Today's Gift

odds and ends

2012-01-16T13:15:00.019-05:00

There was a fire in my sister's apartment this past Thursday.

She came home from work to a missed call from her manager and a friend from the YSA branch who heard about it on the news and had also called her.
She came and asked Jesse and I to go over with her and when we got there her manager was standing outside waiting for her.

All her belongings were covered in soot (the apartment was black) and smelled like smoke.
The apartment is unlivable now thanks to the damage from the smoke/soot and the front windows being knocked down by the firemen.
Thankfully she wasn't home when it happened.
It could have been way worse.

She has been staying with Jesse and I while things calm down
and she can decide what she wants to do.
I'm glad we live in the same town so she can stay with us during this time.
If you have a moment, include her in your prayers. They would be much appreciated.

***
On our second month anniversary we bought a kitchen-aid! An industrial size one! We received some money as a wedding gift, two gift cards, and had a coupon for the store.

We opened it this weekend! (I wanted to open it earlier, but our apartment is so little).

On Thursday we made chocolate sour cream bundt cake. It was so moist thanks to the sour cream.
(Doesn't saying it remind you of this? Bad quality, but you get the idea)

Then on Friday we made peach and raspberry crumble. Delicious as always!

And then last night we made white chocolate macadamia nut cookies.

We all thoroughly enjoyed them.

***

Over the holidays my mom and I went to the thrift store and she bought us some
adorable, adorable baby clothes. This was our first gift.
We received our second baby gift this weekend.
A friend of mine is due with her baby (girl) around the beginning of February and she had an extra baby thermometer which she gifted to us.

***

I have another doctor's appointment at the end of next week. We can find out the sex of our baby in about 5 weeks!

My mom sent me this video which might be helpful for my friends who are having babies.

So interesting. After watching it I could definitely remember babies crying like that. I'm excited to put this to use once our little one comes.

Hunger

2012-01-09T12:47:00.041-05:00

Thank you all for your comments on the last post!
(Long post...fair warning).

(Did you read about our secret?)

This seems like the story of my life.

Since I've been pregnant some people have asked me how I've felt and my response is:
"Mostly I just feel hungry and nauseous at the same time".

The problem is, when I'm hungry, I'm crabby.
It used to be really, really bad when I was younger.
And my parents started noticing the signs that I needed food.
They would encourage me to eat, but usually by that time it was too late.
Since then I've gotten a lot better about realizing when I need to eat.
But...sometimes I still don't eat in time.

And then I have to control the hunger monster that wants to come out and attack everybody.

Even though Jesse is a great cook, when we got married, I think he was excited for me to cook dinners (and I was too since I like to cook).

Then we found out I was pregnant and then morning (oops, I mean all day) sickness set it.
And then I didn't feel like cooking, let alone eating, even though I was really hungry almost all the time.

Jesse has been so patient and so willing to cook dinner on those days when I just don't feel like doing it and just want to go take a nap.

So yesterday after we got home from church
Jesse made chicken noodle soup (a recipe he's perfected)
and I made grilled cheese sandwiches to go with it.

Then we took a nap.
When we woke up we went for a drive to look for a farm to buy.

Since I had been feeling like a bad wife,
when we got back from the drive, I made tapioca pudding from scratch (because we both like it)
and then I made Jesse two more grilled cheese sandwiches
in the new cast iron skillet I received for Christmas.
He really liked them.

I'm 14 weeks pregnant this week and I thought morning sickness was gone
but then Thursday I got sick twice and ended up staying home from work on Friday.
I'm hoping this week it gets better and disappears for good.
Because mostly? I'm just sick and tired of throwing up.
Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Once the nausea disappears, I just have to come up with and make some good dinner recipes!

****************

Here are some other thoughts I've had about food:

Do you you feel sorry for regular oranges now that Cuties clementines are so popular?? I do!
It seems that nobody wants to eat an orange you actually have to take time to peel.
I mean, I can't really talk too much since I eat Cuties much more often than oranges and they're so much easier than peeling/eating an orange, but I try to eat oranges every now and then so they don't feel quite so bad about themselves anymore. I don't want them to feel completely sad and rejected.

Some foods that I can no longer eat because morning sickness makes my stomach reject them:
-Hamburgers
-Tacos with ground meat (oh, the smell!)
-Anything with ground meat and onions together (I can eat onions separately but not with the meat)
-Chicken nuggets
-French fries
-Sprite
-BBQ sauce
-Ribs
-Certain kinds of soup
-Rice krispies cereal

Foods my stomach is still okay with:
-Quesadillas made in our George Foreman grill
-Saltines
-Bananas! (almost the one food that I basically lived on for a week)
-Tapioca pudding
-Pita bread
-Most fruit
-Milk
-Grilled cheese
-Toast (sometimes with butter and jam)
-Mint chocolate chip ice cream
-Ice chips (not really a food, but regular water doesn't stay down too well)
-Frost Glacier Freeze (and Glacier Freeze) Gatorade

***************

P.S. If you've been pregnant where do you buy maternity clothes?
I've been using a belly band, which helps with my pants,
but my shirts are getting too short...

P.P.S. Jesse talks to our baby every day.
Sometimes he will say things like,
"Kick mom in the bladder so she has to get up during the night to go to the bathroom."
And I usually laugh and give him a frowny face.
But usually, when we're both home from work, he'll wrap his arms around my belly,
get down on his knees and say,
"Hi baby, I've missed you. Did you have a good day? I hope you didn't make mama too sick today. I love you."
It usually makes me cry.

I really, truly love my husband. To the moon and back. He is going to be a great dad.

Secret

2012-01-03T12:40:00.019-05:00

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year! We went up to Columbus for Christmas and celebrated with family, so it was great!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I haven't written on my blog lately for two reasons.

1. I've had intermittent internet access as of late.
and
2. Jesse and I have been (mostly) keeping a secret for the past few months...a secret that's very hard to keep.

It's the nicest secret ever and now I'm allowed to tell you....

A baby Dahl will be joining our family soon!! We're super excited!!

Here are some answers to FAQ you might (or might not) have.

How far along are you? I am 13 weeks and 4 days.

When are you due? July 4th- a firecracker baby. I know most babies aren't born on their due date, but wouldn't it be fun?!

Have you been sick? Morning sickness has been a pretty constant companion this last little while. I'm almost never without Gatorate, saltine crackers, a bottle of Zofran, and ginger ale within reaching distance. Though I hate throwing up, I am super grateful to know that I'm pregnant. When I was about 5 weeks along, I remember telling Jesse that I was worried something was wrong with the baby because I hadn't had any morning sickness. He said to wait because it would come...just about when week 6 started so did the nausea. The nausea is starting to lessen, though I still have my moments/days. It's a good kind of miserable though.

We've already heard the heartbeat and seen the baby's profile on the ultrasound! So cute!

I'm so glad we could finally share this secret with you!

"The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear"

2011-12-20T10:54:00.035-05:00

I've seen this around and loved reading about other's traditions. I hope you enjoy.

1. Egg nog or hot chocolate? Hot chocolate and egg nog. My cousin always sends my family a package each year and he includes the best hot chocolate from his store. We try to make it last all year. Yum. I like it with whipped cream.
I like egg nog too, but I usually have to add some milk to it because it's pretty thick to drink by itself.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa usually wraps presents but it's different wrapping paper obviously than the rest of the presents. The rest of the presents are from your parents. Santa also fills the stockings with unwrapped presents.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Growing up we sometimes had colored but usually they were white. White lights are so beautiful on the tree when all the other lights are off. This year Jesse and I have blue and white lights on our tree (Go UK!) and colored lights around our windows.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? We've talked about it, but don't have any yet. (Mistletoe fact I never knew from my horticulturist husband: it's a parasitic plant that is spread by bird poop and grows on the top of trees and has to be shot down with a gun! Did you know that?!)

5. When do you put your decorations up? Growing up we would get our tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving and usually decorate then, too. This year Jesse and I had to wait because we were out of town and got our (very first together!) Christmas tree on December 3rd.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Hmm, does pumpkie pie count?

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? I loved it when my sister and I would wake up before my parents and go downstairs (and see the tree all lit in the dark room) to open our stockings. We were allowed to open our stockings- we would usually take a few things out and then put them back till our parents woke up, but had to wait for our parents to open presents. Also, Ohio Village- see #16.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I don't really remember, but I still believe in Santa 100%.
Santa may not be a "fact," but he is "true."
He may not be a person, but he is millions of people who all work together to bring children beautiful Christmases.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We wait until Christmas morning to open presents.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? This year we bought blue and white bulbs and tinsel string to decorate. I was just saying to Jesse the other day that we should have bought an ornament when we were on our honeymoon in Rome to have a tradition of ornaments from where we travel. We are going to start the tradition of buying each other an ornament each year to hang on our tree.
My great aunt also made my sister and I an ornament every year when we were growing up from the song the 12 days of Christmas. I'll have to see what happened to those since they're probably still at my parent's house.

11. Snow! Love it or dread it? LOVE! I wish there was snow NOW! I want and need a white Christmas. Jesse doesn't like snow so much because he has to be out working in it, so I try to scale back my love of it, cause I don't want him to be too cold. But, good thing we aren't staying in Kentucky because it's supposed to be raining and in the 40s! Christmas isn't Christmas without snow!

12. Can you ice skate? I've been a few times, but I can't really skate so well.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? The best memories don't really have anything to do with gifts, just the love that my family had for each other and the time that we spent together.

14. What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you? Family. I love spending time with them.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Spritz cookies with maraschino cherries in the center, of course pumpkin pie, and caramel (or cinnamon) pecan rolls.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Growing up we would almost always pick a family in our ward that was less fortunate and buy things for them and then doorbell ditch on their porch or do the same thing with cookies.
We also went to Ohio Village which was a reconstructed 1800s village. We would decorate cookies, sing with the carolers, go around to the different shops, and feed the animals. It was magical since they only used candles and stayed true to the time period. I'm so glad I have those memories since the village is now gone. (Well, the actual village is still there but they've changed everything and it's not the same so we don't go anymore).
In the past few years we went to Slate Run which is similar to Ohio Village and participate in some old time Christmas traditions. (Their gingerbread men were the best!)

17. What tops your tree? Right now it's star that blinks white and blue to go with our UK themed tree. We might keep it or make/have a different one next year.

18. Which do you prefer: giving or receiving? Giving, especially watching the faces of people when they open their gift and knowing it will be something they will love. I don't do homemade gifts very often, but I think next year I might start.

19. Candy canes: yuck or yum? Yum. You can crunch them or munch them or suck on them or chew them up. I've only eaten one so far this year, but it was delicious. I should eat more because mint helps my stomach. I like sucking on the end to make it sharp and turning it into a little sword. We have them on our tree, but I kind of forget about eating them.

20. Favorite Christmas show? Home Alone, A Child's Christmas in Wales, The Santa Clause, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Elf, White Christmas, While You Were Sleeping (which I always watch every Christmas with my sister).

21. Saddest Christmas song? That Christmas Shoes song. Jesse and I heard it on the radio the other day and I cry every time I hear it so I plugged my ears so I wouldn't cry. He said it's one of his favorite songs even though it does make him cry. (I like the message behind the song, but it's just so sad!)

22. What is your favorite Christmas song? I love "I Wonder As I Wander", "Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella", "I'm dreaming of a White Christmas", and "Good King Wenceslas" and silly, I know, but I love the Chipmunks too! I could listen to them for long periods, but I usually only listen for a little bit cause I know Jesse doesn't really like them and can only stand them in short bursts.
Some songs like "Last Christmas I Gave You My Heart" can just go away. The radio plays that song toooo often and it drives me nuts.
I like good Christmas music.

23. Do you use an Advent calendar? We had one that we used growing up, but we don't have one this year. I should try making one for next year.

24. Do you go to church on Christmas? Not unless it's Sunday, and there's regular church, but on my mission we went one year with a family to their Church on Christmas Eve and it was beautiful to sing carols and see the church lit up with candles.

25. What were your Christmas morning rules as a kid? We weren't supposed to wake our parents up early, but we could open our stocking. Brenna and I would usually go downstairs and look in our stocking and eat some candy and sort though the gifts and then wait for our parents to wake up. If we felt they were taking too long, we would sneak up to their room and quietly wake them up so they would get up and we could open presents.

5 days till Christmas!!

My stomach hates me

2011-12-09T12:27:00.017-05:00

This past weekend was a weekend of firsts:

Jesse and I got our first Christmas tree together and decorated it and hung lights on it and around the apartment! Of course it's real! We wouldn't have it any other way...it smells delicious! Oh, it makes me so happy.

