LOLCAT of the Day

2 Timothy 1:7

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Quote of the Day

The fact is that I did not know how to understand anything! I ought to have judged by deeds and not by words. She cast her fragrance and her radiance over me. I ought never to have run away from her . . . I ought to have guessed all the affection that lay behind her poor little strategems. Flowers are so inconsistent! But I was too young to know how to love her . . .

Antoine de Saint Exupéry, The Little Prince

Strength During Struggles by L. Lionel Kendrick

Fasting and prayer will help us control our thoughts, feelings, passions, and appetites. We can bring these and our bodies under subjection of our spirits. We will experience added spirituality, strength, power, humility, and testimony. We will be able to get answers to our prayers and enjoy feelings of peace and comfort. We will enjoy the companionship of the Spirit. We will experience an increase of love. Ill feelings will be removed from our souls. We will have added power to resist temptations and to overcome weaknesses. We will become free from undue worry. Our faith and hope will be increased. Feelings of doubt and discouragement will be dispelled.

Read the full talk here.

Quote of the Day

What do we live for, if not to make life less difficult for each other?
George Eliot

Jude 1:22

And of some have compassion, making a difference

That We May Be One by Henry B. Eyring

We can have His Spirit with us by keeping [the covenant in the Sacrament]. First, we must promise to take His name upon us. That means we must see ourselves as His. We will put Him first in our lives. We will want what He wants rather than what we want or what the world teaches us to want.

Second, we promise always to remember Him. We do that every time we pray in His name. We also keep our promise to remember Him when as families we pray together and when we read the scriptures.

[The faith to keep all of the commandments of God] turns our call as a home teacher or a visiting teacher into an errand from the Lord. We go for Him, at His command... That faith-that the Lord calls servants-will help us ignore their limitations when they reprove us, as they will. We will see their good intent more clearly than their human limitations. We will be less likely to feel offense and more likely to feel gratitude to the Master who called them.

We must speak no ill of anyone. We must see the good in each other and speak well of each other whenever we can... We do not know the hearts of those who offend us. Nor do we know all the sources of our own anger and hurt.

There is a protection against pride, that source of disunity. It is to see the bounties which God pours upon us not only as a mark of His favor but an opportunity to join with those around us in greater service. A man and his wife learn to be one by using their similarities to understand each other and their differences to complement each other in serving one another and those around them.

Read the full talk here.

Press Release: KT's new calling

I was recently called as a gospel doctrine instructor and I taught my first lesson on Alma 17-22. It was the smaller upstairs classroom, so it was much less intimidating. The main points of the lesson were:

Alma 17
- there is great joy in learning that those we love are still our brothers/sisters in the Lord
- preparation for teaching includes fasting and prayer
- fasting and prayer was specifically to be instruments in the hands of God
- immediate response to prayer included comfort, direction (be patient and long-suffering, teach word/doctrine), and promise that yes, they would be instruments in the hands of God
- they supposed their work was great - and Alma says, "assuredly it was."
- their cause was to teach the Lamanites - each of us should consider what our cause is (home/visiting teaching, families/friends, callings, etc.)

Ammon's Experience
- service / faithfulness softened hearts of King Lamoni and his people
- taught pure doctrine with boldness
- was wise, yet harmless
- saw his prayer answered in that the Spirit was poured upon the heads of those he taught
- overwhelming joy
- example of generosity and faithfulness to King Lamoni's father (Ammon sowed)

Aaron's Experience
- imprisoned, mocked, beaten, stripped
- taught King Lamon's father (Aaron reaped)

We can apply the principles fasting, praying, teaching pure doctrine, testifying with boldness, being wise (yet harmless), and sowing / reaping as we go along.

If you can love her without politeness or delicacy, the fox says, love her with your wolf heart.

Jack Gilbert

1 Corinthians 13

Charity is not easily provoked
- How do I react to others? to my circumstances?
- I should replace frustration with perspective. with patience.

Charity is kind

Charity suffereth long

Charity vaunteth not itself
- What exactly is vaunting - what do I do that draws attention to myself? How can I remove such things from my life?
- Vaunting is a frivolous kind of pride.

Charity envieth not
- Am I grateful for my present blessings and circumstances?
- Do I envy my future self?

Charity doth not behave itself unseemly
- Am I light minded? Am I boisterous or rowdy?
- Am I sensitive? Am I careful? Am I tender?

Charity seeketh not her own
- Do I spend time with a select group of friends only?
- Do I seek to serve and bless others I come in contact with?
- Do I seek friendships with those I visit teach or do I simply do my duty?
- How do I use my social time? In indulgent ways or in true ministry?
Luke 14:12-14

Charity thinketh no evil
- When I perceive what I think are others' mistakes, do I judge them harshly or am I patient with them?
- Do I assume the worst case?
- Do I set others up for success?

