Monday, June 30, 2008

All About Me

I got this from Monique in an email and decided to post it here instead, just for giggles. I thought I'd share it with everyone...

Welcome to the 2008 edition of 'Get to know your friends"! Hit forward, change all the answers so they apply to you, and then send this to your friends including the person who sent it to you. The theory is that you will learn a lot of little things about your friends that you might not have known!
1. What time did you get up this morning? 7am.
2. Diamonds or pearls? diamonds
3. Last movie you saw? Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
4. What is your favorite TV Show? I don't really have one that is currently on. My all time favorite is Gilmore Girls, of course.
5 What did you have for breakfast today? a banana
6. What is your middle name? Dawn
7. What food do you dislike? most cooked vegetables- why ruin a good thing?
8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? I dont' have one
9. What kind of car do you drive? 2005 Town and Country
10. Favorite sandwich? Subways turkey w/ all the veggies.
11. What characteristic do you despise? gossiping
12. Favorite item of clothing? My Nick and Nora socks
13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation,where would you go? Well, if guilt from not going to Utah doesn't win out, I really would love to visit Nauvoo Illinois or Palmyra New York.
14. Favorite brand of clothing?CHEAP....haha I'm with Rachel and Monique.
15. Where would you retire to? a motor home, I want to travel in my last days
16. Favorite birthday? When I turned 8, I couldn't wait to be baptized
17. Favorite sport to watch? Football or horse racing.
18. Furthest place you are sending this? the internet is vast
19. Person you expect to send it back first? Nobody, but I hope to see it on other blogs!
22. Are you a morning person or a night person?Night, but when I am up early in the morning I think to myself, "Why don't I do this more often? I get so much done, I love to see the sun rise... I should do this more often." But then sleeping in feels so good too.
23. What is your shoe size? 8 1/2 W
26. What did you want to be when you were little? A jockey or a police officer
27. How are you today? sad, tired, worn out.
28. What is your favorite candy? Whoppers or Dove chocolate
29. What is your favorite flower? Peonies
30. What day are you looking forward to?The day my husband leaves his current employer.
33. What are you listening to right now? My boys building a tent in the family room.
35. Do,. you wish on stars? Just shooting ones
36. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? White
37. How is the weather right now? warm
38. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Joel
39. Favorite soft drink? rootbeer
40. Favorite restaurant? Joe's Crab Shack
41. Hair color? No. 7.3
42. What was your favorite toy as a child?My bike
43. Summer or winter? Autumn
44. Hugs or kisses? the chocolate kind?
45. Chocolate or Vanilla?always chocolate
46. Coffee or tea? Neither
47.Do you want your friends to email you back? n/a
48. What is under your bed? a gray backdrop, my journal, boxes with pouches of detergent
49.What did you do last night? Took pictures of my sil's kids, took a shower and went to bed early.
51. What are you afraid of? mice and drowning
52. Salty or sweet? depends
53. How many keys on your key ring? nine
54. How many years at your current job? 15 years as a mother.
55. Favorite day of the week? Saturdays and Sunday
56. How many towns have you lived in?13
57. Do you make friends easily? no, I am usually a very private and reserved person.
58. How many people will you send this to? everyone on the internet, right here, right now :)
59. How many will respond? one, lol!

Um... not sure what happened to #50, it's not in the email.
If you chose to do this on your blog, leave me a link so I can come learn about you! I really do want to know.
Today I went to Julie's funeral.
It was a much more uplifting experience than I was expecting.
I knew she was good, and it would be good, but this funeral left me with the desire to do more, to be more, to do better, to be better.
There are a lot of changes I've known I've need to make in my life, and today I got the desire and the inspiration and the burst of energy to begin.
I also just want to thank the people in my life, no matter how little we've touched shoulders, for being there, in my life, even if it was in a small way.
I feel inadequately equipped with the words I want to say to express how I am feeling.
I am thankful for my customers for having faith in my that I can capture them in a way that will be pleasing to them. I am thankful to the ones who've been brave and let me experiment and play, and been willing to try new things.
I'm thankful to the other photographers in my area that have allowed me to be part of their group. I'm thankful for their friendships and for their willingness to share or to let me share when I feel there is something I can contribute.
I'm thankful for those that have stopped by my blog and left comments, or emailed me comments.
I'm thankful for friends and family who keep tabs on me, who care when I'm going through something and send me notes that they are thinking of me. They have no idea how much that means.
I'm sorry that I am distant, and difficult to get to know at times. I'm going to work on that. That's one of the changes I talked about earlier. It doesn't stem from my lack of interest in you, but rather a lack of self worth, and feeling like I'd be of value to any of you. I know I have to get over that, work past it, push through it.... I'm going to.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