Our Stake Conference was this past weekend.

Our first Stake Conference in a family ward.

Our first Stake Conference as a married couple.

And our first Stake Conference in our new Stake.

It was really good! The Saturday night session focused mainly on becoming better parents and better husbands and wives (which was definitely helpful since Jesse and I are new to this whole marriage thing). The Sunday session focused on strengthing our testimony of Christ, following church leaders, and strengthing families by doing what we need to be doing.

That night was the First Presidency Christmas devotional, which we ended up missing since I wasn't feeling too well. But I watched it on Monday at work...definitely worth a watch.

In our current ward there are two other couples that were in the Singles branch with us (one couple got married in March and the other in July of this year) so at least we have friends in our new ward already.

Still no callings (other than home teacher for Jesse). But I'm sure they'll come...

Happy Friday.

*(The post title had nothing to do with this blog.)

gratitude

2011-11-22T13:36:00.023-05:00

Since Thanksgiving is just around the corner, here's a list of things that I'm thankful for this year...

my loving family
my loving husband, Jesse
the gospel
colorful leaves
good music
animals
hugs
the earth
Christmas trees (and lights)
books
ice cream
working cars
heaters
saltine crackers
the color red
Nalgene water bottles
movies
ice chips
comfy pillows and throws
The Book of Mormon
having enough to meet our needs
temples (included in the gospel...)
cuddling
naps!
Airedales with cute noses
waffles
cameras
blankets
washing machines
smiles
thankful people

Jesse and I are leaving tomorrow morning for Mississippi and I wanted to post today cause I don't think I'll have internet access later (it will be different this year not spending Thanksgiving with my immediate family and joining them in the annual cutting of the Christmas tree), but I'm also looking forward to getting to know Jesse's extended family and celebrating new traditions too.

I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving! Are you going Black Friday shopping??

image via

P.S. When I get back from the holiday...honeymoon pictures!

P.P.S. Is anyone else having problems with their Google Reader not showing all the posts for blogs? I don't know if it's just my computer, but I really dislike the new layout...let me know if you know how to fix it!

Marcel!

2011-11-15T17:05:00.003-05:00

Marcel is back! And cuter than ever...

33

2011-11-10T13:01:00.021-05:00

I know it's been three weeks since I last blogged...

Jesse and I have technically been married for one month this past Tuesday- the 8th- (though our actual four weeks was on Saturday the 5th) and Jesse brought me a bouquet of flowers he picked out and arranged himself! I gave him a card. He's so thoughful and I love him to bits! I'm so thankful for him.

We were in the kitchen the other day and had the following conversation:
Jesse: "Why are you so beautiful?"
Me: "Because Heavenly Father just made me that way." (Normally I'm not that pride-ful(?) about my appearance but I was trying to be semi-funny too)
Jesse: "I thank Him every night for you!"

We'll be going to Mississippi and staying in cabins for Thanksgiving this year for a family reunion (with Jesse's mothers family). It will be the first year that I won't be spending it with my family (other than my mission) and it will be different, but I'm also excited to meet Jesse's extended family. He already warned me (highlighted at the top) about a certain gravy not to eat...

I promise I haven't forgotten about honeymoon pictures! (Not sure anyone really cares about them but anyway...) We don't have internet access at our apartment so when I blog, it's from work and I don't have the pictures on the computer at work. Hopefully in the next few! days I will post them as well as some more wedding pictures.

19

2011-10-27T13:45:00.000-04:00

Me: "Guess what?"*
Jesse: "What?"
Me: "We've been married for two weeks!"
Jesse: "Oh, no, it feels like a year!" :)

ha, that husband of mine. I sure love him!

This conversation took place on Saturday, so today we've been married for 19 days! This means I'm a marriage expert, right? Right? Not really- I have a far way to go, but during the past 19 days I've learned a few things and felt like I wanted to share:

1. Your wedding day is exuasting! If possible try to go to sleep early (or at least at a reasonable hour) the night before your wedding or take a nap in between your wedding and reception if you have time (we didn't because our reception was from 2-4pm). You will need the rest for your wedding day. Jesse and I went to bed late, up with last minute preparations and then had to be at the temple at 9:30am for pictures. We were tired by the time our reception was over. Thankfully our reception ended at 4pm, but my family was there cleaning up until much later- thank you to them!

2. Make sure to take a week for your honeymoon, if possible. It gives you time to spend just with each other before jumping back into real life.

3. From the start, make couple prayer and scripture study a habit. It will help you to grow closer together not only as a couple, but also with Hevenly Father. I love praying and reading scriptures with Jesse.

3.5. Pray for each other and for your marriage in companionship prayer- it brings unity.

4. Be patient with each other and yourselves in the first few weeks of marriage. It's a little bit of an adjustment to be married, but remember to put each other first and find ways to serve each other.

5. Be open with your feelings regarding intimacy. As LDS people I sometimes feel that the subject is taboo, but it needs to be discussed. (Is that TMI? Anyway...)

6. Focus your wedding day on the temple- really that is the most important part. Commit to return often together.

7. Create an album of your photos. We made one for our honeymoon photos (I don't have the wedding CD yet) and have looked through it multiple times already. It's wonderful to re-live the day(s).

8. I love being married. It is wonderful being married to your best friend, knowing that together you are in the process of building an eternal family and knowing that whatever comes you have each other and Heavenly Father to rely on. I believe it was President Snow that said: "Marriage is a wonderful institution. I highly recommend it." I wholeheartedly agree!

We have a cross stitch that we bought in Italy similar to the one below hanging in our living room. Yes, it might make it look like we're Catholic, but I love Jesse's comment about it. "I really like this because it represents not only Joseph and Mary and Christ, but it can represent our holy family as well."

*(we started playing the "guess what?" game on our honeymoon. We would ask each other "guess what?" and then answer with something like "we're on our way to Rome!" or "the Pope is right in front of us" or "we're almost to the beautiful Sistine Chapel!").

My wedding day...

2011-10-21T13:10:00.014-04:00

I know I've been absent from the blogsphere for a little bit and my apologies if you've missed me. I was busy with last minute wedding preparations and then my honeymoon (we just got back on Tuesday) and I haven't been feeling too well since we got back.

I was sealed to my love, Jesse, in the Columbus, Ohio temple on Saturday October, 8th at 11:30 in the morning.

The wedding was absolutely wonderful...the beautiful spirit of the temple ceremony, the happiness of having our friends and family gathered around us, the smile and small chuckle that came when the sealer told us to look at him rather than each other, the joy and peace and happiness I felt when the sealer pronounced us as husband and wife for all eternity...the quiet time of reflection with Jesse after the sealing in the Celestial room. It was truly a wonderful day.

For all those who helped in every way and showered your love on us, thank you, thank you, thank you. Especially to my mom for tailoring my dress, and all her hard, hard work with the reception.

Pictures will be forthcoming, but here are a few:

"The family is a creation of the Almighty. It represents the most sacred of all relationships. It represents the most serious of all undertakings, It is the fundamental organization of society. Through the revelation of God to His prophet came the doctrine and authority which families are sealed together not only for this life but for all eternity." - Gordon B. Hinckley, "The Great Things Which God Has Revealed"

Photographs courtesy of Frozen in Time Photography. (If you click on the link you can view some more wedding photos as well.)

Someone is having a birthday...

2011-09-28T11:00:00.001-04:00

Today is Jesse's (my soon-to-be-husband) 29th birthday!

Thank you for loving me and being my best friend. I'm so excited to marry you and have you be mine for eternity.
Happy Birthday, love!

Birthday Weekend: Part 2

2011-09-27T18:02:00.023-04:00

For the second part of the birthday weekend I'm going to sum it up in pictures...

Raven Run where we went to hike on Saturday the 10th...view of the Kentucky River.
Taking a picture of Jesse taking a picture.
Winnie the Pooh ice cream birthday cake from DQ.

Beautiful flowers from Jesse
The delicious cake Brenna made me. Yum!
The present from Jesse! (Don't mind the messy background).
Brenna and Jesse lighting the blazing inferno...
I got them all out in one blow. :)
Cutting the cakes."Natasha,

I love you
more than
Pooh loves Honey

and
more than
Tigger loves
Bouncing.

So when your feeling gloomy like Eyeore, worried
like Piglet or lost in a hundred acre wood. Remember someone loves you
I DO"
Thank you for all the birthday wishes! It was a good weekend. As my mom always says, I have a knack for spreading my birthday celebration out over a few days...in this case, a whole weekend!

Birthday weekend: Part 1

2011-09-12T13:01:00.032-04:00

Wow, what a weekend! I have so much to say and not enough words to express it all...this weekend has been wonderful, sad, reflective, and bittersweet all at the same time.

Friday the 9th-my birthday:
As Friday evening rolled around we were undecided whether to celebrate my birthday out or go for a night hike in Berea as planned (which was the Friday night activity). We decided to go on the hike, and as Jesse came to pick us up, his arms were full of a bouquet of flowers and an ice cream cake from DQ! What a wonderful present!

When we arrived at the Pinnacles, there was an ampitheater which we went to look at...a guy in the group told me to go down the steps to look at it better. When I turned around the group started singing "Happy Birthday" to me. Sneaky Jesse, who told me he didn't say anything about my birthday! It was a nice surprise.

The hike, about 2-3 miles, was a little steep (and muddy) at times, but once we got to the top the view of the city was beautiful and peaceful! Jesse and I had a little bit of time to sit and reflect and it was wonderful. I'm so glad we all went. Once we got back it was about 11:30 and we all decided to save cake for Saturday since we were tired.

Saturday:
Jesse and I decided to head out to the Arboretum (even though it was officially closed due to the football game, he got in because he's the horticulturist there!) to look at the bird house exhibit... we painted a birdhouse together and Jesse wood burned one so we entered them both (it's a fundraiser for them). I have pictures, but I can't find my camera cord! Arrrr. Jesse told me as we were leaving that he hopefully would have my birthday present finished by the evening. I told him I thought the flowers and ice cream cake was my present!

As Jesse was under a tree retrieving a heart nut to show me, he must have bothered a wasp nest since he got stung twice- once each on two of his fingers. As he came back out he told me to hurry away from the tree since a few of them started chasing us. Hurting Jesse- the nerve of that wasp!

After the Arboretum we headed out to Raven Run for a 4 mile hike.
As we were driving there, I mentioned to Jesse that I sometimes miss being a kid and doing kid things like running around sprinklers, bike rides, and playing outside with no cares in the world.

When we got to Raven Run the weather was perfect and it was lovely spending time in nature with Jesse. It took us about 3 hours to go four miles which is pretty slow considering some people run a 15 minute mile... but, in our defense we stopped to play in the streams, look at plants and trees, take photographs, play Three Billy Goats Gruff on some bridges we found ("who's walking on my bridge?"), and pick up buckeyes (which I eventually had to put back. Sad). Jesse took some wonderful nature photographs and also one of me as I was playing in a stream. It was fun how the hike made me feel like a kid again.

After the hike we went to Olive Garden for a birthday dinner. When I got home Brenna, my sister, had presents waiting for me. Such lovely birthday gifts- a pair of fuzzy socks, Twix bars, little notepads, and two wall phrases to hang up in our new apartment once Jesse and I are married.

Later that evening after resting for a little bit, Jesse came back over for ice cream cake and chocolate cake which Brenna made. As he was walking up the steps he was carrying something in his arms....

Post 2 coming soon...hopefully with pictures.

September love

2011-09-01T13:23:00.000-04:00

I always think of Septeber 1st as the beginning of Fall, though I know it really doesn't start until the end of September. But the days do start getting cooler and more fall-like...

Here are some things that I'm excited for in September:

♥ Today is one month and one week till I marry Jesse! ♥ my birthday (beginning of September) ♥ Jesse's birthday (end of September) ♥ beautiful fall leaves changing color ♥ cool morning air ♥ soups and chili ♥ evenings with blankets and snuggles ♥ giving and receiving birthday presents ♥ delicious homemade bread ♥ my upcoming wedding (refer to the first thing on the list) ♥ Labor day weekend ♥ Possible trips to Mammoth caves, Natural Bridge, etc for hiking and looking at fall leaves ♥ My passport coming! ♥

*******************************

In other news, we finished registering for our wedding.

Two of the big things we registered for?

A Kitchen-aid mixer (professional series!)

and

Roomba- a vacuuming robot!