Charity rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in truth
- Do I love the commandments?
- How do I react to chastisement (truth) when it comes? Do I accept it as more light and knowledge and understanding or do I resist a new opportunity to learn / grow?

Charity beareth all things
- Do I only bear some things? The things I choose?
- What does it mean to bear? How can I be strong to bear the burdens placed upon me?

Charity believeth all things
- What do I believe? Do I believe in others? Do I believe in promised blessings? Do I believe in what I can be? What others can be?

Charity hopeth all things
- Do I have hope in Christ? Do I have hope that I can change? That I can be more like Christ each day?

Charity endureth all things
- Do I endure well? Do I murmur and wait? Do I do my duty faithfully and allow the process of time to do its work?

They shall have stars at elbow and foot;

Though they go mad they shall be sane,
Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again;
Though lovers be lost love shall not;
And death shall have no dominion.

for RM

full poem here

American Humanities at BYU

So, as I mentioned in my previous post, I moved a lot of files over from the iBook I used when I was at BYU. I found a lot of art clips that I particularly liked from some of my art history / humanities courses and I thought I'd post some of them here.

These two are from my American Humanities class - I took it Fall of my freshman year - and it was the first time I studied art history (and LOVED it).

This was one of the early photography pieces that we studied in the last part of the class:

Title: Manger

Photographer: unfortunately, I can't remember and can't find it on google at the moment. I believe her name was Mary ---

The following was one of my favorite pieces that we studied.

Title: Annunciation

Artist: Henry Ossawa Tanner

Press Release: MacBook Purchase

So, I finally bought myself a computer last weekend and last night I finished moving over my personal files from my work pc. I also moved over files from my dying iBook (the computer I had in college). More on those later.

I am especially enjoying the webcam special effects. This one is the comic book effect (I got tired waiting for the 3-2-1 countdown). I know I'm behind the times on this one, but it's still a novelty to me :)

Aren't the dots on the pillows beautiful? I love that effect. 

LOLCAT of the day

I bet you've missed these...

Bond and Free by Robert Frost

Love has earth to which she clings
With hills and circling arms about--
Wall within wall to shut fear out.
But Thought has need of no such things,
For Thought has a pair of dauntless wings.

On snow and sand and turf, I see
Where Love has left a printed trace
With straining in the world's embrace.
And such is Love and glad to be.
But Thought has shaken his ankles free.

Thought cleaves the interstellar gloom
And sits in Sirius' disc all night,
Till day makes him retrace his flight.
With smell of burning on every plume,
Back past the sun to an earthly room.

His gains in heaven are what they are.
Yet some say Love by being thrall
And simply staying possesses all
In several beauty that Thought fares far
To find fused in another star.

Hip it to the Hop

So a few weeks ago I started taking a Thursday evening hip hop class with several ladies from my ward. It is so fun! I've decided that I want to take more evening classes to get more of an exercise routine in my life. So, last night I went to a bikram yoga class (90 minutes of heated yoga) for the first time in about 18 months. It definitely kicked my trash, but it feels so good to be sore today :)

So this is the plan:
Tuesdays - Bikram Yoga (90 minutes)
Thursdays - Hip Hop Dance (60 minutes)
Saturdays - Hike/Run the Dish (60-90 minutes)

I have a beginner's pass to yoga, so I may go more often than Tuesdays until that expires (unlimited for 30 days!) and when hip hop is over, I'll have to find another dance class, I think. But I'm excited about the variety AND, frankly, I love all of these things, so it won't be a chore! Hooray!

The Second Coming by W B Yeats

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all convictions, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Quote of the Day

Just tell yourself, Duckie, you're really quite lucky!
Dr. Seuss

Wall-E

I loved this movie!!!!

Happiness by Mary Oliver

In the afternoon I watched
the she-bear; she was looking
for the secret bin of sweetness -
honey, that the bees store
in the trees’ soft caves.
Black block of gloom, she climbed down
tree after tree and shuffled on
through the woods. And then
she found it! The honey-house deep
as heartwood, and dipped into it
among the swarming bees - honey and comb
she lipped and tongued and scooped out
in her black nails, until

maybe she grew full, or sleepy, or maybe
a little drunk, and sticky
down the rugs of her arms,
and began to hum and sway.
I saw her let go of the branches,
I saw her lift her honeyed muzzle
into the leaves, and her thick arms,
as though she would fly -
an enormous bee
all sweetness and wings -
down into the meadows, the perfections
of honeysuckle and roses and clover -
to float and sleep in the sheer nets
swaying from flower to flower
day after shining day.

