I have two short term goals that I am focusing specifically on right now:
1. Lose 10 lbs by July 1st.
2. Pray morning and night - aloud and on my knees.
I sometimes get bogged down by all of the ways that I want to improve, and my sister wisely suggested I pick two and let myself enjoy some success :)
Monday, May 24, 2010
Quote of the Day
“Often the deep valleys of our present will be understood only by looking back on them from the mountains of our future experience. Often we can’t see the Lord’s hand in our lives until long after trials have passed. Often the most difficult times of our lives are essential building blocks that form the foundation of our character and pave the way to future opportunity, understanding, and happiness.”
- D. Uchtdorf
I have found that this is true in my life. The times that I have consecrated the anguish that I've felt due to heartbreak, grief, depression, or any other cause, I have emerged humbler, more flexible, more compassionate.
I want to do this better with the day to day things that frustrate me - consecrate them, bear them cheerfully, and be the better for them.
- D. Uchtdorf
I have found that this is true in my life. The times that I have consecrated the anguish that I've felt due to heartbreak, grief, depression, or any other cause, I have emerged humbler, more flexible, more compassionate.
I want to do this better with the day to day things that frustrate me - consecrate them, bear them cheerfully, and be the better for them.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Quote of the Day
"If you are going to win any battle, you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do... the body is never tired if the mind is not tired."
George Patton
George Patton
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Quote of the Day
“God never bestows upon his people, or upon an individual, superior blessings without a severe trial to prove them.”
-Brigham Young, as quoted in "The Sustaining Power of Faith in Times of Uncertainty and Testing"
-Brigham Young, as quoted in "The Sustaining Power of Faith in Times of Uncertainty and Testing"
Monday, May 10, 2010
Quote of the Day
"All that is not eternal is too short, and all that is not infinite is too small.”
- inscribed in Stanford University Memorial Hall
- inscribed in Stanford University Memorial Hall
Friday, May 07, 2010
Quote of the Day
While wholesome pleasure results from much we do that is good, it is not our prime purpose for being on earth. Seek to know and do the will of the Lord, not just what is convenient or what makes life easy.
- Richard G. Scott, "First Things First"
- Richard G. Scott, "First Things First"
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
Another video :)
This one is of my cousin and his wife who were in a plane crash a year and a half ago.
Monday, May 03, 2010
Video
I have been in Mormon Messages a lot the last week or so and am remembering how great these are. Enjoy!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Quote of the Day
"The pillars of my faith are still intact, but the roof has blown blessedly off the structure to reveal a whole sky full of stars."
- Emma Lou Thayne, about writing as a Mormon woman
- Emma Lou Thayne, about writing as a Mormon woman
French Horn by Jane Hirshfield
For a few days only,
the plum tree outside the window
shoulders perfection.
No matter the plums will be small,
eaten only by squirrels and jays.
I feast on the one thing, they on another,
the shoaling bees on a third.
What in this unpleated world isn’t someone’s seduction?
The boy playing his intricate horn in Mahler’s Fifth,
in the gaps between playing,
turns it and turns it, dismantles a section,
shakes from it the condensation
of human passage. He is perhaps twenty.
Later he takes his four bows, his face deepening red,
while a girl holds a viola’s spruce wood and maple
in one half-opened hand and looks at him hard.
Let others clap.
These two, their ears still ringing, hear nothing.
Not the shouts of bravo, bravo,
not the timpanic clamor inside their bodies.
As the plum’s blossoms do not hear the bee
nor taste themselves turned into storable honey
by that sumptuous disturbance.
the plum tree outside the window
shoulders perfection.
No matter the plums will be small,
eaten only by squirrels and jays.
I feast on the one thing, they on another,
the shoaling bees on a third.
What in this unpleated world isn’t someone’s seduction?
The boy playing his intricate horn in Mahler’s Fifth,
in the gaps between playing,
turns it and turns it, dismantles a section,
shakes from it the condensation
of human passage. He is perhaps twenty.
Later he takes his four bows, his face deepening red,
while a girl holds a viola’s spruce wood and maple
in one half-opened hand and looks at him hard.
Let others clap.
These two, their ears still ringing, hear nothing.
Not the shouts of bravo, bravo,
not the timpanic clamor inside their bodies.
As the plum’s blossoms do not hear the bee
nor taste themselves turned into storable honey
by that sumptuous disturbance.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Monday, March 08, 2010
Quote of the Day
As you know, continued exposure to loud sounds will, in time, damage delicate organs of hearing. In like manner, if you overindulge in loud music, you will more likely become spiritually deaf, unable to hear the still, small voice.