The Roomba was pretty much scanned as a joke (but not the kitchen-aid) since I'm pretty sure we won't get either of these things (expensive!). But Jesse said he would laugh if we got the Roomba and not the Kitchen-aid. But I told him that if we got the Kitchen-aid he would get more homemade bread- which he loves. One can hope, right? ha ha

My mind...

2011-08-30T13:07:00.004-04:00

somedays I don't know where it goes.

For example...I was at the post office turning in my passport information and the following conversation took place. (M=me; P=postman)

P: Everything looks good so we'll get it mailed off for you.

M: Good, thanks!

(as he was putting the envelope in the mailing bin)
P: Have a great trip!

M: Thanks, you too!

Umm...I guess he could have a good trip home or to the bathroom...

A new find

2011-08-25T13:09:00.017-04:00

I've been hesitant to put a new blog post up because I like looking at Jesse's handsome face when I see my blog, but I guess it's time for a new one since I can see his handsome face in person.

When Jesse was 8 years old his family lived in a semi-rural area in Arkansas. One day when his parents and siblings were gone and Jesse was home alone, an electrical problem started a fire in the house. As the fire started increasing Jesse called the fire department and his Dad who was about 45 minutes away and then he grabbed a picture of Christ and a family photo and got out of the house.

Recently, in the middle of wedding planning I came across this new (to me) website and I can't stop looking at it.

The Burning House is a blog where the author asks people the world over this question: "If your house was burning, what would you take with you? It's a conflict between what's practical, valuable and sentimental. What you would take reflects your interests, background and priorities. Think of it as an interview condesnsed into one question."

It's so facisnating to see what people would choose...

From looking at the pictures, here are few things in common that people would take:

People and animals that are currently in the house
Moleskin notebooks/journals
Photographs
Cameras
Phones
Passports

Bleuenn age 2

David age 27

Jennie age 19

Janet age 58

What would you take with you if your house was burning?

A few more engagement photos

2011-08-20T21:11:00.028-04:00

As I mentioned before, these were taken around Keeneland. Sara, the photographer ended up with about 800 photos by the time we were done. She edited them down to around 220 for us to pick an engagement photo from...and now I'm showing you these ones. I wanted to post more but didn't want you to be subject to too much gushiness! I'm only thinking of you afterall.

Enjoy...

We call this one "Professor Jesse"

Getting ready to put a flower in his hair

"Behind bars" (notice the police cars behind us...)

The one we chose for our engagement photograph...?

We thought it was a good representation of Kentucky.

Google...

2011-08-12T14:19:00.003-04:00

Have a look at their amazing benefits. Also here. Crazy!

Free lunch everyday, made with love by gourmet chefs?

And the first year in working there you get 15 days of paid vacation. Wow!

Help for Africa

2011-08-05T12:39:00.030-04:00

I don't normally post about things like this on my blog, but during lunch I was reading the news (briefly) and came across this slideshow and story on msnbc.com about the famine in Eastern Africa.

As I was looking at the slideshow the pictures drew me in. I must be living under a rock because I had no idea that a famine was happening. I started crying and feeling really guilty for being so stressed over my wedding preparations when there are children and families dying of hunger. I am really blessed.

View the complete slideshow here
And ways you can help here

Expressions of love

2011-08-03T12:53:00.017-04:00

How grateful I am for Jesse's expressions of love-
A kind word when I've had a bad day
A hug and a kiss
A joke he tells to make me laugh
His wonderful drawings with love letters included
The words: "I love you"

He is smart, funny, thoughtful, selfless, and ever willing to serve. He always sees the best in me, even when I don't, and helps me to feel the love of my Heavenly Father.

I'm so grateful that he will be mine for time and all eternity. And that knowledge is oh, so good.

Preview...

2011-08-02T12:50:00.005-04:00

We went to Keeneland this past Saturday and had our engagement pictures taken by the lovely Sara J. We took some near a police car while we were behind "bars" (i.e. jail), and took some by horses when they tried to eat us. A few of them were a little cheesy, but some have to be, right?

Here is a preview...

For our very first date, we went to The Mad Potter and painted these...Cletus and a flower pot. Who knew we would end up getting married!
She posted a third one, but it's just a close-up of the second one.

You like? More to come!

This and that

2011-07-28T12:47:00.014-04:00

Remember how in this post I said that my mom is making my wedding dress?

Well, when I was home this past weekend we had a little thrift store journey where I found a dress that fit....but was very big (meaning made me look very wide) and in need of some adjustments in several areas...cutting and re-sewing in others. We left the store with out it.

After I came back to Lexington, my mom called with an idea....to possibly combine the dress that she is working on and use part of the dress that I found to make a new dress for my wedding.

My mom went back to the store to see if the dress was even still there. It was in someone's elses hands!! Ahhh. But then she put it back and my mom grabbed it and bought it, where it was 25% off the listed price! since it had been in the store so long!

The dress? Oh, here's a picture....see how big (poofy) it is?
+ other pictures from home:

In other news, I'm starting to be a big ball of stress...less than two months left to go and so much left to do! Ahhh. Jesse reassured me last night that things will be okay. Take a deep breath and start on that to-do list....

And we did see Harry Potter pt. 2 on Wednesday July 20th for our date...(first ever date in a movie theater with him!) Even though I'm not a super, super crazy H.P. fan I really liked the movie and I've read some of the books. Any way, it was good and I might have cried just a little bit.

Ok, here's a video that will (hopefully) brighten your day:

My favorite quotes?
-the brain is like a wrinkled bag of skin filled with warm water, veins, and thought muscles
-the probe probes the brobe
-leave the pea be

Enjoy! And happy Thursday.

(All pictures taken by my sister!)

Update

2011-07-25T13:43:00.016-04:00

I travelled home to Columbus this weekend (Jesse didn't go because he had work to catch up on) to try on my wedding dress! My mom is putting a lot of effort into making it and it will be beautiful...though I can't gain any weight!

I'm starting the process of getting my passport for our honeymoon! Jesse just needs to renew his, but I have a few more papers in order to apply for mine. Where are we going you ask...?

Rome, Italy!!

I'm so excited to marry my love and then honeymoon with him in Rome!

Here are some places that we hope to visit while we're there:

(Photos from National Geographic and Google).

Heat Index

2011-07-23T12:27:00.003-04:00

Today in Ohio, it's hot.

(Updates coming soon about the latest adventures.)

He's handsome and he's mine

2011-07-08T16:36:00.004-04:00

in exactly...

3 months from today!!

Let Freedom Ring!

2011-07-04T13:40:00.002-04:00

"Love your country. Your country is the land where your parents sleep, where is spoken that language in which the chosen of your heart, blushing, whispered the first word of love; it is the home that God has given you that by striving to perfect yourselves therein you may prepare to ascend to him." Giuseppe Mazzini

"All we have of freedom, all we use or know -This our fathers bought for us long and long ago." Rudyard Kipling

I hope you had a great weekend! Mine was spent with Jesse and my family- watching fireworks, picnicing, and spending time together.

Two in One

2011-06-19T18:54:00.004-04:00

Happy Birthday to my dear sweet sister!

(Photo shamelessly taken off my mom's blog)

And......

Happy Father's day to my dad!

Cute

2011-06-14T12:58:00.007-04:00

To everybody who commented on my last post about my engagement story...

Thank you!!

You're very kind and I'm very excited. My days (and nights) have been busy thinking about and planning (with Jesse's help of course) our wedding.

Oh, we have a date(!!):
Saturday October 8th in the Columbus, Ohio Temple.
We're having a late morning sealing and then reception after.

116 days!

********************
And here's a text that made me love him even more, but it might make you sick. I'd apologize for sharing it, but I'm not sorry:

Jesse: "Ohh, you're so sweet"
Me: "Sweet like honey or sweet like sugar?"
Jesse: "Like honey because you're the bee's knees :)"
Me: "Aww, since you're the cat's meow what does that make you?"
(I was going to say ..."tuna?" but I didn't cause that would have been kind of mean)
Jesse: "Catnip because I'm irresistable :)"
Me" "haha true, true you are irresistable"

********************
I love that finace of mine!

(Jesse was told by a mutal friend that we're like 80 year olds with those nicknames).

Any questions?

Jesse's Girl

2011-06-07T19:44:00.011-04:00

I had been wanting to go to the Arboretum to look at all the new plantings for a long while, but Jesse kept saying we would go later. (Jesse is a horticulturist at the arboretum...not sure if I mentioned that or not).

So, on Wednesday June 1st...he said we would go out to dinner and then would take a walk through the Arboretum where he would show me all the new plants. I was excited, not even suspecting what was in store!

Before this, I had been a little concerned because driving home from my parent's house over Memorial Day, he was really, really quiet- which was so unusual for him. I asked him about it twice before and he said he was just thinking...

So we went out to dinner on Wednesday at an Italian restaurant here in Lexington. It was very good food! I brought up his quietness one more time and asked him was he was thinking about- his answer was "stuff". I pushed it a little further with, "what stuff?" He said: "I'll tell you later" and he laughed. He seemed fine after that.

We finished up dinner and drove to the arboretum. We held hands as we walked and he pointed out all the new plantings over the arboretum since the last time I had been there. He had done a lot of work and it looked beautiful! At the garden area, we ate a few strawberries and a raspberry each.

Then we went to the rose garden. The arboretum has thousands of roses which are beautiful and smell heavenly. He showed me several of them and pointed out the names as I admired each of them.

A few minutes later, we walked over to the rose arbor which was filled with climbing roses. We sat on a bench, holding hands and talking for about 15 minutes.

Jesse then got really quiet...I was starting to get just a little concerned again...

when he says:

"Natasha, I have a question to ask you..."
"Ok"
"but you can't cry until after I'm finished..." and right then I knew it was coming!

Then he got up off the bench and down on one knee and took something out of his pocket and told me that he doesn't have much, but everything he has is mine...and...

"Will you marry me?"

"Yes!!! Yes, I will"

and then we kissed.

Inside the box was this:

Afterward we sat and smiled and laughed and talked about plans and held hands.

And that's the story I'll tell for the rest of my life when someone asks how my husband proposed to me!

I've been a bad blogger this month

2011-05-25T12:43:00.004-04:00

Only 3 posts for the month of May?

What?!

I know, so bad.

In my defense, I have been busy with other things. Good things- very good things, so don't judge too harshly.

Here's a little recap (sorry...no pictures because I'm at work):

1. This past Saturday I moved into a new apartment.
2. Jesse and I did some important shopping.
3. Said new apartment doesn't have internet. Thusly also related to the lack of posting (and pictures).
4. Jesse and I will be going home to see my parents this weekend for Memorial Day. I'm so excited!!
5. I've almost unpacked all my boxes.
6. Jesse is so good at Clue. He beat me 7 times, but he let me beat him twice in a row last night (and then I let him win once!)
7. He's so kind.
8. I sure love him!
9. I'm so grateful to call him mine.
10. I miss him when I'm at work.

Sorry for the overflow of emotion in this post.

Have a happy Wednesday!

My Weekend

2011-05-09T09:22:00.002-04:00

I had a busy, but fun weekend.

My weekend started on Friday night when I went to help Jesse at The Arboretum.

The Kentucky Children's Garden (different post with pictures coming soon!) is opening this coming Saturday, May 14th and he still had lots of work to do before it opens. I wanted to spend time with him, so I offered to go help.

We unwrapped (about 75?!) ferns and trees that had just arrived that day (they were a retirement present for one of his co-workers), dug up plants and put them in containers so they could be planted in the children's garden on Monday, rode in a golf cart, ate freshly picked strawberries from his plants, held hands, and enjoyed each others company. I arrived about 6:30 and we left at about 9pm and went to Subway for dinner.

Then on Saturday morning, some members of our branch helped tear down a dilapidated shed for a sister in a different ward.

Hard at work. (I helped too, I just stopped to take pictures).

Bringing down a side

When we were done it looked like this:

The whole group (Jesse and I are both in this picture, btw)

We got there at 9am and by 10:45 we were at Steak n' Shake enjoying pancakes. Many hands make light work!

Ok, that was part one of my Saturday....

Part two of my Saturday consisted of a two-part date with Jesse.

After we finished tearing down the shed, Jesse had to go pick up some things for the Arboretum. The plan was that he would pick me up at 2pm when we would do something fun and then eat dinner.

About 12:30pm I got a text from him asking if we could change the time to 3pm- which was fine by me. Then about 1:30 he called asking if I was ready for a crazy afternoon and could we switch it back to 2 pm- the missionaries had called asking if he could go teach with them (which he wanted to do) but he also wanted time for our date.