It is in your self-interest to find a way to be very tender

Love by Czeslaw Milosz

Love means to learn to look at yourself
The way one looks at distant things
For you are only one thing among many.
And whoever sees that way heals his heart,
Without knowing it, from various ills--
A bird and a tree say to him: Friend.

Then he wants to use himself and things
So that they stand in the glow of ripeness.
It doesn't matter whether he knows what he serves:
Who serves best doesn't always understand.

Today is my favorite

I am doing tonight what I love to do best on Friday nights. I'm pretty excited. I'm getting all dressed up and I've been looking forward to it all week. I won't give you the details, but it's going to be a GREAT day!

Quote of the Day

Benedict And, I pray thee now, tell me, for which of my bad parts didst thou first fall in love with me?

Beatrice For them all together; which maintained so politic a state of evil that they will not admit any good part to intermingle with them. But for which of my good parts did you first suffer love for me?

Benedict ‘Suffer love,’ a good epithet! I do suffer love indeed, for I love thee against my will.

Beatrice In spite of your heart, I think. Alas, poor heart! If you spite it for my sake, I will spite it for yours; for I will never love that which my friend hates.

Benedict Thou and I are too wise to woo peaceably.

William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing

Quote of the Day

How shall we know that we obey [God]? There is but one method by which we can know it, and that is by the inspiration of the Spirit of the Lord witnessing unto our spirit that we are His, that we love Him, and that He loves us. It is by the spirit of revelation we know this. [JD 12:99]

Brigham Young

1 Kings 3

5 In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.
6 And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.
7 And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in.
8 And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.
9 Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
10 And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.
11 And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment;
12 Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.
13 And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days.
14 And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.

Quote of the Day

True disciples are meek but very determined.
Neal A. Maxwell

Doctrine & Covenants 43:24-25

24 O, ye nations of the earth, how often would I have gathered you together as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but ye would not!
25 How oft have I called upon you by the mouth of my servants, and by the ministering of angels, and by mine own voice, and by the voice of thunderings, and by the voice of lightnings, and by the voice of tempests, and by the voice of earthquakes, and great hailstorms, and by the voice of famines and pestilences of every kind, and by the great sound of a trump, and by the voice of judgment, and by the voice of mercy all the day long, and by the voice of glory and honor and the riches of eternal life, and would have saved you with an everlasting salvation, but ye would not!

Possessions Are Nine Points Of Conversation by Ogden Nash

Some people, and it doesn't matter whether they are paupers or millionaires, Think that anything they have is the best in the world just because it is theirs. If they happen to own a 1921 jalopy, They look at their neighbor's new de luxe convertible like the wearer of a 57th Street gown at a 14th Street copy. If their seventeen-year-old child is still in the third grade they sneer at the graduation of the seventeen-year-old children of their friends, Claiming that prodigies always come to bad ends, And if their roof leaks, It's because the shingles are antiques. Other people, and if doesn't matter if they are Scandinavians or Celts, Think that anything is better than theirs just because it belongs to somebody else. If you congratulate them when their blue-blooded Doberman pinscher wins the obedience championship, they look at you like a martyr, And say that the garbage man's little Rover is really infinitely smarter; And if they smoke fifteen-cent cigars they are sure somebody else gets better cigars for a dime. And if they take a trip to Paris they are sure their friends who went to Old Orchard had a better time. Yes, they look on their neighbor's ox and ass with covetousness and their own ox and ass with abhorrence, And if they are wives they want their husband to be like Florence's Freddie, and if they are husbands they want their wives to be like Freddie's Florence. I think that comparisons are truly odious, I do not approve of this constant proud or envious to-do; And furthermore, dear friends, I think that you and yours are delightful and I also think that me and mine are delightful too.

Alma 37:36-37

Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.

Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

The Great Commandment by Joseph B. Wirthlin

True love lasts forever. It is eternally patient and forgiving. It believes, hopes, and endures all things. That is the love our Heavenly Father bears for us.

We all yearn to experience love like this. Even when we make mistakes, we hope others will love us in spite of our shortcomings—even if we don’t deserve it.

Oh, it is wonderful to know that our Heavenly Father loves us—even with all our flaws! His love is such that even should we give up on ourselves, He never will.

Read the full talk here.

Deuteronomy 31:6

Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

Doctrine & Covenants 109:21, 34

And when thy people transgress, any of them, [grant that] they may speedily repent and return unto thee, and find favor in thy sight, and be restored to the blessings which thou hast ordained to be poured out upon those who shall reverence thee in thy house.

And as all men sin forgive the transgressions of thy people, and let them be blotted out forever.

Of Sisters and Surfboards

My baby sister is an artist and a friend of ours commissioned her to paint his surfboards.

I think they're amazingly beautiful.

The Bungler by Amy Lowell

You glow in my heart
Like the flames of uncounted candles.
But when I go to warm my hands,
My clumsiness overturns the light
And then I stumble
Against the tables and chairs.