- Russell M. Nelson
- Russell M. Nelson
Monday, February 22, 2010
Kind of a big deal
Yes, I am cheating and back-dating these posts. Give me a break! I have had a lot on my mind!
Why?
Because on Monday, February 22nd I gave notice at my current job and I am starting a new job on Monday, March 15th!
I'm so excited, but making the decision was an agonizing process. (AGONIZING).
I'm extremely happy with this decision, the 2 weeks off I have between the jobs, and my ridiculously wonderful boyfriend. life. is. good. (!!)
Why?
Because on Monday, February 22nd I gave notice at my current job and I am starting a new job on Monday, March 15th!
I'm so excited, but making the decision was an agonizing process. (AGONIZING).
I'm extremely happy with this decision, the 2 weeks off I have between the jobs, and my ridiculously wonderful boyfriend. life. is. good. (!!)
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Quote of the Day
The little things of life, sweet and excellent in their place, must not be the things lived for; the highest must be sought and followed; the life of heaven must be begun here on earth.
L.M. Montgomery
via Rachel
L.M. Montgomery
via Rachel
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
40 Days of ...
Tomorrow kicks off 40 days until Easter, and so I'm going to do the following:
- Purge my Google Reader of the superfluous design, fashion, and other blogs that distract me. (DONE!)
- Purge my iTunes of music that is distracting from good things.
- Blog daily (watch out!)
- Give up sweets (Bruce and I are doing this together).
Friday, December 11, 2009
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
oh my dears
let me tell you how much fun I have had with the holidays this year!
Baking
1. Chocolate cream pie - made this for Thanksgiving and again for our church Christmas party. So delicious even though Gordon went overboard on the shaved chocolate garnish :) Love him. (ps: make this pie!)
2. Wassail - I just finished my second batch so far this season and it is warming my soul.
3. Chocolate chip waffles with peppermint stick ice cream - it was Sunday and we didn't have buttermilk or chocolate chips, so we had to settle for some rather dense waffles with chocolate chunks, but Marianne's ice cream more than compensated for it!
4. Chewy Gingersnaps - this recipe from my cousin Alice is the best I've ever tried and I will never, ever give it up!
Decorating
1. Dot garlands - my first attempt anything Martha Stewart and I have been SO happy with these! My friend Jess was the arm of this important operation.
2. Christmas Tree - my roommate and I decorated this with white lights while a third roommate made beautiful snowflakes to hang on and above it. I must learn how to make the snowflakes - they are amazing!
3. Wreath - I bought one from the local boy scouts and it is hanging just next to our front door (rather than on the door itself). It's rather fragile, so it will hold together better, I think.
I just attended my first Christmas party this year as well as the Creche Exhibit! AND I've been spending lots of time with this little nevvy of mine:
Baking
1. Chocolate cream pie - made this for Thanksgiving and again for our church Christmas party. So delicious even though Gordon went overboard on the shaved chocolate garnish :) Love him. (ps: make this pie!)
2. Wassail - I just finished my second batch so far this season and it is warming my soul.
3. Chocolate chip waffles with peppermint stick ice cream - it was Sunday and we didn't have buttermilk or chocolate chips, so we had to settle for some rather dense waffles with chocolate chunks, but Marianne's ice cream more than compensated for it!
4. Chewy Gingersnaps - this recipe from my cousin Alice is the best I've ever tried and I will never, ever give it up!
Decorating
1. Dot garlands - my first attempt anything Martha Stewart and I have been SO happy with these! My friend Jess was the arm of this important operation.
2. Christmas Tree - my roommate and I decorated this with white lights while a third roommate made beautiful snowflakes to hang on and above it. I must learn how to make the snowflakes - they are amazing!
3. Wreath - I bought one from the local boy scouts and it is hanging just next to our front door (rather than on the door itself). It's rather fragile, so it will hold together better, I think.
I just attended my first Christmas party this year as well as the Creche Exhibit! AND I've been spending lots of time with this little nevvy of mine:
Saturday, December 05, 2009
Journey of the Magi by T S Eliot
"A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The was deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter."
And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory,
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
And running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night-fires gong out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty, and charging high prices.:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices singing in our ears, saying
That this was all folly.
Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky,
And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.
Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,
And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.
But there was no information, and so we continued
And arrived at evening, not a moment too soon
Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory.
All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we lead all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I have seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The was deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter."
And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory,
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
And running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night-fires gong out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty, and charging high prices.:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices singing in our ears, saying
That this was all folly.
Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky,
And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.
Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,
And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.
But there was no information, and so we continued
And arrived at evening, not a moment too soon
Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory.
All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we lead all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I have seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.
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