A few things

Well, I realized today that I didn't do my "Thursday's Thumbs" as I had promised. The news of Julie's death early that day made me totally forget it. So I will do it at the end of this post.
I got my camera back today from West Photo, and it seems to be working pretty good. They got it in yesterday but nobody called me, and I didn't know until today when I called to check up on it and the lady said she knew nothing about it, so I'd asked about renting a camera in a couple of weeks for a session and a wedding. She transferred me to someone who recognized my name and knew my camera came in yesterday, so yippie!!! :) I'm so glad "Dawg" came home so soon.


They grow up too fast
One day this week we were at the gym and Joyanna and Joshua had been teased at the YMCA that they were married to each other. Joy said to me, “We’re not married, Dave is my boyfriend.” Hmmm…. Dave? So later I asked her about her boyfriend and she informed me she had “three boyfriends, Dave and Will.” No mention of a third. Then a few days later I was asking her about her boyfriend, “What’s his name?” She answers, “Dave…. And he’s human and has a house and chipmunks.” Ohhhh, THAT Dave, hahaha! I didn’t realize that she was having her first crush on a Hollywood star. . . At least it’s not Alvin, Simon or Theodore, hee hee.



Thumbs Up!
GPS- Garmin Nuvi 200- For our anniversary my husband gave me something I've been asking about for a long time. I mostly thought we'd get one for him, because of his flying and all, but it's really neat that I got one for my van. This thing is small, lightweight and awesome! It speaks to you and tells you where to turn. You can save favorite locations to chose quickly and easily, such as "home". If you get lost, just press "home" and you're on your way! You can also download fun vehicles to represent you on the map... my personal favorite is the pink girlie car. It's easy to see and read from your seat, and it shows surrounding areas, which I love because I love to check out parks, and I can see them on my map and find my way to them easily.
The only downside to this is that it's not aware that 35W has been collapsed over the Mississippi bridge and it has tried to take me over it. But I knew it was closed, so I started to take a detour, and the Nuvi quickly recalculated my trip and accommodated for my change in direction, that is awesome!

Thumbs Down!

I have no Thumbs Down for this week.

Friday, June 27, 2008

For Julie

One of Julie's dear friends, Christina, shared this song with us at the website we all met at and are lamenting her passing away on. It's so fitting for how many of us are feeling about this tragic accident.




Lay down softly in our sorrow
Lay down sister to die
And cover over, my sweet Father
Cover over her eyes
Your broken body, it cannot weather
The years your youth still longs to spend
So go down graceful, sleep with the angels
And wake up whole again
‘Cause it was not your time; that's a useless line
A fallen world took your life
But the God that sometimes can't be found
Will wrap Himself around you
So lay down, sister, lay down
Slower passing are the hours
To tell this tale that takes its time
But the finest moment, no man can measure
Is to look your Savior in the eyes
So take her tender to Your table
Take her from this killing floor
To taste the water that is forever
Let her be thirsty no more
It was not her time; that's a useless line
A fallen world took her life
But the God that sometimes can't be found
Will wrap Himself around you
So lay down, sister, lay down
And the God that sometimes can't be found
Will wrap Himself around you
So lay down, Rita, lay down


~Bebo Norman "Rita"

Goodbye to a sweet friend


Yesterday I learned the tragic news that a sweet friend and colleague had passed away in a horrible and violent accident. However she also died a hero, risking her life to save another's.

Julie Steiskal and I met for the first time when I got up enough courage to go to a get together a message board was having. I was new to the board. She didn't know me, but by the end of the day we were friends. We were there for two days doing discussions and shooting models. In the afternoon of the second day we split up and did an Avatar Shootout. I was so thrilled when Julie chose me to be her partner! She was fun and fresh and full of life and ideas and laughter. She was a nut. I immediately just adored her. We laughed so much that afternoon. Being silly and goofing off was never so fun.
There are tributes to her all over the Internet that I've read, and one thing is very clear, that no matter how small of a time a person spent with Julie their lives have been blessed/touched/ or changed. We will all feel a hole in our hearts and lives where she belongs. She was loved by many and a blessing to all.
She was simple and wholesome and real. She was generous with her time, talent, love.
Just the other week she sent me an email asking me where I'd been. Summer has come and I've become so busy, and she missed me. Wow, I was not expecting that. She was so sweet to write and check up on me. That still amazes me.

