished that she could have worked with Zachary because I really liked her approach with children.
Well today, I received my wish and she is Zachary's OT for this school year. This really made this IEP meeting good. I also appreciated Zachary's Kindergarten teacher's knowledge and expertise. She truly knows and understands how Zachary views and approaches life.

During the meeting, we also learned that Zachary met all of his goals and objectives from last year. This is a wonderful celebration, and we are very grateful to the previous teams who have worked with Zachary. Reflecting back to when Zachary arrived two months early and Dr. German told Kirk and I "Zachary looks healthy right now, but when he turns two we may see some delays, but do not worry we will take care of it when or if the time comes" to right now Zachary has made light years of progress. A big thank you to all who have helped our son!

The Prince and the Princess

The other day Miss. Bella came to me and said that she wants to wear a princess dress. For the past two months she has loved dressing up as a princess, and I admit it has been fun dressing her up. The other day when I was at gym I was thinking about how my children are like a prince and a princess. In my eyes they are the most beautiful and loving children in the world. I love them more and more each day. As many of you know, this month they honor pregnancy loss. This is really close to my heart because on September 13, 2005, I had miscarried a baby. For those of you who have had to endure this trial of faith you know and understand that it is very sad, and often very difficult to find any closure. I remember when this happened I wondered if Iwould ever be able to see and meet this child again because as my dear Bishop said there is no church doctrine that says if this will happen or not. However, I took comfort in the words which he did say which was, "Sister Walker I know we have a loving Father in Heaven and he will make this up to you because if he does not he is going to have a lot of angry women knocking at his door wanting to meet and hold their precious babies." Before this happened Kirk and I were in the Temple with a family who were being sealed. That day I asked their youngest daughter what she thought I should name this baby and she said, "You should name her Sophia." I have always thought of this baby as Sophia, and held that name close to my heart. However, right now I have been given a Prince and a Princess to hug, love, kiss, cuddle, and appreciate and treasure each day. They are "Pieces of my Heart"

The Role of a Teacher

" A master can tell you what he expects of you.
a TEACHER, though, awakens your own Expectations."
- Patricia Neal

Tomorrow we attend Zachary's IEP meeting. I have been so grateful for Zachary's current Kindergarten teacher and his past preschool teacher. They recognize his strengths as well as his weaknesses. This past year has been challenging, but well worth all of the effort. Zachary has made tremendous gains and we are very proud of him. As a mother, you always wonder am I making the correct decisions for my child and his educational needs? At times it becomes exhausting, but I have no regrets for the choices that I have made for him. He now reads above grade level and he is above grade level in math. He is such a smart child. At times I wish we could take a trip to Disneyland, own a bigger car, live in a bigger home, but I realize that my biggest investment is making sure that my children have a good quality of life. Never in my life have I been more grateful than to have a degree in special education. It is so easy for me to go into the school and navigate the waters to make sure that Zachary is with a teacher who is able to meet all of his needs. I'm so blessed to have an education. Never in a million years did I think that I would have to use my education so much to help my own child, but now I understand why I earned a degree in that field. It was to educate me so I was able to help educate my son. Again a big thank you to all of Zachary's teachers. They have truly awaken within my child the desire to accomplish his greatest potential!

Corn and more corn!

"I looked out the window and what did I see?" Isabella laying two feet deep in corn seed.

We went to the pumpkin patch and Isabella loved laying in the corn. This photo truly captures pure happiness for a two year old!!!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Zachary!!!!

I have been a poor mom and I have not blogged about Zachary's 6th Birthday that happened back in July. So here are Six things about Zachary

1. His favorite color is blue

2. His favorite show is Curious George

3. His favorite toys are cars, trucks, puzzles, tinker toys, and lincoln logs

4. His favorite food is pizza

5. When he grows up he wants to drive big rigs

6. His favorite clothes are blue jeans and T-shirts.

Happy 11 years

Kirk and I celebrated our 11 year anniversary. We treated ourselves and got a sitter and went downtown to eat dinner followed by going shopping at Nordstrom downtown. Much to my surprise and maybe Kirk's dismay Nordstrom was having their anniversary sale and I got a cute pink sweater. It was a fun night.

