Shelf Reliance

Almost 18 months ago, I became an Independent Consultant for Shelf Reliance. When I signed up, Levi was only 3 months old. I went into it more to help my own family be prepared, and the desire I had to help others learn how to be prepared as well.

I wasn't able to attend convention last year since Levi was so little, but I am planning on going this year, and I can't wait! It is in SLC in April.

As a mother, I often feel like a failure. My kids won't eat what I make for dinner. They get mad at me for making them practice the piano, or clean up their room. I feel like I can't ever stay on top of things in my "domain", like dishes, laundry, or even getting a shower in on a fairly regular basis. With Shelf Reliance, I love that I can feel like somewhat of a success when I can accomplish something.If I have a good party, or when I see my paycheck for the month, it makes me feel like I am somewhat successful!

Shelf Reliance has had a contest going to help Consultants earn their way to convention. If you earn so many points, you get your registration for free, your hotel stay for free and even airfare! Up until the beginning of this month I was in the top 30 which was earning all those things for free! I was so excited! But then I started to fall behind, and only have one week left of the contest, and I want so badly to reach my goal of earning my airfare for free! There are a few things I need to do to earn points.

I can earn points for every customer that sets up a $100/month Q, and I earn points for every new Consultant that joins my team. If anyone reading this post has any interest or desire to do any of these things, I would greatly appreciate it if you signed up for those things before Feb. 28th! The Q is an awesome program to help people build up their own Home Store on a monthly basis. There is a 3 month commitment, but after that you can stop it, pause it, or change your budget any time you wish! It has made my life so much easier, that I know it will help yours too!

You can go to my website at http://kerryblack.shelfreliance.com and click on the Join my Team tab, to sign up as a consultant. Or you can click on the Q tab, to set up your THRIVE Q. If you have any questions, or want me to send you some more information, please email me, or leave me a comment and I can reply!

I really would love having any of you sign up as a consultant and join my team, so we can do this together! It is so fun!

You just know

I remember when I was young, and dreaming of the day I would find the man of my dreams, and I wondered how on earth I would know he was the one? I remember asking older people I knew who had married, or friends in college who were getting married and asked them that very question. How did you know he was the one? And the answer I HATED getting was that they "just knew". Now what the heck kind of answer is that??? How on earth would that help me?

When I met Tony, we were on the same folk dance back-up team. We were friends for two years before anything progressed from friendship into something more. And I remember the obvious, kind of "duh" moment I had when I knew he was the one. It wasn't dramatic, or explosive, or anything like that. It was just a peaceful, calm, completely positive, no doubt about it feeling I had. I know when choosing your life/eternal companion, it is a very BIG decision, and one you don't want to take lightly. I know so many people who have to pray about it, and even fast, to be sure their choice is the right one. I remember thinking maybe I should do that too. To be sure.But it was almost like I felt silly to ask something like that, when I already knew the answer so clearly. So, of course when this happened to me, the answer of "I just knew" made complete and perfect sense to me.

Now, on a different note, but one related to this story, I challenged myself at the end of last year to read the Book of Mormon in it's entirety beginning Sep. 1 and ending on Dec. 31 2011. I started it and was doing well, and then fell off the wagon for almost a month.Yikes!I ended up being quite a bit behind my reading schedule. So, when I finally got myself back into gear to accomplish my goal, I had a lot of catching up to do! I had to read like 6 chapters a day to catch up. Well, I did it. And I loved it. And the whole time I read, I was anxious to get to the end of Moroni where he states his promise in chapter 10 verses 2-5.

2 And I seal up these records, after I have spoken a few words by way of exhortation unto you.

3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts


4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

I kept thinking about that as I read, but a funny thing happened. As I read each day, I knew that was I reading was true. I "just knew". Every day during my reading, I would have powerful feelings that were testifying to me continually that what I was reading was true. It was peaceful, calm, completely positive, and I had no doubt.
So when I got to the end on December 30th, I didn't feel the need to kneel down and ask God if what I had read was true, because I already knew.

A friend of mine from the Folk Dance team recently posted her profile on mormon.org She talked of her testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. As I read her words, I got so excited, because she described my own experience exactly!! This is what she said:

I felt as I read each page something inside of me shouting out, "It's True! It's True!" When I got to the end of the book where the ancient prophet Moroni exhorts the reader to pray and find out for himself the truth of it, I took up the challenge. Here was the feeling I had as I prayed, "Haven't I been telling you all along?" Yes. I knew it was true. I had known it at every turn of the page.

We all have different ways of feeling when the Holy Spirit speaks to us, confirming things to be true. I have read the Book of Mormon from start to finish only a handful of times in my life. But the first real testimony of it's truthfulness I gained while reading the Book of Mormon in 17 days, while participating in the Hill Cumorah Pageant. I was 21, and it was the summer of 1998.

Here it is, 13 years later, and I once again wanted to gain that witness that I first had in 1998. This time it was so much clearer and I didn't need anything else going on around me to convince me of the amazing power and knowledge and truth in it's pages. I "just knew".

So Many Inventions

I just got home from parent teacher conference with Logan's teacher, and had to share a poem she sent home that Logan wrote.

So Many Inventions

There's so many inventions to build and to try.
I wish to have a bigger mind.
I wish that I knew just how to fly.
There's so many inventions and I do not know how to make them.
Hey daddy how do you fly?

