Just Breathe

Somebody hit the school bus today. Now I have a huge headache. I'm trying to stop shaking.

Quotes of the Day

"To accept the responsibilities of being a child of God is to accept the best that life has to offer you."
~Stella Terrill Mann

"Always leave enough time in your life to do something that makes you happy, satisfied, even joyous. That has more effect on economic well-being than any other single factor."
~Paul Hawken

"Never suppress a generous thought."
~A friend of a friend

Everyone Needs Validation

The other day a friend said to me: "You're awesome, Natasha!" I thought of this video. Then I thought to myself, now I have something to blog about!



It's a bit long, but worth it.

(Thanks again for all the birthday wishes! You are awesome!!)

09.09.09 OR (One Year Older)

One year ago today, on my birthday, I moved to Lexington. It's been a year of challenges, growth, and fun times too.

I went home over the weekend, for Labor Day, and my mom made a birthday cake. We ate some then (I blew out the candles!) and I brought the rest back to Lexington to eat. It is very, very delicious! You just have to be happy when you are eating a chocolate birthday cake. It's a true fact! We went out to eat on Saturday at a seafood place in Columbus. And I will go out to eat with my roommates this coming Friday or Saturday too.

I think my birthday numbers this year are pretty cool. It would be even cooler if I were turning 9 or were born at 9:09, but I'm not and wasn't. (I am glad I'm not turning 29 though. Then I would just be sad).

The kids on the school bus sang happy birthday to me in both English and Spanish. It was cute!

Tonight, we (a group of friends and I) went to see the movie UP. It was funny, especially the talking dog. I highly recommend it. It was a little bit sad, but other than that, good movie.

If you want to see birthday pictures you can go to my mom's blog and look at the cake.

Birthdays are much better when they are spent with family and friends. Thanks to everyone who wished me a Happy Birthday... I definitely feel loved!

I Love to See the Temple!

On September 4-5th, 1999 the Columbus Ohio Temple was dedicated by President Hinckley. Today, 10 years later, we commemorated the building of the temple with a fireside here in Columbus. How I love the Columbus Temple!

Before the temple was built, I remember fondly the days of family and youth temple trips to the Washington, D.C. temple. We would leave early Thursday morning and travel all day, then spend most of Friday doing temple work- I would do baptisms (my sister wasn't old enough to do them yet) and my parents would do endowments. Then Saturday, we would do some touring of D.C. and drive back home. But, we were also looking forward to the day when a temple would be at our doorsteps.

I was in attendance when President Hinckley came to the Polaris Amphitheater to announce the temple on April 25, 1998. How excited we were for that announcement! Little did we know, but we soon found out, that it would be built right next door to the building where we attended church. We would be getting a temple right in Columbus! Gone would be the days of driving 8 hours to attend the temple- we would literally have one right at our doorstep.

Each week, after the groundbreaking, we would watch the progress on the temple. How great it was to see the construction on the temple.

A little over a year later, on August 21–28, 1999, the public was able to tour the temple during the open house. I remember that as young men and young women, we took turn helping with the open house by putting booties on those touring it. Any little thing I could do to help, I wanted to be a part of it. I was just so excited for the temple. Then, on September 4-5, President Hinckley came back and dedicated the temple. What a wonderful experience. We had our very own temple, right here in Columbus!! I have great memories of the dedication. As we were waiting outside, preparing to enter the temple, the car that President and Sister Hinckley were riding in, drove up to the front of the temple. As they got out of the car, President Hinckley turned around and waved at us! I could feel the love that he had for us. It was definitely a great experience.

I will forever remember the feeling that I had as the temple was dedicated, knowing that anytime I wanted, I could enter the temple and partake of the sweet spirit that resides there. How grateful I am for the faith and dedication of those who paved the way for us to have the temple here in Columbus.

My heart is joyful.

{Image via}

So Much More Than Note Writing

Enjoy!

I Can Hear the Bells

As my co-worker and I were at a school dropping off children, we saw a couple walking up the sidewalk holding hands. As soon as she saw them, my co-worker J. said: “Aww, isn't that sweet? I just want to throw a rock at them. If I had a rock, I would throw it at them.” I laughed, but understood her feelings.

Now, J. is a year older than me and single. What causes single people to say things like that? Jealousy? Anger? Resentment? Frustration? All of the above?

I'm guilty of it as well. People in my branch who are dating or engaged will hold hands, rub each other's backs, hug, kiss, etc. I think to myself: “Eww, please stop.” Am I just jealous that it's not me? They have a right to be happy and show their affection. It shouldn't bother me but, for some reason, it does. Maybe it's just that they are so public about it. And I think they are rubbing it in my face- even though they aren't trying to. Any thoughts?

She also commented that some girls have this feeling about guys!


(Okay, that's not Nikki Blonsky singing, but I couldn't find an actual clip with her in it).

I'd Like to Make Myself Believe

I have this anger building up inside of me because of these reasons: the way the old landlord treated us before we moved out; for the new landlord for not cleaning the apartment before we moved in; for the people who lived here before us and didn't clean up the place before they left. It's one thing to clean up your own mess, but an entirely different thing to clean somebody else's mess. I need the anger to stop. And I'm working on it.

So, beacause I'm having trouble stopping the anger, these are things that made me happy today. Here is what they are.

1. This song:



2.


3. This song:



4. Talking with my mom and sister on the phone.

5. This recipe.

6. Not seeing any ants or centipedes in the apartment.

7. Not being injured when the bus broke down on the way to pick up the kids from school.

8. This blog.

9. This song:



10. Sleep.

This is why I love summer...

(Photo via Google images)


Grown in my father's garden.


Picked and canned from the cherry trees in my parent's backyard.


(Photo via Google images)


(Photo via Google images)


(Photo via Google images)


(Photo via Google images)


(Picture via)


Boy, do I wish it was next week already. I'm so sick of packing, I'm ready to pull my hair out.

Dolphin

One of my friends on Facebook posted this video. The music is wonderful as well. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did:

Things to Say

Get your socks ready, guys, 'cause I'm about to knock them off (name that TV show)!! OK, you ready for this?

Are you sure?

Muffins spelled backward is....sniffum! Isn't that so funny? And cute too. For some reason I picture a little muffin with a nose sniffing itself. "Mmm-mm, I smell good, a mix of cinnamon and sugar." It sounds like a little conceited muffin, but that's OK, because it's cute!


In other news:

* We found an apartment. It's not as nice as the one where we are living now, but they will do a six month lease and it's a pretty good neighborhood and is closer to church and work.

* The bane of my existence will be gone. Hopefully.

* I won tickets for that new movie Julie and Julia. When I registered for them, I thought the tickets were good anywhere in the US. When I won the tickets, it said that I had to live in LA., as in Los Angeles. And I don't. So I had to write back and say that I couldn't accept the tickets. Which just made me sad.

* I'm not looking forward to packing and moving.

* I'm not looking forward to being at work at 5:45 am every morning starting on Monday, but at least I have a job.

* I really like Hugh Jackman. And David Boreanaz. And Josh Groban. And that's just all there is to it, I can't help myself.

* That's all for now...I was going to write something else but I forgot what it was so it must not have been that important.

Happy Weekend Everyone! (All three of my readers!)