My New Style of Living

As many of you are aware late last December, I embarked on a journey that would dramatically change my lifestyle and forever change my life. This journey has been fulfilling and also challenging; however, I'm very thankful to have had this opportunity. Ironically, I guess what I'm saying is that I'm thankful that I have had the challenge of dealing with what I call "weighty issues" in my life.

In life we all experience times of joy, excitement, sorrow, and loss. I have had many blessings in my life such as being married to a wonderful husband, whom I have been married to for 11 years, having two wonderful children, and being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. However, there have also been times of sadness and loss in my life, which created a heavy dark cloud that seemed to have overcome me. When this cloud started to shade my life, I truly believed that if I remained strong and determined that the cloud would lift and a ray of sunshine would enter into my soul creating a warm and enriching environment. Needless to say, no matter what I did the cloud would not lift, and my life became out of control. Frequently, I would ask myself, "why me?" When in reality, the depression was taking over, and I was trying to fix it on my own instead of embracing that I can make the best of my environment, but I have no control over my brain chemistry and depression is very much a real illness, and I need medication to help even out my brain waves. Since, I have faithfully taken my medication, I got a yearning to begin taking care of myself, which included a healthy diet and exercise. However, the hardest part of this journey has been figuring out why food was comforting to me. It has not been easy to figure out whyI had unhealthy eating patterns, and it sure has not happened over night. Needless to say, I have been really figuring out my triggers and my emotions and this has helped me the most. I have also been reading a book titled "Running with Angels" and like the author of that book I have also been running with angels, and it has been one the most enriching activities of my life.

Through this journey, I have learned that I need to love me. Yes I'm a wife, mother, caretaker, special education teacher, friend, member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and many other roles that women play in life, but I need to love and take care of me. I have also learned to "sweat it off". When I become upset or discouraged, I go to the gym and I really workout, and after all of the toxins leave my body I feel renewed and cleansed. I love this feeling! Another thing that I learned is that when your new physical and mental body are revealed to others they are taken back along with you. It is very difficult at times to accept your new body, and shopping for new clothes can be frustrating because you are not always clear about what size that you are in. I have also received comments from people that say you must be on a diet pill or had a gastric bypass, and I always answer "no" I do not believe in that because weight and body image is a life long change, and it is also very personal and mental, and sorry folks no diet pill or surgery is going to heal you emotionally.

My relationship with food has also dramatically changed. I now view food as a survival item that my body needs, and not as a reward for accomplishing a great work. Instead my reward is a healthy body. I make sure that I receive regular check-ups from my doctor, and as long as my lab work is great then I'm great regardless of what I weigh, and I also prefer to have relationships with people rather than food. And folks do not get me wrong I occasionally have a small piece of cake or a few goldfish crackers which I love, but it is proportioned.

Well folks it has been seven months, and I'm still going even though at times it is hard and I do not feel like excercising some days. However, I'm able to do the eleptical six days a week for 65 minutes at a resistence of 10, and then hop on the treadmill and run one mile in 10 minutes. I never thought I would enjoy running, but I'm learning to love it. There is something empowering when you run and I hope to partcipate in a few marathons in the very near future.

Finally, I would like to tell people that if you struggle with Depression please seek help and know that you are not alone. It is a very real illness and sometimes like myself we just need the right medication and support of good people to help jump-start us. I would also like to dedicate this post to My Father in Heaven, my Savior Jesus Christ, my husband Kirk, my children , my doctor Dr. Lucy, and many wonderful friends who have encouraged me and supported me. I have been blessed with several angels in my life and I intend to keep running with the angels one day at a time!

Fun Snapshots in Idaho With Great Grandpa Walker

Fishing

Zachary's first fish that he caught in Victor, Idaho. He was very proud and he had fun with The Walker Family

More Cousins!!!

We had a family BBQ and here are some of my cousins and their kids!