So, he picked me up at 2pm and we went mini-golfing at a Bible themed golf course.

It started raining about 3pm so we sat inside until the rain let up, then played again. I beat him three out of four games. It must have just been beginners luck!

We got done around 4:30, he dropped me off and then went to meet with the missionaries.
After the discussion he would pick me up again at 7pm for dinner and we also wanted to take some plants to a member of our branch presidency who is ill.

Around 6:45pm I got another text asking if we could change it to 7:30 since the discussion was going over.

He arrived before 7:30 and then we were off to Walmart for the plants. We picked up an Endless Summer hydrangea, a tomato plant, and a card. Then went to dinner at Fazoli's.

After dinner we drove to Georgetown and dropped off the plants and card- we were hoping to visit, but all the lights were out so we just left them on the porch. On the drive back, we got some more hand holding in, which is always a bonus! :)

It was a really good, but busy weekend!

To my Mama

2011-05-08T20:40:00.006-04:00

Dear Mama,

Thank you for teaching me almost everything I know.

(The lighting is shabby in this picture, but it is the most recent one I have of my mom and I).

Thank you for letting my cry on your shoulder and telling me everything would be okay. Thank you for trusting me enough to let me be my own person (even though I know I caused you grief through my stubbornness). Thank you for reading to me and for having wonderful books in our home so we could explore the world. Thank you for teaching me how to cook and bake. Thank you (and Papa) for taking us on family outings, so we could be together. Thank your for living by example. Thank you for teaching me the gospel. Thank you for giving up working so you could be home for B. and I when we got home from school and for all the important times in our lives. Thank for being my best friend, and most of all thank you for loving me. I hope to be half as good a mother as you are.

Happy Mother's Day. I love you!

Lately

2011-05-01T23:54:00.005-04:00

Lately blogging has been on the back burner of my life. In fact, it's not on the back burner because it's not really even been on the stove.

Because, you see, I have been dating someone lately and that has been taking up most of my time.

And there you have the reason why I haven't been blogging.

By the way- his name is Jesse, he makes me laugh, and he's the cat's meow.

I have some more posts coming up (hopefully shortly), I just have to get pictures uploaded for them.

3 things: making me happy

2011-04-25T22:30:00.002-04:00

1. Cletus the gnome
2. A hand drawn Easter card
3. Easter basket with a bunny and plant and of course candy.
(All from a certain someone!)

Sunday Will Come

2011-04-23T07:15:00.001-04:00

I think Elder Wirthlin says it perfectly: "Each of us will have our own Fridays, those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world lie littered upon us in pieces. We will all experience those broken times, when it seems we can never be put together again. We will all have our Fridays, but I testify in the name of the one who conquered death- Sunday will come."

"No matter how dark our Friday, Sunday will come."

Happy Easter from me to you.

Sunday thought on a Thursday

2011-04-14T13:00:00.003-04:00

"Our women are not incredible because they have managed to avoid the difficulties of life- quite the opposite. They are incredible because of the way they face the trials of life. Despite the challenges and tests life has to offer- from marriage or lack of marriage, children's choices, poor health, lack of opportunities, and many other problems- they remain remarkably strong and immovable and true to the faith. Our sisters throughout the Church consistently 'succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees.'"
Quentin L. Cook "LDS Women Are Incredible!"

Spring Weekend

2011-04-06T22:26:00.036-04:00

This past weekend was an absolute favorite of mine.

On Friday night our branch had the opportunity to travel to a town an hour and a half away to spend the weekend away from city life as we listened to General Conference.

It was so relaxing to be completely away from the hustle and bustle of city life. No cell phone, no internet connection to worry about, just time to enjoy nature and the company of others in my branch.

This weekend we:

took hikes in hills found signs of Spring climbed trees like monkeys jumped from trees

listened to General Conference (which was so wonderful!)

smiled took pictures of Rosie dog and her nose and Molly dog observed the beauty of nature played croquet

slept in cabins got to know each other better

watched as children played with Molly played with Rosie and Molly ourselves played with glow sticks took pictures of (and held) a cute baby (I'm leaving this one un-cropped to show the background of the log cabin) I believe that Heavenly Father gives us Spring to remind us that new beginnings and fresh starts are possible. This weekend was a perfect example of that...

The people were great, General conference was wonderful (as always), nature was perfect. I loved being able to see the stars so clearly in the night sky and the big puffy clouds during the day.

A treasured weekend indeed.

How grateful I am for the blessings in my life!

Year of Yes

2011-04-06T12:27:00.008-04:00

I wish I had said Yes!
beloved
When you asked me out to walk
among the leaves
the turning leaves
You were offering me
the sound of dreams,
And I turned you down
politely.

Not today, I smiled
Perhaps,
Maybe, tomorrow?

But I wish I had said Yes!
beloved
I wish we had shared this light.

Next time don't ask
Just take me!
Order me to dress!

I am going to need your help
beloved
To begin the Year of Yes.

by Shaista Tayabali

Move Over TCBY

2011-03-31T14:37:00.034-04:00

...there's a new frozen yogurt place in town!

Last week after our presidency meeting, one of my counselors, S. (who is also a friend) and I went to Orange Leaf- a new pay-by-the-ounce yogurt place here.

She had been before but I hadn't, so I was more than willing to go (and I needed some girl talk). They have about 16 flavors to choose from and you can get swirls for each flavor combo or just mix and match flavors. They also have a bunch of toppings to choose and you can sample as many yogurt flavors as you want before you buy.

I couldn't narrow which ones I wanted so I tried a combo of every flavor (minus the coffee). I really like the chocolate/peanut butter, mint chocolate, and their red velvet cake. I put Little Debbie oatmeal creme pie pieces on top of mine. What's not to like about that? They also have a fun topping called popping boba candy in mango flavor. So yummy!

And one of the best parts...These little spovels (spoon+shovel - I don't know what their real name is, but that's what they look like) to eat your yogurt with. Aren't they adorable?

I have a feeling I'll be eating a lot more Orange Leaf in my future. Which makes me think to my self "Orange you glad it's fro-yo?" :)

Have you been to Orange Leaf? What is your favorite flavor?

A few finds...

2011-03-29T18:57:00.009-04:00

This website that I recently found, called Perpetual Kid definitely appeals to my inner child.

Some of my favorites include:

Mustache jumbo magnet. Cause everything looks better with a magnetic 'stache, right?

Chillipede ice cubes:

Ninjabread men cookie cutters! How cool are these?

For the bagel lovers among us (raising my hand)- some bagel soap to go along with your morning:

Do you like or dislike these stamps?

What are you favorite items on their site? I've started a long list...

Hope for tomorrow

2011-03-23T16:16:00.016-04:00

You try to untangle one part of your life only to find another knot somewhere else.

They say challenges make you stronger.

They say everything happens for a reason
and that God never gives you more than you can handle.

They say the best is yet to be.

Today, I can't help but hope with all of my heart that they are right.

Image

Spring

2011-03-17T13:17:00.005-04:00

It seems like the way I have been going, I'm posting about once a week or so...which isn't too bad I guess, but it's less often than I used to post. C'est la vie.

*********************

Spring is on its way- I can see the daffodils peeking their green heads out of the ground and the red breasted robins listening for worms. Sure signs that spring is almost here!

I've been obsessed lately with gardening. I ordered seed catalogues in the mail and been pouring over the beautiful pictures, longing for a space to have a full-size garden of my own (and a gnome to go with it).

Growing up we had a garden and the anticipation of spring and rototilling the ground brought secret delight to my teenage heart. Though I was often less than enthusiastic about helping, I loved the results the garden produced: red juicy tomatoes, sweet beets, delicious corn, and potatoes freshly dug up with dirt still attached.

Often our dinners would consist simply of fresh corn on the cob, potatoes, beets, and tomatoes. Each wonderful in their own way, the flavors merging together in a harmony of delight on my taste buds.

Now despite the fact that my sister and I are both gone from home, my dad still grows a garden. I benefit from the fruits when I visit, but it's not the same- I don't have the chance to help anymore. I hope time has wizened me and I would be more willing to help than in years past.

I live in an apartment now and the only way for me to garden is through containers. But I think I'll be heading to the store this weekend for a look at the plants...I need something to grow.

Do you garden? What do you plan on planting this year?

Thoughts by Pooh and friends

2011-03-12T00:35:00.000-05:00

"Don't underestimate the value of doing nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering." - Piglet

"Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day." - Winnie The Pooh

"You can't stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes." - Piglet

"If the person you are talking to doesn't appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear." - Eeyore

"If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you." - Winnie The Pooh

Doldrums

2011-03-07T17:35:00.010-05:00

Thanks to everybody for your comments on the last post, I really appreciated them. And thanks for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers.

I'm doing a little better, but I've decided that the end of February and March (at least so far) is the month of doldrums.

Every time I say* the word doldrums, I think of The Phantom Tollbooth. Have you read that book, by the way? If you like words it's lots of fun. Milo, the boy in the story, gets lost in the doldrums- a place where thinking and laughing aren't allowed. He doesn't know how to get out, sort of like how I feel right now. But then Tock, a 'watchdog' finds and rescues him. I don't think a watchdog is going to rescue me, but it would be nice.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand...

I just feel blah. Like blah, blah. All I want to do is stay in bed and sleep all day.
Daylight savings time is coming up this weekend which means I (we, all of us) will lose an hour of sleep.
It also means that since it will be dark in the mornings, I will need even more motivation to get out of bed.
Oy vey. I don't know where the motivation is going to come from....

Since I'm sad and in the land of doldrums I need something to cheer me up, so I've compiled a list of things which will (hopefully) make me happy(ier) during this time:

You know what they say? Fake it till you make it.

This is me faking it.

1. Strawberries are on sale 5 for $5 (for a 1lb container) this week at Meijer. Fresh fruit. Yay.

2. My parents are coming on March 22nd to go with me to the doctor's appointment at the specialist. I get to see my parents. Double yay.

3. A new Glee is on this week. I think I'll watch it on Hulu though.

4. I didn't throw up (which is a very good thing) from the new medicine, but I did have problems at the other end. TMI?

5. Tomorrow is Fat Tuesday, but I'm not planning on eating fatty foods.

6. I'm moving offices this week at work and I'm going to have a window seat.

7. Okay, that's all I can think of....

What is cheering you up right now? Maybe you can help me so I can gather my strength and start anew.

I'll be happy for you instead...

*This is the first time I have said the word 'doldrums' or really heard it for that matter other than when I talk about the book.

Pain and healing

2011-03-01T20:44:00.006-05:00

As C.S. Lewis has said: "God can make good of all that happens. But the loss is real."

On Sunday, the tears welled up in my eyes, mirroring the heavy rain outside. Big fat drops pouring down. Thunder came into my chest.

It hurt to think about it and every time I did the tears started again.

But it consumed my thoughts.

A little over a week earlier I had been at the doctor's, my body pretty much working fine except for one little problem.

*********

Then on Friday, just two days earlier at 9:00 am I got a call from my doctor's office. I was shocked at the diagnosis I heard. I had been fine. Now this. I felt like my body was betraying me. Maybe it had been trying to tell me something was wrong for a while but I wasn't listening.

When I heard the diagnosis I took it like a champ- the news not really sinking in...

The more I thought about it though, the more it hurt. I had so many questions but no answers.

"What if?", "why now?" and "what about the future?" resounded in my head.

I didn't want to talk to anyone...not even Father, but I needed comfort and it was getting late.

I called my mom. I cried as she asked me how I was. Emotionally I was not so good. She mostly talked and I mostly listened, which was fine by me. The tears came and went. We made a plan of action. I would call a specialist and get the answers I needed.

My mom commented "I know Father has a plan in this, I just wish I knew what it was..." I know the Lord compensates the faithful for every loss but having this knowledge doesn't make it hurt any less. The pain is still there. I don't think faith and knowledge negate pain, do they?

I may not be healed in this life but God can make good of all that happens. He will consecrate this affliction for my gain. And, as my faith is rooted in hope, optimism, and tears, I know He will...but the loss is still real.

Come what may

2011-02-26T19:24:00.004-05:00

I really needed to read this today. Maybe you did too...