Doctrine & Covenants 19: 32

For this shall suffice for thy daily walk, even unto the end of thy life.

Best Things about Memorial Day Weekend

• delicious BBQ pork loin sandwich at Boston Blackies
• watermelon-strawberry frescas
• seeing U of Chicago campus
• the sass (don't take that out of context)
• walking along Lake Michigan
• being with T every single day =)

Chicago

In the sun, you are the white city.
Beaming and proud, hard in the heat; Sparkling in your ivories and greys.
Stone slabbed, white peaked, you are unrelenting.
But with the moon, you bend down unto the lake: warm, caressing.
Reflecting its tones, you are gleaming, glistening, blue.

Leaving late, late tonight, returning late, late Tuesday.
So much to love about Chicago :)

Isaiah 30:20

And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers:

Quote of the Day

The eye, the ear, the hand, all the senses may be deceived, but the Spirit of God cannot be deceived; and when inspired with that Spirit, the whole man is filled with knowledge, he can see with a spiritual eye, and he knows that which is beyond the power of man to controvert.

Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 16:46

The Spirit Giveth Life by Loren C. Dunn

When I was younger, I lived to play basketball. It was on my mind constantly. I spent countless hours practicing. Gradually I began to go through the moves automatically, without thinking about them. Physically and mentally I had become conditioned to do certain things by instinct. I had practiced them until they became natural to me.

In like manner, we keep the commandments and teachings of the gospel in order to condition us spiritually. It is not a matter of how many laws we keep and how many we do not keep. We keep the commandments because they are the laws that govern the Spirit. The Spirit in turn will sanctify us, condition us spiritually, and eventually prepare us to live in the kingdom where God is.

Read the full talk here

Matthew 10:8

Freely ye have received, freely give.

Happy Birthday Brady!

iTunes Playlist

Secret Heart (Feist)
Air (Erin McKeown)
Hide and Seek (Imogen Heap)
With Arms Outstretched (Rilo Kiley)
California Stars (Billy Bragg & Wilco)
Out of the Woods (Nickel Creek)
A Comet Appears (The Shins)
Calendar Girl (Stars)
Eyes (Rogue Wave)

Abraham 2:12

Now, after the Lord had withdrawn from speaking to me, and withdrawn his face from me, I said in my heart: Thy servant has sought thee earnestly; now I have found thee;

Quote of the Day

A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other. A solemn consideration, when I enter a great city by night, that every one of those darkly clustered houses encloses its own secret; that every room in every one of them encloses its own secret; that every beating heart in the hundreds of thousands of breasts there, is, in some of its imaginings, a secret to the heart nearest it! Something of the awfulness, even of Death itself, is referable to this. No more can I turn the leaves of this dear book that I loved, and vainly hope in time to read it all. No more can I look into the depths of this unfathomable water, wherein, as momentary lights glanced into it, I have had glimpses of buried treasure, and other things submerged. It was appointed that the book should shut with a spring, for ever and ever, when I had read but a page. It was appointed that the water should be locked in an eternal frost, when the light was playing on its surface, and I stood in ignorance on the shore. My friend is dead, my neighbour is dead, my love, the darling of my soul, is dead; it is the inexorable consolidation and perpetuation of the secret that was always in that individuality, and which I shall carry in mine to my life's end. In any of the burial-places of this city through which I pass, is there a sleeper more inscrutable than its busy inhabitants are, in their innermost personality to me, or than I am to them?

Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

My most recent play on scrabble

33 points. I dedicate this play to my pirate parents:
note: I played the y-a-r to form the 2 words

Dad's Life Lessons (Installment #2)

My brother-in-law ran in a half-marathon in Park City on Saturday. When my father inquired after his performance, he replied that he was very slow. It was at this point that I joined the conversation:

kt: "well, slow and steady wins the race!"
dad: "no, slow and steady does not win the race."
family laughs
dad: "well, it doesn't."

Last Night the Rain Spoke to Me by Mary Oliver

Last night
the rain
spoke to me
slowly, saying,
what joy
to come falling
out of the brisk cloud,
to be happy again
in a new way
on the earth!
That’s what it said
as it dropped,
smelling of iron,
and vanished
like a dream of the ocean
into the branches
and the grass below.
Then it was over.
The sky cleared.
I was standing
under a tree.
The tree was a tree
with happy leaves,
and I was myself,
and there were stars in the sky
that were also themselves
at the moment
at which moment
my right hand
was holding my left hand
which was holding the tree
which was filled with stars
and the soft rain –
imagine! imagine!
the long and wondrous journeys
still to be ours.

