You. Are. Enough.

Some times life gets so busy and we get caught up in the rush of getting as many things done as possible...and we forget moments like these: As a child I used to relish in getting lost in nature, wandering off on my own, taking in the smells that carried through the orchards behind my house, taking in Gods final masterpiece of the day, admiring the grandeur and glory of billions of billions of twinkling lights dancing across the night sky, noticing the shapes and the movements of the clouds, all the while taking a moment to contemplate life, commune with my Creator, wrestle through heartaches, or work through things that were saying me down, dreaming up dreams, giving those dreams to the universe. As I'm sitting here looking over this lake at the last rays of sunlight, I realize that for the past 10 years of my life I've been so caught up with the hustle and bustle of making it, living it, doing it, surviving it, that I forgot to take moments like these to really feed myself...to remind myself that all of the things that lay deep inside are what make me enough—my story, my life, my successes, my failures. I. AM. ENOUGH. Society deems being enough as constantly going, doing, hustling, striving, perfecting oneself—changing as a chameleon would, in other words, to fit in with what our environment says is acceptable. No matter how many promotions we get, no matter how many pounds we lose, how good of a mom people say we are, how many cars, boats, the size of house we have, will never feel enough. We will never feel a true sense of belonging to things outside of us. Belonging comes from accepting, loving, and sharing with the world the authentic person that within us at this very moment and self-loving that person as we would love our companion, our child, our neighbor, our friend, our Creator. 

An Abundant Mind Set

"Thanks for having such a positive attitude lately.  You've been killing it and it's inspiring.  Thanks for being such a great example to me.  You're a power player and I'm grateful and lucky to have such a wonderful woman by my side."

I share this sweet, from my Love, with you, to remind us all of two things:

1) these are the kind of things that make a marriage work, AND 2) these are the ways we nourish and feed an abundant mind set. 

It's easy to take a person you see day in and day out, a person who sees more sides of you than anyone else, for granted. If we want to prosper in our lives we need to help grow and prosper the person that is (hopefully) standing beside us for the rest of our lives. 

Love, support, confidence, gratitude, words of praise...these are the things that grow a person, change a person, ignite the spark to one another's dreams....

The most incredible thing about this truth is this two-fold benefit: if you want to be great, inspire someone else to be great. 

An abundant mind set is believing that you can have it all, that your potential is limitless. I'm starting to learn in life that we short change our potential by either getting stuck in our own heads or by surrounding ourselves with negative, toxic people that try and hold us back by keeping us in the muck they're in. When you surround yourself with people who believe in you, uplift you, empower you, and parallel your own positive energy something beautiful happens: you ignite a flame, they ignite a flame, and pretty soon the world is on fire....guess what happens then?? EVERYONE lives ABUNDANTLY. 

 #givelove #receivelove #livetoinspire #supportthosearoundyou #gratitudebreedssuccess 

Father's Day

Long before we had kids and had all the time in the world to make videos like this, I knew you'd not only be a great partner—because your quirkiness matches mine and SOMETIMES even surpassed it—but I also knew you'd be a great dad because first and foremost you had a sense of humor. 

And now we KNOW just how essential humor is with kids pooping all over your house, punching you in the nuts, thinking their life is over when the Internet cuts off their Power Ranger show for a nano-second. 

Thanks for keeping the giggles alive, I'd be a nut job otherwise. 

*To all of the single ladies out there, this Father's Day tribute is as much for you as it is for my husband. Parenting is FOR REAL and if you don't have a sense of humor you are DONE FOR #laughing #butseriously 

Happy Father's Day lover, let's go make some popcorn with Indian accents 🍿🏼

Such a fantastic day: one of the best sacrament meetings I've attended—all about Father's, quality time spent with the boys building legos, riding bikes, playing soccer, a delicious roast beef dinner with all the trimmings, Mike got a massage and opened his Father's Day gifts...‪#‎feelinggrateful‬ ‪#‎feelingsatisfied‬‪#‎happyfathersday‬ ‪#‎thebestdad‬

Amanda Turns 36!

Because we all need an escape from our lives to take a moment to reflect on all of the things that make us who we are. So grateful for a husband that gets that and gave me the best birthday gift ever: to escape from "reality" today to focus on just being Amanda Noel. I 💜 you @mkmncr ‪#‎celebratinglife‬‪#‎bestbirthdaypresentever‬ ‪#‎hotel‬ ‪#‎reflections‬ ‪#‎listeningtomyownmusic‬‪#‎juicebar‬ ‪#‎shoppingspree‬ ‪#‎haircolor‬ ‪#‎lifecantgetanybetter‬ ‪#‎love‬ ‪#‎life‬‪#‎relishinwhoyouare‬

Breakfast in bed by my men 

Today I took time to "smell the roses", and let me tell you, they were the best smelling roses! ‪#‎metime‬ ‪#‎celebratelife‬ ‪#‎bestdayever‬‪#‎taketimetosmelltheroses‬ ‪#‎birthday‬ ‪#‎bliss‬ ‪#‎rejuvenated‬

Seriously the best birthday! I was able to do so many things that I love doing. Becks and Daddy brought me breakfast in bed, we went to Oak Mtn state park to swim in the lake and go paddle boarding, Mike and I went on a date: Baha Burgers and to a movie: Xmen--the best! I got some Hgtv and CNN in 😁😁, some reading and contemplating, some shopping at Vans and Forever 21 (my fav), hair done, lunch, juice bar, perusing through a craft store, and enjoying a sunset....seriously the best day ever ‪#‎feelinggrateful‬ ‪#‎feelingspoiled‬  ‪#‎birthday‬‪#‎blessings‬ ‪#‎living life‬

So much fun with the fam at Oak Mountain! The water was like bath water and it was so fun going paddle boarding (my fav) 

It's the little things that you miss when you are a mom and with your kids 24/7, like listening to my own music as loud as I want in the car, going on errands and not having to rush, sleeping in, getting ready at my leisure 🤗 ‪#‎happyday‬‪#‎happybirthday‬ ‪#‎shenanigans‬ ‪#‎spoiled‬ ‪#‎motherhood‬‪#‎itsawesomebutyouneedabreak‬

Memorial Day

Cant' believe it was a year a go that we were celebrating Memorial Day with my family in Oregon; such a fun trip! I missed them today!!

I took the boys to go visit our small replica of the Statue of Liberty.  I am so grateful I can instill within them a love and appreciation for their country.