"The Lord compensates the faithful for every loss. That which is taken away from those who love the Lord will be added unto them in His own way. While it may not come at the time we desire, the faithful will know that every tear today will eventually be returned a hundredfold with tears of rejoicing and gratitude." Joseph B. Wirthlin

Breakfast- try to be cheerful

2011-02-24T20:54:00.004-05:00

Breakfast table civility and deportment

1. Clean up before you come to the breakfast table: wash your face and comb your hair
2. You don't have to get dressed (I guess if it's in the family home, but at a B & B I would guess you should)
3. Clean fingernails, please
4. Reading the newspaper at the table is permissible, but a pleasant word or salutation must be spoken to all present
5. Sit up strait and TRY to be cheerful

6. Talk to one another politely; talk and listen in turn
7. Because everyone is defenseless at breakfast, there should be no contentiousness or crossness
8. Don't ever mention food dislikes or criticize the food
9. Don't lick your fingers or stuff your mouth with food
10. Don't play with your food

11. Don't talk with your mouth full
12. Butter your bread one part at a time; don't put your uneaten pieces back in the bread basket
13. And don't answer questions in a saucy manner
14. Remember, guests always receive the choicest portions.

I will forever be working on #5. I am so not a morning person.

From The Breakfast Book by the esteemed Ms. Marion Cunningham (p. 53)

Wednesday Thought(s)

2011-02-23T20:39:00.006-05:00

1. At FHE on Monday one of my roommates informed me that the microwave in our apartment sparked when it was turned on and therefore no longer worked.

Thinking somebody put a piece of foil in it, I investigated when I got home but didn't see anything.

Since I didn't get a chance ~~decided not~~ to try it for myself, I texted one of my friends on Tuesday and asked her to turn it on and see what happened.

She texted back: "I just tried it and sparks start flying! It is super scary! SCARY SCARY FRIGHTENING!"

I was scared (would you blame me?) to turn it on when I got home from work, so when she got home I asked her to try it again so I could see.

Indeed, our microwave gave us a pyrotechnics show last night.
It was amazing!
Booming sound effects were included free of charge.
And yes, it was scary! Poor, poor microwave!

2. I went to a DO for my shoulder/shoulder blade pain last Thursday and she recommended physical therapy, so I start with PT on March 2nd.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it goes well
and helps with the pain most of all.

3. All the snow has melted!
I know Phil predicted an early Spring but I've only had snow cream once this year and besides that it's still only February.
I need a little bit more snow!

4. I'm thinking of getting my hair cut. I've been wanting to grow it out, but I get impatient because it grows so slowly and this haircut seems like a pretty popular style these days. What do you think?

5. Did you watch the episode of Glee two Tuesdays ago? The one that introduced the power of four Biebers?
It almost made me want to see Justin's new movie Never Say Never.

Almost.

But, I think it'll just suffice for me to watch this instead, baby (it's less creepy...that's for sure, thinking of how young Justin is!):

6. In case you haven't noticed I put a little formspring box on my blog. If you have any thing you want to ask, you can do it by clicking here. :)

On that note,
I hope you had a great Wednesday!

The Visit!

2011-02-20T19:34:00.027-05:00

Let's play a game of guess who. Ready?

This person has a little (and by "little" I mean pretty big) blog where she talks about her "bizarre beautiful and often very weird" life as the wife of a cattle rancher. She blogs about her Bassett hound with turtle breath and her husband's Wrangler clad behind...

Any guesses?

It's The Pioneer Woman!

Yes! She recently published another book, Black Heels to Tractor Wheels, which is the story of how she met her husband, Marlboro Man. This weekend I had the chance to meet her in Columbus for the book signing!

I found out she was coming about a month ago, and since I didn't have any official days off work in February I decided to take a day off and drive up to Columbus to visit with my family and also see Pioneer Woman.

The best of two worlds in one visit!

Ree was scheduled to be at Barnes and Noble at 2pm and we got there around 1:30 or so. She came alone and the place was packed. It probably would have been even more packed if Marlboro Man was there and people knew about him coming too.

(This is just a tiny bit of the crowd)

The kind people at the bookstore handed out tickets which determined where you would be in line. I was "white c" which meant I was at the very end of the line. This also meant I would be there for a good while.

I was talking to a few ladies who had driven down to Nashville the weekend before to see her and stood in line for 6 hours! I wanted to see her, but was really hoping I wouldn't be there for 6 hours.

As I stood around getting photos and just waiting for my turn, a woman came up to me and asked if I was in line. I said yes and she said "here you go (and handed me some tickets), you can have these because we're leaving." They were yellow tickets which meant I was practically next- they were almost to the end of red, you know, color order wise. I asked her if she was sure, she said yes, I thanked her and she left. Wow, my turn was coming up faster than I thought!

With her purple flower pen and shellac nail polish

When they called yellow, I stood in line and thought of what I wanted her to write in my cookbook.

I saw people go in front of me as I waited.

We all know her love for babies. Her ovaries were probably doing somersaults.

Her "handler" (which is the name they gave the guy who came with her...it sounds like an animal trainer doesn't it?) took my book and handed it to Ree. It was my turn!

I had a list of questions I was going to ask. Such as:

Is Cowboy Josh really single?
If so, what's his last name so I can look him up on facebook?
Do you smell Charlie's Frito paws every day?
When are you planning on doing The Ranchelor?
How do find time for everything you have to do? Photography, blogging, cooking, ranching, homeschooling your kids, finding time to be with your husband...painting your toenails?
When do you practice your Ethel Merman impersonations?
Do you ever sleep?

But I just ended up asking... How's Charlie doing? "He's great! I'll tell him you said hi" was her response. Then she said "Natasha, right?" and wrote what I wanted her to in my book.

In case you can't read it, it says: "Love to Natasha (she put the "love to" part in)- Wishing you your own Marlboro Man! (Heart) Ree D."

It was so fun to see her and have her sign the cookbook. She was really down to earth. I just wish people had more time to spend with her.

What a fun day!

And now, for your pleasure, I found scraps of fabric with cowboys on them and I think they relate pretty well to PW's life, don't you think?

Marlboro Man

See the resemblance?

Photo from here

You've reached the bottom of this post, heard the behind the scenes version, and now that's the end of my story.

(Sorry, couldn't resist!)

Did Pioneer Woman come to your town?

Fill in the blank

2011-02-18T23:22:00.004-05:00

Via

1. I am sleepy, glad to be home with my family, excited for tomorrow (when I get to see her!!, a lover of food, and introverted extrovert.

2. The bravest thing I've ever done was move to Kentucky to live?.

3. I feel prettiest when I wear make-up and get dressed up.

4. Something that keeps me awake at night is stress, loud sounds outside, my roommate pounding on the floor when walking, things I should be doing/didn't get done during the day.

5. My favorite meal in the entire world is hmm? Just one? I have a hard time narrowing it down, but I do really like lasagna with garlic bread.

6. The way to my heart is through caring and making me feel valued.

7. I would like to be better than I am, do something exciting, join the circus and move to Siberia (just kidding on that last part, I could never join the circus because I'm afraid of heights so I could never be on the trapeze, but I guess I could work with the animals...).

Want to join? Link up here.

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T13:30:00.001-05:00

from me...

diy valentine's cakes from tiger in a jar on Vimeo.

to you!

Normally Valentine's day bothers me at least a little bit. But not this year. Nope, I don't really care that I don't have a Valentine (and let's face it, probably never will) and I'm not even bitter about it. I sent Valentine's day cards (and two packages) to people and it made me happy! I think from now on I'll do that every year. No sense wasting every February 14th being grumpy and sad when I could be eating good chocolates.

Yesterday, at break the fast a friend of mine asked if people had anything good going on this week (we were seated at a table with guys). All the guys moaned and groaned and said it would be a horrible week because it was Valentine's day. I piped up and said "But Tuesday is the day after Valentine's day. That day will be good." They all said no, it wouldn't because Valentine's Day pretty much ruins the whole week. But it doesn't have to ruin the whole week...

Do you have a valentine today?
If so, make sure you tell them how special they are to you/how much you love them/how cute they are, etc.
If not, make sure to do something nice for someone else.

In fact, I invite you to take the Single's Awareness Day Challenge (Thanks, Teachinfourth!) by having a day of increased kindness to others (complete strangers, actually):

Are you up for the challenge? Here it is...
1. Perform a random act of kindness for someone else this week
2. Come back when your act is complete and comment anonymously about what you did (you can either comment on my blog or here on Teachinfourth's blog).

Ready....set...act!

Oh, and have a Happy Valentine's Day!

...blogging...

2011-02-11T17:59:00.007-05:00

I don't really care what your stance on the issue is because it's just a fact that every time you go to a store around Valentine's day you will see all the love-ly red and white colors and hearts all around you.

This holiday coming up is pretty hard to ignore, unlike some other holidays, such as boxing day. I'll guess you'll just have to give in and embrace the love.

Even the air seems to be filled with love, don't you think? You're in a tub of love and you can't escape.

So, on this day in this month of love I will now proceed to tell you something...

I may not be very good at it, but I love to blog. I also love to read blogs.

I love blog background colors. I love different fonts. I love bad play lists and good play lists.

I love blog templates covered in hearts and buttons and little yellow polka dots.

I love lists and pictures of things that make people happy. I love the writers and picture-takers and mothers and the craftiness of women and seamstresses and fathers and siblings and geologists and genealogists and scholars and bakers who all blog about their experiences.

I even (or more especially) love the part of blogging that most non-bloggers are uncomfortable with, the part where people blog about their perfect grilled cheese sandwich or walking their cat on a leash, or watching their favorite movie for the hundredth time, or they link a song they love with a few lines of a quote they like, or how they aspire to be a singer, or they get mad at their husband, or they dedicate their post to someone, or they say thanks for reading their posts, or they pick a side of the immigration debate, or tell of the time when they were there to see a baby being born, or when they saw someone leave this world and how it hurt to write but they wrote anyway, or how they're trying to get sponsors, or they took twenty pictures of their kids swimming during swimming lessons and want everyone to see them, or they just got new pinking shears, or they talk about themselves and share too much information for too many lines in bolded font that's rife with spelling errors...

Yes, it's human, and sometimes very strange, and maybe somewhat detached, and quirky, and you seem a million times cooler when blogging about the "right" things.

People blog about their meals and their new haircuts and their aversion to sharpie pens and their knee-jerk reactions to certain religions or the newest politician. They aren't always well-organized or sensitive but they blog a picture of their hand that they took on accident, or how much they hate Facebook, or what their take on a controversial sermon is, or why the smell of a certain store or the leather couch in their apartment brings them relief...

These...all of these reasons are why I love blogging.

That you can write things in your blog nobody else in the whole universe has ever thought or cared about, besides you. And people read them and comment and somehow through everything we come together and boost each other up.

And if they do, or don't, it doesn't matter.

You're blogging it because YOU want to blog it.

For yourself.
For the record.
For your posterity.

Don't ever give it up.

Have a great weekend!

Month of love

2011-02-10T13:18:00.007-05:00

Via

Thank you so much to everybody who commented on my last post. I'm hoping I can figure out what's going on soon.

************
About two months ago I came across a website called Love Bomb. Every Thursday they send out an email about a person who is really struggling or experiencing rough times in their life. Love bomb includes a link to their website/blog and your job is to head over to that person's site and leave them an encouraging comment. By the end of the day they will have received many, many nice comments just when they are needed most.

Does it sound good? If so, please head over to Love Bomb and sign up. It only takes a few minutes of your time, but the results are truly timeless for those you help.

Think of the impact this could have on these people! As you know it starts with us.

Also, if you know of someone who needs a love bomb dropped on them you can email Lauren (the girl in charge) at dropalovebomb@gmail.com and let her know.

Yay for love!

Post edit: These past two weeks Lauren has been struggling and because of that, Lauren is being love bombed this week. Go here to send her a comment!

What is this?

2011-02-08T21:44:00.005-05:00

The chiropractor was pretty sure it was a muscle. The doctor thought it was a muscle. My friend who is a massage therapist and massages muscles all day said it was bone. I say it hurts.

I've been to the chiropractor. I've been to the doctor. The chiropractor helped (somewhat) but when I left, the pain returned. X-rays were taken and nothing was found. I'm still in pain.

I've used a heating pad. I've used an ice pack. I've taken muscle relaxers. I've taken prescription strength naproxen.

My shoulder hurts (actually underneath my shoulder blade) and pain medicine barely touches it. I have shooting pain up my neck now when I turn my head or move my arm.

And the sad part is I don't know what else to do about it. :(

Rude

2011-02-07T20:16:00.006-05:00

(This picture has nothing to do with this post, I just wanted you to see the snowfall outside my apartment. It looks very Narnia-esque doesn't it?)

Today at work a customer was transferred down to me who wanted to pay a bill by credit card.

I answered the phone like I normally do:

"Hi. This is Natasha."

His response?