Birthday Delights

Reija's Birthday (3/20):

MH's Birthday (3/23):

SS's Birthday (4/6):

JP's Birthday (4/11):

A Dream of Trees by Mary Oliver

There is a thing in me that dreamed of trees,
A quiet house, some green and modest acres
A little way from every troubling town,
A little way from factories, schools, laments.
I would have time, I thought, and time to spare,
With only streams and birds for company.
To build out of my life a few wild stanzas.
And then it came to me, that so was death,
A little way away from everywhere.

Doctrine & Covenants 110:9-10

Yea the hearts of thousands and tens of thousands shall greatly rejoice in consequence of the blessings which shall be poured out, and the endowment with which my servants have been endowed in this house... And this is the beginning of the blessing which shall be poured out upon the heads of my people.

-------------------------------------------------

I have often thought how beautiful it is that any gift, ordinance, or blessing from God should be termed an "endowment." Financial endowments - often given to universities, museums, and other non-profit organizations - are substantial and great in that the interest generated from the gift is spent and consumed while the principal remains untouched (usually a portion of that interest is kept to grow the principal). It is a gift that grows and compounds over time and literally "keeps giving."

Doctrine & Covenants 103:36

All victory and glory is brought to pass unto you through your diligence, faithfulness, and prayers of faith.

Emails from Mom

My friend Jocelyn just sent me my new favorite web site:

http://postcardsfromyomomma.com/

Here is my submission (hopefully we'll see it posted up there soon!):

Subject: Talk Like a Pirate Day

Yarrrrrr
Tomorrow be "Talk Like a Pirate Day," so shiver your timbers and avast, me hearties.

Mom aka "Cutthroat Mumsy"

04/09 Update: It got accepted! See here.

Of Cherry Blossoms and General Conference

I went to Washington, DC this weekend to visit Jocie, the cherry blossoms, and to listen to General Conference. It was lovely!

ps. Jocelyn had a new sidekick...


(I'm just saying...)

All I ever wanted is a plastic skull that lights up in the dark

Enjoy!

Being But Men by Dylan Thomas

Being but men, we walked into the trees
Afraid, letting our syllables be soft
For fear of waking the rooks,
For fear of coming
Noiselessly into a world of wings and cries.

If we were children we might climb,
Catch the rooks sleeping, and break no twig,
And, after the soft ascent,
Thrust out our heads above the branches
To wonder at the unfailing stars.

Out of confusion, as the way is,
And the wonder, that man knows,
Out of the chaos would come bliss.

That, then, is loveliness, we said,
Children in wonder watching the stars,
Is the aim and the end.

Being but men, we walked into the trees.

Some things get better with age (case in point)

As most of you know, I recently celebrated a birthday. Before you offer your congratulations (or, horrid thought, your condolences), you should know that I delight in each coming year... because I happen to improve as I age.

• I get smarter / wiser

if you check out my scrabulous stats, I have over 7 bingos. Seriously. GENIUS.

• I get nicer

speak up, anyone...

• I get better looking

I know, right?

Yes, my life really is that good.

Obedience and Personal Revelation

I have been listening to talks/speeches by President Eyring during my daily commute, and have noticed that almost all of President Eyring's teaching is summed up in these two statements:

"Just try two things: listen for the whisperings of the Spirit and then commit to obey."
and
"Write down impressions or thoughts that you feel came from God."

I have been trying to do this more as my previous Bishop really focused on these same teachings of President Eyring. As I have done so, I have grown in confidence with the Spirit. There are times when I do not doubt I am being taught - a VERY new experience for me - one I didn't really have faith in before. This confidence in the Spirit has come from keeping VERY simple commandments, which are often hard for me to keep because they require routine diligence and faithfulness.

"It is by obedience to commandments that we qualify for further revelation of truth and light. In this hour you may have committed to act on something you felt was true. Then more truth came to you. That process may slow or stop, if as you go out into daily life you fail to keep the silent commitments you made with God. God not only loves the obedient, He enlightens them. I fear that more people make promises to God than keep them, so you will please Him when you are the exception and you keep your promise to obey. You should test those impressions of what you should do against a simple standard: Is it what the Master has commanded in the accepted revelations? Is it clearly within my calling in His kingdom?" (From President Eyring's BYU Speech, "A Life Founded in Light and Truth." )

I know that we will receive personal revelation and more and more light as we act on the light and knowledge we have already received - which varies from person to person. But I know that as we follow those commandments (starting with simple ones), we will be crowned with more commandments - delivered through ordinances, the words of the prophets, and ultimately the Holy Ghost.