These are the words she wrote about herself on her blog, and I know with a surety that there were no pretenses put on in these words, they are genuine, they are Julie-

"we need a renaissance of wonder. we need to renew, in our hearts & in our souls, the deathless dream, the eternal poetry, the perennial sense that life is miracle & magic."
e. merrill root

when i was six, i walked into the empty kitchen, looked behind me, stretched my arm as far as i could and borrowed my mother's camera for the first time. and when i was done with it, i quietly slipped it back on the counter and went back to my book with a smile on my face. today, as then, i find beauty in the eyes of those i love, in the details of God's creation, in laughter, in light, in wonder.

i like my garden. i like my front porch and my little old house. i like knowing my neighbors and i like crossing my street to get the mail. i like a good book, a movie that makes me laugh, a song that makes me sing. i like food. i like thai restaurants, good pasta and the tacos that come out of my kitchen. i like the smell of the grill on a warm summer night and i like my mother's cheesecake. i like the water. i like the smell of rain, the sound of a creek, the infinite possibility of a lake and the dampness of dew. i like falling asleep and waking up to thunderstorms. i like the sound of my nephew's giggle and the feel of his brother's hand in mine. i like that my family includes some of my best friends.

my life is both simple and complicated. it is a peaceful spring morning, it is a commute surrounded by people i don't know. it is finding the quiet in the chaos, it is knowing how to be alone in a crowd.

i think you, your child, your dreams are beautiful. i know that time is quickly passing. i want to help you capture the moments of your life that you never want to forget.

this is what i bring. this is who i am.


A woman with many talents and not only a phenomenal photographer but an enchanting writer as well.

Here are a few pictures I've taken of this dear friend. I will miss her terribly. Get togethers with other photographers will never be the same, there will always be an empty space where our friend could have been.

Julie pining over her imaginary boyfriend "Bill" on the other side of the door.


Laughing about it because she was so silly.



Then her serious look with the steel blue eyes.


Beautiful woman.


But a little slow.

I love the picture she took of me under the sign, "good times, good times" as she wrote about our shoot out together.

These next two have horrible color, but I wanted to include them. This is from our last get together in April. I was so honored when she called me to ask me to be on the OSP committee for the GTG. The first was taken when I was mindlessly aiming my camera at her trying to adjust my exposure, I then noticed her making this face and quickly snapped off a shot before she stopped. Nut.

Photobucket

It was during that planning phase that we met and I had my first real taste of Mongolian food. I thought I had before, but not really. I couldn't bare to tell her the truth that I thought it was gross. I admired her steel stomach.
Photobucket

And here she is working it with the camera.
Photobucket
I will miss this beautiful smile.

And quirky sense of humor.



Goodbye my friend. God be with you 'till we meet again.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Dance with Matt



My sister shelley shared this with me and I love it too!
If you want to see it in better quality go here and click on "watch in high quality" under the video.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Dead Flowers

click to see larger image.


This is a picture of the "dead flowers" from Saturday's wedding.
I have done a white balance and a sharpening for this image, but that is it. No other retouching has been done.

Maybe if this looks dead to someone, they should have picked plastic.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Bad Luck Bride