"Natasha? Where did you get a name like that? Are your parents communists?"

"No, as a matter of fact, they are not (and while you're at it, why don't you give me a paper cut and pour lemon juice on it). How can I help you?"

I was talking to my mom and she suggested that I should have told him I was a Christmas baby. That would have caught him off guard.

Anyway, with tact like that I'm sure he gets lots of repeat customers to his car dealership. I'm just sure of it.*

*(That was sarcasm, in case you didn't get it...)

*********
In other news, I had a great weekend. I saw Elder Bednar twice- once at a YSA fireside on Saturday night and then on Sunday we had a special Stake Conference where he spoke. It was wonderful.

Cheeky

2011-02-04T22:01:00.002-05:00

This was the back of an envelope that my mom recently sent to me. Oh, how I love baby cheeks!

Have a wonderful weekend!

A letter

2011-02-03T22:10:00.003-05:00

Dear Life,

My wish for 2011 is a big fat bank account and a slim body.

Please don't mix these two up like you did last year.

Love,

Me

Random city

2011-02-02T12:51:00.008-05:00

I'm back from my little blogging absence. The reason I took the absence was because I wasn't feeling well and had been to the chiropractor and doctor several times in a short period of time and I just didn't feel like composing a blog in my head let alone typing it.

See, I'm still not back to normal. Just look at that run-on sentence. I know it was a short absence and actually the space between my posts before was longer than this one. But whatever.

Does anybody still read this blog? I hardly get comments, so I'm not sure...

I saw the "The King's Speech" yesterday. I now know it's rated R. I just thought it was PG-13 (and in my opinion it really should have been rated that).

I highly recommend it. It's based on the true story of King George VI (queen Elizabeth's father), who became king after his brother, Edward, abdicated the throne in order to marry his mistress, Wallis Simpson. King George stuttered and the movie is about his (working) relationship/friendship with his speech therapist before and shortly after he was crowned as king. Collin Firth was wonderful as King George. It was sooo good. GO see it.

I peeled a banana from the bottom end today because I couldn't open it from the top. My finger turned all brown from the grossness. And it kind of made me sick looking at the bottom of the banana. But I ate it anyway because I was hungry.

I love ickle and Lardee. Have you met them? Go here to meet them. They're pretty much the cutest yittle milk teef you have ever seen.

Blogger has more fonts. I haven't really checked them out. Thusly, I am still using this plain old font. But just you wait ('enry 'iggins) I'll be using them shortly, I'm sure.

Have you ever thought about what your life would be like if you had to live in a bubble? I was at the library recently and I found a movie on the real life bubble boy! I'm excited to watch it.

Whenever I hear or talk about bubble boys I always think of the Seinfeld episode with the bubble boy.

Also speaking of bubbles. Here is a view of the world from bubbles. Cool, huh?

I'm reading a book about human cadavers and I'm learning lots of useful information.

For example, did you know that a human stomach can hold about a gallon? After that, it either explodes (in the case of cadavers) or you throw-up (in the case of someone living). Like I said very useful, right?

The above is the reason why it's probably not a good idea to do the gallon challenge. Just sayin'. If you don't know what the gallon challenge is, google or wikipedia would be a good resource.

Okay, my lunch break is over. Have a happy Wednesday.

Lesson learned

2011-01-29T12:48:00.004-05:00

Call your mom after the doctor's appointment but before you take a nap at 4:30pm, set the clock to wake up at 7:30pm but then end up sleeping through the night.

I'm not a mom so I didn't get it, but now I do. Moms worry about you!

In other news, I'm taking a little break from blogging. Don't miss me too much. I'll be back soon. Please stand by...

Birthday wish!

2011-01-23T19:16:00.003-05:00

(My mom as a child with a doctor's kit)

Today is my mom's birthday.

She is a wonderful mom.
I know, I know what you're thinking...
that is what daughters are supposed to say.

But it's true.
She really is the best mom in the world.

Because she's mine!

Happy Birthday, Mama! I love you!

P.S. You can go here and wish her a happy birthday comment on her blog if you want. But, shh, don't tell her I sent you. It'll be our little secret. :)

Digital park bench

2011-01-20T19:14:00.009-05:00

I've mentioned my love of people watching before, and I recently stumbled upon a new (to me) blog that combines people watching and fashion...

The Sartorialist.

Have you heard of it? Where ever the photographer goes he takes photos of people and fashion that speak to him. What a grand idea.

This is a video of the idea behind the blog:

FB

2011-01-17T22:45:00.001-05:00

I have to be honest, facebook etiquette sometimes confuses me. If somebody requests to be your friend and you don't really want to be friends with them, do you:

A) Leave them in "purgatory" by neither accepting nor declining their friend request?

B) Accept their friend request but then delete them from your list shortly after looking at all their pictures?

C) Decline their friend request?

D) Accept their friend request and keep them as a "friend"?

Right now I'm choosing A, but if I choose B and they realize I accepted and then deleted them they might try to re-add me as a friend and then I would have to delete them again which would most likely cause hurt feelings. If I choose C then they can also re-add me and then I'm back to square one.

I know these people in real life and what if they ask my why I haven't accepted their friend request?

What do I do? Is there a proper thing to do? What do you do?

Also, I gotta say, this ad scared me just a little bit.

Overall, I think fb and I will be seeing less of each other pretty soon- it's not that I don't like it I just, well, it sort of seems to complicate things sometimes.

Are you on facebook? Do you limit your time on it?

On keeping my mouth shut

2011-01-14T13:04:00.012-05:00

Do you ever have inappropriate thoughts come into your head?

No, no I don't mean those inappropriate thoughts, well, maybe you do...but I mean the kind of thoughts that really shouldn't be said out loud?

Well, I was at the chiropractor this morning and as he was stretching my neck he asked if I was doing anything fun over the weekend. I told him a few things I might be doing, then I asked him if he had any plans.

He mentioned several things- work out, clean off the salty paw prints from his car seats {from his dog that he brings into the office}, etc. then he mentioned that he needed to go grocery shopping.

As soon as he said it a thought came into my mind of something I read on a blogger friend's blog:

"I hate pooping. Total 'waste' of time sitting in a stinky cubicle. I have to go grocery shopping. I hate spending money on food. I love to eat good food. Good food makes you poop. I hate to poop. I hate to spend money on poop."

Yup, that's what came into my mind when my chiropractor said he needed to go grocery shopping.

Good thing I didn't say it because I was thisclose. That would have been awkward. Real awkward. It probably would have made him throw up in my face.

What I did say? "Oh, grocery shopping's always fun!"

Good censorship, Natasha. Good job...

Oh, and by the way, I was referred to this chiropractor by a male friend (C.) who had gone to him before.

C. asked me at FHE on Monday how I liked this chiropractor (first day going to him) and I said I thought he was good.

He said "Oh, really? Yeah, I think you like him for other reasons, don't you?" And then he winked at me.

Geez, what type of person do I look like? Yeah, the only reason I go to a male chiropractor is so I can have a man touch me....on my neck and back. Cause goodness knows I'm not getting it anywhere else.

But he does smell good. Just saying.

Question of the Day

2011-01-12T20:37:00.005-05:00

Do you have a passport?

What is the furthest you have ever been from home?

Let's hear your answer- yes, I'm talking to you on Google Reader too!

1/11/11 Or Full of Glee

2011-01-11T23:11:00.007-05:00

Shortly after the new year started, Target was having a sale of certain TV shows on DVD for a really good price. I mean really good! $14.99 good! There was a "Season One" of one particular show that I wanted but when I went to the store they were sold out. It made me sad, but I got a rain check for it and decided I would come back and try again another day.

Two days later, I went back to the store. I looked around. Nope, still no copies were to be found. I figured I just wasn't supposed to have it. Then I decided to browse around in the books. I picked up several books that looked interesting- read the front and back flaps and put them back. Then I saw one book that really normally wouldn't interest me but picked it up anyway... well, when I picked it up guess what was behind it!? Yes, a very copy of the DVD I had been looking for!

I was shocked to say the least. The cover was a little bit torn, but I grabbed it anyway. Then I walked around the store deciding whether to officially buy it or not- this was my birthday money (from September) I would spending on it after all. After browsing for about 1/2 hour I decided I would buy.

The DVD season I bought?

P.S. Don't judge me too harshly for liking this show. I really like musical theater and since I don't have a chance to go very often this fulfills that need for me.

P.P.S. I still had birthday money left over!

FITB- Friday

2011-01-07T10:41:00.008-05:00

{Picture via}

Congratulations! We've made it through almost a whole week of 2011. How does it feel? Is the new year growing on you? I decided to join in fill in the blank Friday today- see link at the bottom if you want to join too.

1. Winter is Christmas! Snowy and bright but also dark and cold.

2. Summer is perfect produce and wearing skirts non-stop.

3. If it were summer instead of winter right now I'd be eating watermelon, going to the farmer's market, riding my bike, and eating s'mores roasted over a fire.

4. My favorite thing to do in winter is play in the snow and then come back in and curl up on the couch under a blanket with a cup of hot chocolate.

5. My favorite thing to do in summer is eat watermelon and otter pops and rabbit pellet ice and ride my bike and feel the breeze in my hair.

6. The ideal outfit for a sunny summer day is a light top with a breezy skirt and sandals.

7. The ideal outfit for a frigid winter day is a skirt with tights or pants with silk underwear and a sweater.

Do you have any fun weekend plans? I'm watching movies with my friends tonight and then Despicable Me tomorrow (with the most adorable girl ever!).

If you want to join me in fill in the blank Friday, sign up here.

Faces, Faces Everywhere

2011-01-05T12:48:00.005-05:00

I love looking at faces and people watching in general. People's expressions are often so unique yet similar among all of us.

But, have you ever wondered what faces might look like when features from different people are combined together?

Well, have no fear...it's monoface to the rescue!

With 795,375 different possibilities your face watching choices are almost limitless.

Check it out and play around with it. They sure have sweet skills in the face-making department.

Pretty awesome, right?

A Wish! For You!

2011-01-01T00:01:00.000-05:00

Here's my wish for you...

"May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good
madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who
thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -- write
or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere
in the next year, you surprise yourself." -Neil Gaiman

Yappy New Hear! Oops...Happy New Year 2011 (and new decade)!

Thanks for reading my blog this year, it means a lot.

And I have a feeling this year is going to be amazing.

A New Year!

2010-12-31T12:45:00.005-05:00

December 31, 2010

I've had lots of thoughts as the new year is beginning. I've already started on some things I want to improve on and it feels good.

But here are some of my other thoughts:

I want to be more proactive. Often I expect things to come to me without any work on my part. I want others to take the initiative, if you will. I only have one life to live and once time is gone, it's gone. I'm not getting it back. This includes being kind to my body. I need to start taking better care of myself- I've been slacking off in that department. I've gained some weight, but it didn't really seem to matter. This needs to change.

Open up more. I tend to keep feelings to myself to avoid conflict, but it's not healthy. I want to be better at letting others know how I feel.

Be happy. One of the purposes of this life is to have joy. I want to live in the moment and be happy despite my surroundings. I have the power to be happy and act instead of reacting. Despite trials, life is good. I want to recognize that goodness.

Try new things. I want to take risks, try new things, and step out of my comfort zone. I want to work toward something and live.

If you feel like sharing, what are some of your New Year goals or thoughts?

See you all next year, ok?

I heard this on another blog and just had to post it...it makes me smile and makes me sad at the same time.

Christmas Wrap-up

2010-12-30T22:19:00.002-05:00

The presents have all been unwrapped, the wrapping paper put in the recycling bin, and all the cookies given away (or eaten). All the anticipation of it - and just like that, Christmas is over. It came and went in the blink of an eye.

I had some help opening my stocking

Sleepy puppy from the day's activities

Smiling and happy- they love Christmas.

Yet, here I am five days later, still lingering over Christmas- hesitant to move on just now. I'm back at work, but long to still be with my family. It can't be over, but it is, and tomorrow is already New Year's Eve.

Despite being so short, I had a great Christmas. I hope you did too.

A new year is upon us! Do you have goals that you are working on for the new year?

Do It Yourself NYE party supplies

Party in a box

Just curious...

2010-12-30T13:40:00.003-05:00

Did you want to have a blog giveaway for a free trip to NYC and then rig it so my mom, sister, and I would win?!

Christmas Memories

2010-12-25T11:30:00.000-05:00

I remember going out the Saturday after Thanksgiving and cutting down our Christmas tree. I remember often stopping at Bob Evans to eat dinner afterward and sharing cups of hot chocolate with whipped cream with my sister. I remember ordering as many cups as we wanted- free refills!