And they shall also be crowned with blessings from above, yea, and with commandments not a few, and with revelations in their time—they that are faithful and diligent before me. - D&C 59:4

I pray that we can all be crowned with commandments, revelations, and blessings - I know that the line between the three blurs as we receive more and more light - for they all are manifestations of the love of God and that truly, "As well might man stretch forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri river in its decreed course, or to turn it up stream, as to hinder the Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints." (D&C 121:33)

D&C 19:39 Behold, canst thou read this without rejoicing and lifting up thy heart for gladness?

I cannot! :)

Easter

The darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. - 1 John 2:8

I love both Christmas and Easter in that it is a special time to reflect on the light of the world - and the good news of the gospel. President Uchtdorf's most recent conference address I think captured the joy of the gospel beautifully:

"My dear friends, the Savior heals the broken heart and binds up your wounds (see Psalm 147:3). Whatever your challenges may be, wherever you live on this earth, your faithful membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the divine powers of the gospel of Jesus Christ will bless you to endure joyfully to the end."

There is darkness in the world - there are things that are hard, and so we must endure them. But the light of the world has come and his name is Jesus Christ. And we can endure our trials and difficulties with joy.

"Enduring to the end is exalting and glorious, not grim and gloomy. This is a joyful religion, one of hope, strength, and deliverance." (President Uchtdorf, Now Let Us Rejoice)

The joy that President Uchtdorf refers to is the joy found in our Savior Jesus Christ.

Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. - Isaiah 12:3

Flashback

My family at Disneyland in 1988 (I think).

1 John 2:8

The darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.

iTunes Playlist

Morning Has Broken (Cat Stevens)
My Shepherd Will Supply My Need (Mormon Tabernacle Choir)
Beautiful Savior (Becky Williams)
How Can I Keep From Singing (Enya)
The Lord is My Shepherd (Mormon Tabernacle Choir)
Joy to the World (Sufjan Stevens)
Rutter's Requiem VI. The Lord Is My Shepherd (Choir of Clare College, Cambridge)
All Creatures of Our God and King (Mormon Tabernacle Choir)

somewhere i have never travelled by E.E. Cummings

somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond
any experience, your eyes have their silence:
in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,
or which i cannot touch because they are too near

your slightest look easily will unclose me
though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skilfully, mysteriously) her first rose

or if your wish be to close me, i and
my life will shut very beautifully, suddenly,
as when the heart of this flower imagines
the snow carefully everywhere descending;

nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals
the power of your intense fragility: whose texture
compels me with the colour of its countries,
rendering death and forever with each breathing

(i do not know what it is about you that closes
and opens; only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands

for Reija, on her birthday

lily has a rose by E.E. Cummings

lily has a rose
(i have none)
"don't cry dear violet
you may take mine"

"o how how how
could i ever wear it now
when the boy who gave it to
you is the tallest of the boys"

"he'll give me another
if i let him kiss me twice
but my lover has a brother
who is good and kind to all"

"o no no no
let the roses come and go
for kindness and goodness do
not make a fellow tall"

lily has a rose
no rose i've
and losing's less than winning(but
love is more than love)

Cheddar and Dill Scones

The Thomas family traditionally bakes these at Christmas. It's a simple recipe, but can take a bit of time because of preparing the fresh dill and cheddar cheese, but I think it's worth it :)

Ingredients:
2 large eggs
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon buttermilk
1/3 cup minced fresh dill
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon pepper
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 3/4 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese (about 6 ounces)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly butter two 9-inch pie pans.

Beat eggs, buttermilk and minced fresh dill in medium bowl to blend. Combine flours, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, pepper and salt in large bowl. Add butter to flour mixture and cut in until mixture and grated cheddar cheese. Stir to mix well. (Dough will be stiff and crumbly.) Knead gently until dough just holds together.

Divide dough in half. Pat each half into prepared pans to 1-inch thickness. Using long knife or pizza wheel, score each round into 6 wedges. Bake until toothpick inserted into each center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Transfer pans to rack and cool scones slightly. Cut into wedges.

Note: Sometimes I bake them in mini-muffin pans

Quote of the Day

Men’s souls conform to the society in which they live, with very few exceptions, and when men come to live with the Mormons, their souls swell as if they were going to stride the planets.

Hyrum Smith

How beautiful upon the mountains

I just posted the last two scriptures because they really do convey my thoughts and feelings about the ward I just left. I really missed it today - not because I don't love my current ward, but just because it was in my previous ward that so much of my faith was nourished and it was in that ward where I came to a true knowledge of my Redeemer. How beautiful that ward is to me!

Like the feet of him that bringeth glad tidings, like the waters of Mormon - that time and place, and all of its associations, will always be precious.

Isaiah 52:7

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!

Mosiah 18:30

...the place of Mormon, the waters of Mormon, the forest of Mormon, how beautiful are they to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer; yea, and how blessed are they, for they shall sing to his praise forever.