Love my boy!

My Logan boy

I just want to take a minute to document some of the things my Logan does. He is so full of imagination, and gets quite creative when he is playing on his own. Here are a few things I peeked out my window to see this past month, and had to hurry out to catch a few pictures.




We have had an unseasonably warm winter, and this day in particular felt like a lovely spring day. I looked out my window to check on the kids who were playing outside, and saw Logan "napping" in the tree. He has tied a rope around the tree, so he has that looped around his waist so he won't fall out, and his binoculars that he got for Christmas hanging on a hook in the tree. It must have been the perfect spot for soaking up some rays, and spying on the neighbors at the same time!

Another day, after school Logan stayed outside and didn't come in right away. I got busy doing other things, and after a while went to check on him and couldn't find him.I called for him, and he didn't come (the little pill) and started to get worried a little when he didn't show up! When I went to check again, I finally saw him sitting in front of his little "tent". When I went out to talk to him I found out he was camping...complete with fire ring and all. Apparently he was in his tent where I couldn't see him when I was looking for him. We had a talk about him not answering me when I was calling for him...



Here's a story about that little tent. Our neighbors were having a garage sale in the fall, and our kids liked this little baby sun shade thingy. Tony didn't let them get it however, so imagine our surprise when it showed up on our doorstep the next morning! For some reason, that darn tent has become a hit with the kids. They play with it everywhere...in the house, outside, in the tree, etc. There have been times when it has been out in the driveway with about 5 or 6 kids crammed into it. Don't ask me how they all fit! After Logan's camping experience, he kept a log in it so it wouldn't blow away, since he didn't bring it back into the garage at night. One morning last week, it wasn't there anymore. It had blown away. Bye bye tent! Imagine my surprise a few days ago when I was driving home, and Avery yelled that she had found Logan's tent! I turned around to see what she was talking about, not believeing her, and sure enough there it was! It was sitting in the middle of a ditch full of water, at the corner of the busy intersection outside our neighborhood. The ditch ran through someone's property, but being the cool mom that i am, I pulled over to see if I could rescue the tent. Too bad for me, the ditch had steep sides, and the tent was too far for me to reach, so I came home empty handed and told Tony he would have to go get it. Well, 2 days went by and he didn't go. I woke up this morning to pouring down rain, and knew the tent had probably washed away. My suspicions were confirmed when I came home from Avery's dr. appointment today and didn't see it anymore. So really now, bye bye tent! So sad. It was fun while it lasted.

Avery is 5!!

I can't believe my sweet girl turned 5 yesterday!! I still think of her as a little girl, and it's hard to comprehend that she will be going to kindergarten next year. I will have two kids in school! For some reason this is so crazy to think about! I love that little sweet pea so much. I love her girliness, and her love of all things pink, princess, ballerina, fairy, etc. As far as interests go, she is a lot like I was. I do think she has a much more outgoing and social nature than I did when I was her age. She loves her friends, and always gives them hugs when she sees them, or when she tells them goodbye. She also loves her preschool teacher, and always has to run back to give her a hug goodbye when it's time to go home. She melts my heart.

This year is our family party year, so she didn't get to have a friend party. But that doesn't mean the day isn't just as special! After she was in bed the night before her birthday, I filled her room with balloons so she had a happy surprise when she woke up! I had about 8 balloons with helium, so they were floating around the room, and then we blew up a bunch and just scattered them around her floor. We could have done a lot more, but it was still a fun way to wake up!




She had her birthday breakfast with the whole family before she and Logan left for school, and daddy left for work. She chose to have fried eggs, bacon and toast for breakfast, so we did! She got a cute new birthday outfit, and had enough time to open all her presents before school. She got a Madame Alexander doll from Grandma and Grandpa Bowden, a Pinkalicious cupcake set from Logan, a little Lalaloopsy doll from Levi, a manicure/pedicure set and a Mermaid Lalaloopsy doll from mom and dad. She also got a a few new shirts.





We hadn't fixed her hair yet, so never mind the messy hair!

She took chocolate cupcakes with strawberry frosting to school to share with her friends. After school, she chose to eat lunch at Chick-fil-a so we invited some friends to eat lunch with us. I didn't get a picture of that!

She brought one friend home to play after lunch, and then we met daddy at Cracker Barrell for her birthday dinner. I think it's funny that she chose to go there, since we have only eaten dinner there once before. But she wanted pancakes and root beer in a bottle, so that's what she got!

After dinner, we came home and sang Happy Birthday and ate more cupcakes for dessert! I think she had a super fun birthday! The best part of the day was tucking her into bed and blowing her 5 kisses from the door when I was leaving her room. We somehow started a tradition a few years ago blowing kisses at their door at bedtime...a kiss for each year. So it was a big deal the night before when it was our last night to blow her 4 kisses. And now she gets 5!


She had her 5 year well visit appointment at the dr. this morning. She weighs 43 pounds, and is 44 " tall. 80% for her height, and 75% for weight.She's growing so fast! I have to buy her size 6 dresses and shirts just to be sure they are long enough for her! I would rather have her shirts be a little loose and not show her tummy when she lifts her arms up! She did have to get 2 shots, and she did cry, but was still pretty brave and got to get an ice cream cone on the way home. Love that girl! Happy Birthday to you!
Avery wanted to dim the lights to blow out her candle, so I apologize for the bad lighting in the video!