thinking and looking

My home!

Whenever I hear the song of a bird

Or look at the blue, blue sky,


Whenever I feel the rain on my face


Or the wind as it rushes by,


Whenever I touch a velvet rose


Or walk by our lilac tree,


I'm glad that I live in this beautiful world


Heavenly Father created for me.

He gave me my eyes that I might see


The color of butterfly wings.


He gave me my ears that I might hear


The magical sound of things.


He gave me my life, my mind, my heart:


I thank him reverently


For all his creations, of which I'm a part.


Yes, I know Heavenly Father loves me.

I am loved. I am loved perfectly and unconditionally by my eternal Father in Heaven. I was reminded of this fact upon revisiting those Primary lyrics today. The Lord created every flower, tree, mountain, river, and the stars and sky for us to enjoy.

I was dreading all of the yard work I needed to do today but as soon as I got outside, I couldn't come back in. This world is so beautiful. I loved sitting on my porch steps and studying each petal on my newly blossomed tulips. I breathed deep in the sunshine and cool breeze. I cooked with the windows open. I took the long way back to my car to enjoy the beautiful sunset for a few more minutes.

I know the Lord loves me because He gave me this beautiful world. I am grateful for His creativity and care. I am grateful for reminders, big and small, of His eternal love.

My new little tulips!

Frequency

This is a really cool visualization of the frequency with which certain things happen.  Check it out: http://xkcd.com/1331/

It's hard to take my eyes off of "one birth" and "one death"

emptied gestures

entertainment today has somehow reframed our minds into thinking that shorter/faster/denser is optimal. more, more, more, in less and less time. i don't know about you, but i could watch this all day and never get bored. beautiful.

explore the grays, friends. connect with your creations.

they are the cutest

Also, I want that pink ukulele.

be aware

Let us be aware of our self-talk.  The things we say to ourselves absolutely reflect our self-worth.  See the beauty in you so you can more fully see and appreciate the beauty around you.

today

i'm the next act
waiting in the wings

i'm an animal
trapped in your hot car

i am all the days
that you choose to ignore

you are all i need
i'm in the middle of your picture
lying in the reeds

i am a moth
who just wants to share your light

i'm just an insect
trying to get out of the night

i only stick with you
because there are no others

you are all i need
i'm in the middle of your picture
lying in the reeds

it's all wrong
it's all right

yes.

f a t h e r.

mmm...to this i say YES.

Please tell me these kids are brothers.  And that my three boys will be exactly like them.

yeah, yeah. i like kids and dancing.

Who cares if this blog has become a slew of bookmarked youtubes featuring adorable children and/or dancing.  Watch and enjoy.

social media was created to share links like this.

perfection

Snuggling in bed for 30 minutes after our alarms ring.  Making pancakes from scratch.  

Listening to Nick Drake.  Watching highlights from October's General Conference.  

All while watching the b e a u t i f u l snow fall from our windows.

do these effectively hide my thunder?

what show rules? this show rules.

Neal A Maxwell: The hippie of the spiritual giants

Good news everyone!  After a little over 7 weeks (more like 6 due to pneumonia or something of the like plaguing me for 1 of those weeks), I feel semi comfortable (what?) as a full-time, speech teaching, schedule planning, meeting attending, classroom leading Speech-Language Pathologist.  I'm finally able to complete most of my paperwork, planning, and scheduling before or after school and still get home to make dinner at a decent hour.  Unfortunately, because I come home so exhausted, I turn on the tv and veg until I realize it's 11pm and I should probably go to bed.  (Getting cable was not a good thing for me, apparently...)  Yes, this may be an exaggeration, but in retrospect I know there are so many better ways my free time at home could be spent.  Thus we reach my new personal goal: Read all of the uplifting/spiritual/revelatory, scripture-supplementing books I have always kept on my reading list, including but not limited to The Collected Works of Neal A. Maxwell, Jesus the Christ, Preach My Gospel, The Screwtape Letters, etc. etc.

I started Volume I of Neal A. Maxwell's Collected Works and have had a great (but weird at times) experience.  The first book in the volume is called "...A More Excellent Way".  This is about leadership.  While it was interesting to parallel his thoughts on leadership to the upcoming election, but it felt sort of outdated and not really applicable.  So I skimmed it.  Now I'm in the middle of the next book, "For the power is in them..."  I love how Maxwell finds a way to be poetic and straight forward.  I also love his interesting and unusual comparisons to spirituality and doctrine to make his point more clear, relatable, and memorable.  I have also been surprised by some of his interests and passions that peek out every now and then.  For instance, I found his tree-hugging, Al Gore side today!

"Man is acquiring a new respect - almost too late - for the wondrous order and ecology of nature, in which the relationships of organisms and their environments reflect natural cycles and rhythm.  The pollution of our atmosphere and streams, the denigration of nature's mountain wonders, and the general loss of man's direct interface with nature (which may be greater a spiritual need than we of the asphalt age realize) have suddenly shown us, more clearly than many of us have ever known before, that the order of nature is violated at our peril, and that man may not walk on earth without interruptional impunity...This concern with man's developing a more harmonious relationship with nature by abiding by its physical laws that are as immutable and as inevitable as those breeched laws of nature for which we now beginning to pay a terrible price."

Basically, I love Elder Maxwell.  I love his eloquence.  But most of all, I love that he's a nature lover.

wide awake

Love her, hate her, you have to admit:

1. Her hair looks amazing
2. She's honest

and most importantly...

3. This is such a sweet, important (albeit obvious) message to younger girls

maybe the only thing that could ever make me want twins

thanks, ellen.  this is fab.