Tom Ka Gai (Thai Chicken Cocount Soup)

I started making this when I was in college. I merged basically two recipes (one from Joy of Cooking and one from a Thai restaurant my father likes in the City). It has elements that are not authentic (such as jalapeno), but, frankly, I love the flavor, so I recommend using it anyway! This is one of my favorite soups.

Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups coconut milk
1-1.2 lbs. chicken
1/2 lb. straw mushrooms (substitute button optional)
1 oz. ginger, sliced
1 oz. fresh lemongrass (optional)
3 jalapenos, seeded, sliced
1/3 c. lime juice
3 Tablespoons Thai Fish Sauce
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons chopped parsley
1 Tablespoon Thai Chile Sauce

Directions:
Bring coconut and 1 cup of water to a boil. Add ginger, jalapenos, lemongrass, and cook at medium heat for a few minutes. Add chicken, salt, fish sauce, sugar, parsley, and lime juice. Cook until chicken is done. Throw mushrooms in, remove from heat - serve immediately. Add chili totaste. Serves 4.

Note: It really does only serve 4. It makes a very small batch.

Press Release: Love Quilts

So I finally finished the finest quilt I have ever made!

I fell in love with this fabric after I saw a quilt my cousin Nie's baby received as a gift. So I bought some and made it into a large (between twin and queen size) quilt.

Hooray for finishing projects! It only took me a year ;-)

The Forgotten Dialect Of The Heart by Jack Gilbert

How astonishing it is that language can almost mean,
and frightening that it does not quite. Love, we say,
God, we say, Rome and Michiko, we write, and the words
get it all wrong. We say bread and it means according
to which nation. French has no word for home,
and we have no word for strict pleasure. A people
in northern India is dying out because their ancient
tongue has no words for endearment. I dream of lost
vocabularies that might express some of what
we no longer can. Maybe the Etruscan texts would
finally explain why the couples on their tombs
are smiling. And maybe not. When the thousands
of mysterious Sumerian tablets were translated,
they seemed to be business records. But what if they
are poems or psalms? My joy is the same as twelve
Ethiopian goats standing silent in the morning light.
O Lord, thou art slabs of salt and ingots of copper,
as grand as ripe barley lithe under the wind's labor.
Her breasts are six white oxen loaded with bolts
of long-fibered Egyptian cotton. My love is a hundred
pitchers of honey. Shiploads of thuya are what
my body wants to say to your body. Giraffes are this
desire in the dark. Perhaps the spiral Minoan script
is not a language but a map. What we feel most has
no name but amber, archers, cinnamon, horses, and birds.

Doctrine & Covenants 59:4

And they shall also be crowned with blessings from above, yea, and with commandments not a few, and with revelations in their time—they that are faithful and diligent before me.

Press Release: Passing the Torch

I recently got released as RSP in the Stanford 1st Ward to go up to the retirement ward in the stake (AKA Stanford 2nd). As I told my grieving cohorts of ST1, this is just the circle of life. We're born, we go to the 2nd Ward, and then we die.

The best part of getting released was passing the torch to one of my favorite people ever! JANE! (A close second was the RS Presidency Retreat a week later... see details here. Yes, I did stay up until 6am. Shocking.)

To give you an idea of how great it was that she has replaced me, check out these pictures (taken well before we knew our fate...)

This is Jane dressing up as me at my Birthday Party (just 5 days before she was called to BE the new me!) Note the expression, the dark finger nails, and the quilted jacket. She even dyed her hair black (it washed out, sadly):
This is from the Ward Christmas Party. I was trying to create a legacy. I didn't think I would ever find someone who could carry it on. But little did I know that the same Jane I was dressing to impress (and the owner of another lovely red blob suit) would not only carry on, but bring it to another level!

Just further evidence that God knows us, loves us, and that the Relief Society is a blessed organization.

John 8:32

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Thirst by Mary Oliver

Another morning and I wake with thirst
for the goodness I do not have. I walk
out to the pond and all the way God has
given us such beautiful lessons. Oh Lord,
I was never a quick scholar but sulked
and hunched over my books past the
hour and the bell; grant me, in your
mercy, a little more time. Love for the
earth and love for you are having such a
long conversation in my heart. Who
knows what will finally happen or
where I will be sent, yet already I have
given a great many things away, expect-
ing to be told to pack nothing, except the
prayers, which, with this thirst, I am
slowly learning.

And Death Shall Have No Dominion by Dylan Thomas

And death shall have no dominion.
Dead men naked they shall be one
With the man in the wind and the west moon;
When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone,
They shall have stars at elbow and foot;
Though they go mad they shall be sane,
Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again;
Though lovers be lost love shall not;
And death shall have no dominion.