I remember believing in Santa Claus and knowing that he must be real because my dad had a picture with him at the North Pole, surrounded by snow.

I remember, almost every year without fail, discussing about a family in need in our ward and deciding to help them. I remember gathering the supplies- food, toys, and a few items of clothing and putting it all in a basket. I remember driving past the house (so we wouldn't be seen), running up to the door, dropping the basket down, knocking on the door and then running back to the car. I remember waiting and watching to see if they opened the door. If they didn't open the door, I remember my dad calling them on the phone disguising his voice and telling them to look on their porch because there was something there for them. I remember smiling at the thought of their Christmas being a little bit brighter because we served.

I remember putting up our advent calendar on December 1st and every day opening the little window to see the scene behind it. I remember opening number 24 and seeing a picture of the nativity and remembering again the real reason for Christmas.

I remember my sister and I waking up early on Christmas morning, the smell of pine tree, cinnamon rolls, and oranges thick in my nostrils. I remember creeping down the stairs (so I wouldn't wake my parents) and making my way to the Christmas tree, turning on the lights and soaking in the beauty. I remember opening up my stocking and running back up-stairs to my sleeping parents and asking them to get up so we could open presents. I remember them asking for a few more minutes of sleep. I remember always wondering why they were so tired on Christmas morning.

I remember taking turns opening presents and being so happy. I remember the joy of giving to family members. I remember the big smiles on their faces.

I remember, despite not having a whole lot of money, always having presents for Christmas.

I remember snuggling on my parent's bed under the "cuddle quilt" and laughing with my mom and dad and sister until my sides hurt and then taking a nap.

I remember making snowmen in our front yard and sledding down the hill with my sister on a sled from my mother's childhood. I remember gathering with the neighborhood children and sledding down our some-what icy, hilly street. I remember going back inside with our wet, snowy clothes, standing just inside the closed door and taking off our snow gear. I remember standing over our heating vents and watching as my dress poofed up as I dried off and warmed up. I remember drinking hot chocolate with whipped cream and wrapping my hands around the cup to warm them.

I remember on Sundays after church, gathering together all our extra bread, apples, and carrots and going to the Ohio Village and feeding the geese, ducks, and horses. I remember sitting inside the town hall and listening to the carolers by the glow of candle light and looking at the huge Christmas tree and soaking in the feeling of it. I remember feeling that it should last forever.

I remember feeling loved and I remember loving Christmas.

And you know what? I still do!

Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones!

Christmas Eve

2010-12-24T14:23:00.017-05:00

Merry Christmas Eve!

Links to Love- December

2010-12-23T21:29:00.009-05:00

I decided to post the links early this month since some of them are related to Christmas.

Enjoy!

Artsy:

A book Christmas tree

Hanging chair pendant

Modern paper ornament for your Christmas tree

DIY Advent calendars

Printable owl gift wrap. Too cute!

Let it dough, let it dough. A sneak peek:

Beautiful (free!) downloadable gift tags. Too fun.

Dress boys. I had never heard of these before, but a great idea.

The Whole Story

Singing his own songs, at last: Bruno Mars

TV Worth Watching

Random:

2010 Darwin Awards

Pine cone fire starters

SantaCon. Santa sightings!

Let's go ride a bike

Basketball playing nuns

White ghosts (deer) of the forest (embeding is disabled)

Running away:

Smart (and very well trained) dog!

Light up the world

Hilarious animal voice-overs

No Christmas tree? Try this

Genius staircase

Beekeeping:

Mormon life:

The word that Elizabeth Smart wanted to hear.

Provo Tabernacle fire, but picture of Christ was saved.

I love technology:

Need help finding your lost/misplaced phone? Try this!

Interesting Google Street View images.

2010 in review:

Can you escape technology?

Neil Pasricha on TEDxToronto- The creator of 1000 Awesome Things:

Facebook...love it or hate it? 100 people I hate on facebook

10 most watched youtube videos of 2010:

(Watch all 10 videos here)

Literary:

The Day John Lennon Died

What made you happy today? A scrapbook of people and what makes them happy.

Best books of 2010

Saying Images

Recipes:

Peanut butter and jelly cookies

Mashed potato puffs. Delicious!

Cookie + cupcake

Cranberry pie. You'll be surprised, it's very tasty!

My Toadstool

2010-12-20T12:42:00.021-05:00

I guess this isn't very Christmas-y, but sort of in the fact that it has to do with toys...

Last week an email came into my inbox with this title: "Consumer Group Sues McDonald's Over Happy Meal Toys"

The title lured me in- which is what they pay people big bucks to do...

Anyway, it worked and I started reading.

Here's the low-down:

A consumer group is suing McDonald's to try and stop them from advertising toys with Happy Meals.

But, here's the interesting part...a 41 year old mother says, "Happy meals are among those things frequently requested, and the first thing they ask me to do is open the toy," Parham said in a press conference today. "I'm really concerned about the health of my children, and I don't think its OK to entice children to get Happy Meals with a toy,"

Well, Parham, if you're really concerned about the health of your children stop taking them to McDonald's!! You're the parent, so step up and be one. I'm pretty sure your kids are too young to drive which means they don't have a car, so if you don't want them to have the food, stop driving them to get it and stop giving them money to buy the food on their own.

The article goes on, "But the real concern for the group, and for parents, CSPI says, is that McDonald's advertising makes kids beg their parents to buy food that's high in calories, sugar, fat and salt, which contributes to obesity."

Stop buying the meals for them, parents, then they won't have access to the toys or the meals which are so high in calories, sugar, fat and salt! Nobody is holding a gun to your head forcing you to buy them for your kids.

I didn't get everything I "begged" for when I was a kid. And granted, I'm not a parent and it might be very hard for you to listen to your children whine about wanting a toy with their happy meal, but seriously?! If you don't want your kids to eat there then don't take them and turn off the TV so they don't see the ads for the toys. It's good for you to tell your kids "no" once in a while. They are not going to die if they don't get that toy, despite what they might say.

Here's an idea: fix meals for your children at home and eat together as a family. Make fast food a rare "treat" rather than an every day occurrence. Read to your children instead of plopping them in front of the TV all night. If children never go to McDonald's they won't know what they're missing. Ignorance is bliss.

And while you're at it, quit blaming McDonald's for something that you need to take responsibility for as a parent.

Any thoughts?

Blog to Read

2010-12-18T22:06:00.017-05:00

Have you heard of Teachinfourth? If not, then you should definitely check out his blog. It's awesome!

He's a fifth grade teacher, a blogger and a photographer.

There is a also certain boy in his class named Joey who has quite a sense of humor. Teachinfourth blogs about his adventures in "Moments with Joey".

Also, be sure to check out the wonderful photos he took during his most recent trip to NYC. I gotta say, I'm kind of jealous, but I'll definitely be keeping these tourist ideas in mind when I visit NYC!

P.S. If you hurry, he's sending out Christmas cards and you can pick a photo of his that you like for him to send to you...

Christmas Giving

2010-12-18T13:28:00.008-05:00

At the beginning of December I set a goal to post every day this month and it hasn't quite worked out...

My internet connection at my apartment stopped connecting to my computer which explains the reason I haven't blogged in, oh, two days. There go the excuses again.

Did you miss me? Yeah, that's what I thought.

Anyway, Christmas is exactly one week away! Are you ready?!

In the spirit of giving for Christmas, the white elephant gift exchange went fabulously well! After the gift exchange part was over, it ended up turning into a balloon fight (pictures coming shortly). The balloons were left over from my engaged roommate's birthday (she turned 30 on Thursday!). I blew up 30 of them and put them all on her bed. For the WE party she decided to push them all out into the living room. And you know how guys are with balloons...lots of popping.

********************

Here's a haiku poem I just wrote:

Snowflakes fall to earth
Christmas day is coming soon
Christ is the reason

Have a great weekend and enjoy some of these other wonderful Christmas videos on Youtube.

Merry Christmas!

$40 for a Christmas tree and they don't deliver?!

2010-12-15T12:41:00.010-05:00

Lately I've been so good at making excuses for myself. In fact, I have so many I'm giving them away for Christmas wrapped in beautiful paper and topped with a big red bow.

Do you want a few?

I need to get rid of them all because they aren't cutting it for me anymore.

Send me your address and I'll get them to you right away.

I need to do better.

Ok, I'm glad that's off my chest.

********************

My engaged roommate has set a date for her wedding: March 25th.

After Christmas I'm going dress shopping with her. I'm excited because I've never been wedding dress shopping with anyone before.

Her wedding is on a Friday and she is having the reception that very night, which makes sense to me because the next day is Saturday which means they can sleep in and cuddle if they want, which is a very good thing for newly-married people to do, in my opinion- both the sleeping and the cuddling. (Sorry for the very bad run on sentence).

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One of my friends started a Christmas blog with crafts and other nice present ideas including food. Have a look-see!

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Another one of my friends is moving back to this town from Manhattan, NY this very day. We met in July and he's been going through a pretty rough time in his life, so he wants a fresh start. I'm looking forward to him not being so far away.

********************

Last Christmas my sister and I got a coupon for a week of free tanning at a tanning salon. We went almost every day and even though I know tanning is so bad (microwaving our insides and all that) the heat felt so good when it was time to go back out in the frigid air of winter.

********************

I'm really super excited to go home for Christmas!! Really excited!

********************

Now for some counting:

10 days until Christmas
7 days till I go home for Christmas
3 days till my sister comes home from BYU-I for Christmas (that is unless she moved her flight up and is coming home today...)

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We are having a white elephant gift exchange at our apartment on Friday night! What is the best white elephant gift you've ever received? Let's discuss this...

********************

By the way, Christmas is for families. I'm so excited to see mine, but I've already discussed that. Just wanted to make sure you knew.

********************

P.S. 10 bonus points if you can name the movie where this post title comes from...

P.P.S. At least you didn't pay $40 for this blog post, otherwise you'd be dissapointed I didn't deliver for you.

2010-12-14T22:59:00.002-05:00

Well worth your 5 minutes and 36 seconds.

The Good Luck Charm

2010-12-13T13:03:00.011-05:00

Want to get married? Read on...

I think it must be me.

Since moving into my current apartment 6 months ago, one of my roommates has gotten married and another one (just happened Friday!) is engaged.

Just call me the good luck charm.

I Needed to Hear This Today.

2010-12-12T23:33:00.000-05:00

Maybe you do too?

"Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved."
-Thomas S. Monson

Welcome Christmas

2010-12-11T19:54:00.032-05:00

For as long as I can remember, the Saturday after Thanksgiving is the day we venture out to get our Christmas tree.

Some people might like fake trees and that's okay, but I love real Christmas trees. They just smell so good and are different every year which adds to their loveliness.

The beautiful sunny sky was deceiving. It was pretty cold that day.

The saw holding can only be done by those who are experienced for sure.

Greens being collected for the mantle

I think the tree we want might be over here...

"This one looks good. What do you think?"

What about this cute Charlie Brown-ish tree?

The sun was bright that day!

Ohh, that's a little better...

The Christmas Bush!

Lovely seed pods, aren't they?

After more looking...and going back to one we found earlier
we decided on it...and gave it one last look over before cutting.

Cutting!

Our tree! It's a little bare in spots, but it's ours!

Just like people, some of the trees were immature, some were short, some tall, some bare in spots, but they were all lovely in their own way. And all taken care of by the owner, just as we are.

True Story

2010-12-09T23:39:00.008-05:00

I was at the library yesterday just browsing around, when I overheard two female library employees talking. I pretended to look at books as I gradually moved closer to where they were.

I tried not to make it too obvious that I was listening to them, but it was kind of hard not to hear them since one of the ladies was talking pretty loud.

This is what I heard:

Lady 1: "So yeah, when she got married she had the name "Tommy" tattooed on her ring finger instead of wearing a wedding band. She thought it would be a good idea."

My head: "Why in the world would she think that was a good idea? That's never a good idea. What the heck happens if they get divorced...? Will she get the tattoo removed?"

Lady 2: "Wow. I don't think I would do that."

Lady 1: "I know, right? But then her and Tommy broke up and so she went back to the same guy who gave her the tattoo in the first place and had him cover it up and tattoo the word "Mommy" in its place. The kids were from her first marriage."

Lady 2: "Wow."

Lady 1: "But then her and Tommy got back together and so she went back again and had him re-write "Tommy" on her finger.

Lady 2: "It would have been easier if she had just gotten a wedding ring."

My head: "No kidding!"