And death shall have no dominion.
Under the windings of the sea
They lying long shall not die windily;
Twisting on racks when sinews give way,
Strapped to a wheel, yet they shall not break;
Faith in their hands shall snap in two,
And the unicorn evils run them through;
Split all ends up they shan't crack;
And death shall have no dominion.

And death shall have no dominion.
No more may gulls cry at their ears
Or waves break loud on the seashores;
Where blew a flower may a flower no more
Lift its head to the blows of the rain;
Though they be mad and dead as nails,
Heads of the characters hammer through daisies;
Break in the sun till the sun breaks down,
And death shall have no dominion.

for A & J T, love kt

Come to my Birthday Party

Thursday - 8pm - email me for details =)

iTunes Playlist

Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy (Queen)
I Never (Rilo Kiley)
Little Flowers (Denison Witmer)
Eyes (Rogue Wave)
Give a Little Love (Rilo Kiley)
The Story (Brandi Carlile)
Last Goodbye (Jeff Buckley)
Lover, You Should Have Come Over (Jamie Cullum)
Anthony (Nickel Creek)
Rosanna (Toto)
So Contagious (Acceptance)
Breathe In, Breathe Out (Mat Kearney)
Plastic Stars (Freezepop)
Hey Boy (The Blow)
A Comet Appears (The Shins)
I Sing I Swim (Seabears)
Today Will Be Better, I Swear! (Stars)
How It Ends (Devotchka)

Sorry, Kids

I've been heads down at work and with the RS. I will make renewed efforts.

xoxo
kt

2 Samuel 2:7

Therefore now let your hands be strengthened, and be ye valiant

Mosiah 23:10

Nevertheless, after much tribulation, the Lord did hear my cries, and did answer my prayers, and has made me an instrument in his hands

The Doctor is In

Joel 2:28

And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions

Day in the Life

coworker: "are you behaving yourself"
kt: shakes head
coworker: maintains stern(ish) expression
kt: "are you surprised?"
coworker: shakes head

My Holiday in Holladay, UT

I found my street:
If only the Distribution Center had spelled it correctly when they embossed my scriptures.

Saddddddd

Ezekiel 36:26

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

Merry Christmas

Isaiah 58

2 They take delight in approaching God
3 Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge?
4 Behold ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.

6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him?

9 Then shalt thou call , and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am.
10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday:

13 And thou shalt call the sabbath a delight, and shalt honour the Lord, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord.

Calvin & Hobbes

Merry Christmas

Love kt

Quote of the Day

tra il dire e il fare, c’è di mezzo il mare

An ocean lies between saying and doing

1 Kings 3:7

I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in.

The Sustaining Power of Faith in Times of Uncertainty and Testing by Richard G. Scott

Even if you exercise your strongest faith, God will not always reward you immediately according to your desires. Rather, God will respond with what in His eternal plan is best for you. He loves you to a depth and completeness you cannot conceive of in your mortal state. Indeed, were you to know His entire plan, you would never ask for that which is contrary to it even though your feelings tempt you to do so. Sincere faith gives understanding and strength to accept the will of our Heavenly Father when it differs from our own. We can accept His will with peace and assurance, confident that His infinite wisdom surpasses our own ability to comprehend fully His plan as it unfolds a piece at a time.

Read the full talk here.

Reprise

Here.

Ecclesiastes 7:3

By the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.

Proverbs 13:12

Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.

Seattle Report: Pike Place Market

Friday morning I flew to Seattle for Strawbs' wedding. My first time in Washington State!

Strawbs and (now) Mrs. Strawbs!

Pike Place Market

I went with my Nielson cousins in a bus to Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle. Strawbs has 10 siblings (one is on a mission right now) and they and their spouses and I all piled in the bus. It was a nice bus. We crossed the water and had a great time listening to Strawbs give us a tour as we went downtown.

kt, delighted to be on the bus:

Lizzy's husband:

At Pike Place, we all piled out of the bus (at Pike & Pine) and split up. About half of us ate cheese together at Beecher's; cheese and mac & cheese (made with penne), and grilled cheese. My aunt Mary bought No Woman cheese. "A nutty Jamaican cheese with cloves and brown sugar." Yum.

Then, Strawbs & soon-to-be-Mrs. Strawbs took me to the fruit market, where I bought dried strawberries (wow!) and a comice pear. We also sampled white truffle oil, pumpkin butter, and lavendar raspberry jam.

The fruit was too beautiful:

We then went back to Pike & Pine and got hot chocolate and ginger snap cookies (giant three dollar cookies). They were so soft and good, I kept thinking about them all weekend and have not stopped thinking about them since.

Quote of the Day

Some look at the overwhelming need in the world and think, What can I do that could possibly make a difference?

I will tell you plainly one thing you can do. You can live the law of the fast and contribute a generous fast offering.

Joseph B. Wirthlin