I didn't hear the outcome of whether the lady and "Tommy" were officially on or off, but for her sake I sure hope they were on so she didn't have to go and get the tattoo changed back to "Mommy" again. I can just imagine the conversation with the tattoo artist...

Some people's children!

I said some pretty good things this year...

2010-12-09T13:20:00.001-05:00

Wedding Dance

2010-12-08T23:42:00.000-05:00

"Marry You" by Bruno Mars sung by Glee

Most people that I know don't dance and sing down the aisle at their wedding, but for those who do -mostly depicted in TV, I think it is really fun. I hope you enjoy these two clips! Awesomeness!

Chris Brown's "Forever" from The Office

What Christmas is All About.

2010-12-06T23:55:00.001-05:00

And there you have it.

Pumpkin Pie Making or Pumpkin of Your Eye*

2010-12-05T14:17:00.037-05:00

Over Thanksgiving my mom and I wanted to have an adventure.

So, we decided to...MAKE A PUMPKIN PIE FROM SCRATCH USING A PUMPKIN WE COOKED OURSELVES!! (I'm not shouting, just excited!) Yes we did!

Well, things started out wonderfully.

They really did.

How can they not with a beautiful pumpkin like this?

The pumpkin just knows it's about to become something very special...it can feel it in its bones, er, mushy insides.

First, we cut out a little square shaped piece from the top, like thus:

Then the pumpkin was cut in half and I took a picture of the gross looking insides. But, have no fear, things will get better...at least for a little bit.

It was so fun, even the dogs wanted in on the action!

In order to make the pumpkin useful those gross looking insides depicted two pictures up have to be, um, taken care of...ahem... like so...

(Btw, if you try this at home try to get as many of the strings "taken care of" as you can, otherwise you might have a little trouble down the road...learn from our mistake). But, definitely scrape all the seeds out.

Once all the seeds and strings were out, we put the pumpkin in the oven at 425 degrees for about 45 minutes or until fork tender (it might take longer, just check on it).

While the pumpkin was cooking, I took pictures of myself to pass the time:

After the pumpkin was cooked the useful part of the pumpkin was scraped out. Be sure to get every last piece that you can...your eyes need it. They really do! Doesn't that look like pumpkin ice cream? So beautiful!

If you're not planning on using the cooked pumpkin right away, be sure to put it in a festive snowman container and store it in the fridge for later.

The above steps were easy enough, they sure were. Right?

Are you still with me?

This is where the fun part began...

See, Black Friday is a wonderful thing. Here is why...

To turn the scraped pumpkin into something that is useful for pie or cooking, the pumpkin needs to be pureed. Well, we tried using a blender (it turned the pumpkin all black), we tried using a potato masher (it didn't get the pumpkin soft enough) and well, we didn't have a food processor.

Here is where the lovely thing thing known as *crazypeoplewhogetupat4amtogetgooddeals comes in (*more commonly known as Black Friday).

At Wal-Mart (Nast) there was a super crazy deal (or so we thought) of a little 1.5 cup mini chopper for $1.97. Well the problem is I am not on of those crazypeoplewhogetupat4am on the Friday after Thanksgiving and neither is my mom.

So, we didn't get the super crazy deal on the little 1.5 cup mini chopper because when we went they were all sold out.

But, all was not lost. We found another little food processor that could hold three cups and was a little more than $1.97, but we thought it would work so we bought it!

And then we took it home and tried to use it...and...it didn't work! (Partly because it didn't have instructions and partly I think because it was defective).

Yay! So, we went back to Wal-Mart and exchanged it for another one exactly like it (instructions included), only hoping that it would work this time...

It worked alright, but not to puree pumpkin.

We had to mash the pumpkin with a fork before we put it in the food processor...what is the purpose of that?

Isn't a food processor supposed to eliminate that step?

Anyway, it was mashed with a fork and then put in the processor. But since it was not very expensive there were two buttons: "HI" and "LOW" and we had to stand there and push them down while the food was being processed. We couldn't go and do something else...

Which, when I say processed, really means not very processed. We had to add a bunch of water and after about 20 minutes we got not quite 1/2 cup of pureed pumpkin.

I just thought it would be faster than that is all I'm saying. And more processed.

(I hid the brand name so as to not cause any panic, but it ends in an r).

Two hours later we had finally finished processing all the pumpkin. Whew!

That part definitely made for good memories. My mom and I started laughing about half way through!

On to the baking part...

The Crust:

Instead of making regular pie crust, we used phyllo dough, you know, to cut calories and all. It turned out pretty well, if we do say so ourselves.

(Word to the wise...if you've never worked with phyllo before, be sure to read all the instructions on the box before beginning. Phyllo is pretty temperamental).

The Filling:

See the little chunks in there? Those are from the food processor that doesn't really work to make pumpkin puree.

The two were combined: The Crust + The Filling = Homemade Pumpkin Pie!

We made two pies. See the different milk designs? They both kind of resemble horses...or maybe a galloping horse and a unicorn (if you turn your head to the side)? What do you see?

With the pies in the oven we waited with anticipation...

Done!

How did it taste, you ask?

Well, despite two trips to Wal-Mart, one defective food processor, two hours of processing pumpkin, and the broken phyllo...they turned out pretty darn well!

Thanks for asking.

And that, my friends, is our adventure in home made pumpkin pie making!

And just to avoid any confusion, we have made home made pumpkin pie before but this was the first time making it using our own pumpkin and phyllo dough- usually it's just the canned pumpkin and regular crust.

*Why is it always apple of your eye? Why don't people ever say pumpkin of your eye?

Question of the Day

2010-12-04T23:44:00.003-05:00

What is your favorite Christmas carol or song?

I'm in Love. With a Shell.

2010-12-03T23:10:00.003-05:00

"Guess what I do for adventure...I hang glide on a Dorito."

I can't remember if I already posted this here on the blog (and I'm sorry to my mom...you don't have to watch it again), but I think this little of video of Marcel is so adorable.

Enjoy!

MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON from Dean Fleischer-Camp on Vimeo.

Random Thoughts

2010-12-02T23:35:00.004-05:00

It's December 2nd already -almost December 3rd (where has the time gone?!) which means that there are only 23 (really 20 since I don't shop on Sundays) days to do Christmas shopping. I better get a move on it.

I'm hungry. It's 11:39pm and I really shouldn't be eating this late, but if I don't eat my stomach will be growling all night and I won't get much sleep.

I miss my family. Even though I was just home for Thanksgiving I miss them again (or is it still?)

A friend told me tonight that the only time I'm happy is when I go home. I disagreed with him, but I don't think he believed me.

This same friend just got back from a trip to Hong Kong to train for Kung Fu. He wants to go back.

He saw the world's biggest Buddha.

He did not go on a moving sidewalk.

He did not bring me back a post card like I ~~demanded~~ kindly requested. The stinker.

Friends and I will be going to a nursing home tomorrow to sing Christmas carols and deliver cookies and cards.

The cards turned out really nice. We thought of just letting the people look at them and admire them while we were there and then re-collecting them as we left to bring back next year.

But that would be mean, so I don't think we'll do that, but it is a very tempting thought.

When I was home over Thanksgiving we cut down our Christmas tree. It's a cute little thing. (I'll post about this tradition soon).

I officially started listening to Christmas music since Thanksgiving is over.

I have a strict policy that there is no Christmas music until after Thanksgiving.

But this year I cheated a little bit and listened to one (1) Christmas CD before Thanksgiving.

I enjoyed it.

It snowed today! The 2nd little snow fall of the season.

The snow is pretty much all melted.

I still haven't brushed my teeth.

We have Stake Conference on Sunday. At 10am rather than the usual 1pm meeting time. That's gonna be hard.

I haven't read the Harry Potter books. I've thought about it, but just haven't gotten the gumption to do it yet.

It is now 11:59pm. It shouldn't have taken me this long to write this post.

You're welcome for my random thoughts.

Good night.

Links to Love

2010-12-01T19:50:00.007-05:00

Artsy:

How to transfer an image with gel medium.

Awesome tilt shift images.

Birds on the wires.

Adorable artist images. Especially this, this, and this.

The knitting clock. Brilliant!

How to retro-fit your hair with a 40's up-do. I think I'll try this.

Awesome wedding invitations.

MOBA

Lovely polar bear wall paper (and room in general!)

Even though this song is getting kind of old (in my book) I thought they did really a good job:

I loved it when Finn sang to Kurt:

Awesome casette tape artistry from the original youtube song "Just The Way You Are" (see above for Finn's version!):

Mormon:

Did you know Elder Scott was a watercolor artist?

Elizabeth Smart and missionary work.

First Presidency Christmas Devotional. This Sunday!

Literary:

The story of a woman living with face blindness.

Bite sized fiction.

America's greatest word. OK?

Transcription of the journals of a woman who lived during WW II- blog format!

Technology:

Funny Windows Error messages.

The Dickson Experimental Sound Film:

These beauties kind of make me wish I had an iPhone!

Replica of King Tut's mummy (currently in Times Square):

Random:

A (not so) secret subway stop in NYC! Definitely on my "to do list" when I visit.

A welcome home to remember!:

Christmas Flash Mob:

Interesting handmade toys for kids.

Formaldehyde?

The healthiest foods for under $1.

Fun fishbowl. If I were the fish, I might be tempted to jump out of the mouth.

My Lucky Day

2010-12-01T13:19:00.002-05:00

My email has been awarded $500,000.00 by a man in Italy! And it should be here just in time for Christmas shopping!

Oh, how kind of him to include me in the giveaway.

In Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T01:03:00.013-05:00

I am thankful for...
(Click on the link, please)
************************************
My family
(especially being able to spend this holiday with them)
-
My Savior
-
You, my blog readers....
thank you for reading my blog!

and all the blessings I have in my life.

I hope you enjoy your day with family and friends.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tuesday...all day long.

2010-11-23T12:47:00.008-05:00

I woke up at 3am this morning because it was raining outside (which is what I told myself), but subconsciously here was the reason....

You see, I've waited for this day, well, technically tomorrow, ever since I learned I had 20 hours of vacation, and in my sleeping mind I actually thought today was tomorrow... and gosh darn it, I needed to be awake in order to get important things done.

Because in my mind, today I was going home! But then I woke up enough and realized today was today and I was sad because it wasn't tomorrow.

And I went back to sleep until 6:45. Then I got up and ate yogurt, oatmeal, and a hard-boiled egg with salt for breakfast.

Today and tomorrow are going to be the longest two days ever of my life. The anticipation is killing me.

P.S. If you've read the Harry Potter series, please answer this question in the comments section: Does Ron, Hermione, or Harry die at the end of the series? Please elaborate if necessary. Thank you in advance.

P.P.S. (or is it P.S.S?) Happy two days before Thanksgiving!!

Be back tomorrow?

Thankfulness...day 9

2010-11-20T00:24:00.002-05:00

I am thankful for...

This adorable face!

Thankfulness...day 8

2010-11-18T23:44:00.002-05:00

I am thankful for...

sleep.

It is a very good thing. :)

Thankfulness...day 7

2010-11-16T22:09:00.005-05:00

I am thankful for...

My down comforter!!!

I love it so much, I would marry it if I could!

(Image found here. Did you really think that was a picture of my room?)

His Promises are Sure

2010-11-13T01:46:00.012-05:00

In my Patriarchal blessing it promises me that I'll get sealed in the temple and have a family. Some days I look at my current life and wonder if maybe I have somehow interpreted His promises wrong...that maybe the promises won't happen.

But then, in quiet moments, the Lord kindly and lovingly reminds me that He made the promises and that He intends to keep them. That He will keep them, and fulfill them in His own due time.

I feel somewhat like Abraham did, wondering how the Lord would make of Isaac a righteous generation when he was on the altar. Or how Zacharias felt when the angel told him his (very) old wife would have a son. Or how Hannah felt when she longed for a son but was unable to have one.

I really don't know how the Lord will fulfill His promises to me, but I do know that however it happens, there will have to be miracles involved. It can't happen any other way.

But the Lord can do miracles. And He will for me...in His due time.

As I trust in the Lord, He will fulfill His promises, no matter what they may be, as I do my part through faithfulness and obedience to Him.

Thankfulness...day 6

2010-11-12T23:59:00.001-05:00

The oranges, reds, yellows, golds....

Beautiful fall leaves!

Image via

Thankfulness...day 5

2010-11-11T12:57:00.003-05:00

"They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them."

Today I am thankful for those men and women who defend our freedom.

Thank you, Veterans!

(To read about a twice veteran in my family....go here.)