Oh man, am I sooo glad that Saturday is over!
So I had this wedding booked for Saturday, I've been booked for it since September of '07. For a while now I've been feeling like I needed to have a second shooter with me, and decided to pay out of my pocket for a girl I know who is into photography to help me out with the day.
Boy am I glad I followed through!
I've only photographed four weddings and they all went so nicely and for the most part without a hitch. This was the first really difficult wedding I've had to deal with. First, as I've blogged about before, my camera broke and I had to rent a camera. Also a friend borrowed me her 20D to use, when she found out about my broken camera. When I saw how her camera wasn't quite as good in low-light situations I decided to keep my reservation on the 30D because the reception was in an indoor area with tinted windows and I wasn't sure how well lit it would be.
I'm glad I did!
I met with the bride for their rehearsal, and it was somewhat chaotic. She wasn't sure how she wanted to entrance for her wedding, from where in the park, etc. She also had the officiator and her husband walk down the isle together. She also insisted this tiny little four year old girl walk down the isle by herself and the little girl was wayyyy too scared and shy to do it.
The next morning I met with them at the hairdressers for their appointment at 8pm. They were a little bit late and I found out that the night before when they tried to check into their hotel room their reservations had been lost for three rooms! The hotel was completely booked because of a "Back to the 50's" auto show that was in town. It's a big, big, big car show that takes over the cities for the weekend... soo fun, btw. Anyway, she flipped out on the hotel, and the guy kept hanging up on her and wouldn't help them. They ended up calling another hotel in the same chain and they found their reservation and couldn't explain why they were turned away. They helped them get set up with two rooms at two different hotels on different ends of town.
The hair and makeup went well. I asked her if her brother got his hair cut, she'd told him the night before to get it cut for the wedding, and I was informed that he'd been cut from the wedding. I could tell it was a touchy subject for her so I didn't ask.
We were there until 10:30. She was supposed to check out of the hotel at 11. So we had to rush back to her hotel which was quite a ways away, get her in there, get everyone into their dresses, get one of the little girl's hair done, get her packed up and checked out. Whew!
Then we went over to the park, dropped off the bride's maids and then I had the bride go over to another area in the park, when the groom showed up I was to grab him and get him down to the bridge for their "first look" session. While I waited for him we took pictures of the setup of the area the wedding was going to be at. During that time the flower lady was there and setting up. She asked about where a table for the unity candle should go. We told her but then the bride's maids started talking about the bride wanting it there last night, but maybe she's changed her mind. It was said kind of a snarky sort of way. Hmmm...
So then I notice the groomsmen were in the parking lot and I grabbed them and took the groom down to the bridge. The bride is worrying about time for some reason, even though this is noon and the wedding isn't until 3:30. I get him down there and get her down there and while I'm taking shots I'm realizing that this rented camera isn't shooting like it should. Everything is so dark. We are in a shaded area, my ISO is 200, my shutter speed is only 100 and my images are dark.
Later I found out that my screen was set at a darker setting, so I hope that hasn't ruined my images, because then I started shooting where the meter said I was over exposing by a margin. I hope that I wasn't blowing out my images, but the histogram was also showing I was under exposing, so who knows. To a photographer all that jumble I just wrote will make sense. It was getting so frustrating trying to get a proper exposure!
So then the bride ends up seeing her flowers, a bouquet of white roses with a creme ribbon. She then later informs me not to take any closeups of the flowers, to which I tell her too late, done that. And she starts acting like it's the end of the world. I find out that she considered the flowers "dead" and ugly and that her bouquet is all wrong. There was supposed to be an orange ribbon on the bouquet instead and she thinks the flowers are ugly. (Um, hello... how easy is it to have white roses with absolutely NO BROWN spots???) Then she also flips out because all the flowers are wrong for her daughter and the flower girl. The night before I was under the impression the flower girl was going to have a basket of petals to throw, that's what they told her. So she called the florist because there's only a bag of rose petals and no basket, and she calls the florist to come back and fix the issues. When the florist came back she is rude to her instead of working it out with her and starts insisting that the park won't allow them to spread petals in the park, no matter how little. What???? She's unwilling to work with the florist once she gets there.
We did some more pictures and the bride is totally upset so it makes it hard to get happy pictures, so I start doing some abstract ones, where she's blurry and her face won't matter if she's smiling, promising to photo shop the flowers so there's no brown. "What have I got myself into?" I'm thinking. Seriously, I went totally blank on what I could be shooting instead of her face... but now sitting here a million things come to mind... oh man, I hate hindsight.... except when it prepares me for the next time.
I'm uncomfortable, she's upset, my assistant is probably watching me going blank and thinking, what is she doing being a photographer??? YIKES! But I am so glad she was there with me, I didn't have to feel so alone during this and she doesn't know it but she kept me from totally freezing up, although I did go completely blank on everything I had planned for this couple. I really didn't plan to spend the day there at the park doing pictures. I wanted to take them to this fountain area where there are cute store fronts and a fountain and steps and such, I had great ideas, but because of her time crunch in her head, no such luck, I knew I was never going to be able to get her away from the park.
At about this time she realizes the sound guy isn't there yet. He's supposed to show up at 2 and it's now 2:30. She gets a phone and his number and finds out that he just left. He calls her 20 minutes later to tell her that he's stuck in traffic... he's neglected to check his route and find out that the road he planned to take has been shut down for construction for the weekend. He informs her he will be there in 20 minutes... just in time for him to set up maybe 10 minutes before the ceremony?

Then her daughter starts freaking out about the bugs biting her. So that adds even more drama to the scene.

After a few pictures and such guests start arriving so we decide to hike it over to the other part of the park for more pictures. But first she has to decide if we will walk or drive over there. She thinks driving, and then driving back seems silly... I mention that it's probably not more silly than walking through the park while they all watch her come back, waiting for the ceremony to start. She agrees to drive. So we leave. Someone will call us when everyone is ready. We go to the other side of the park and I start suggesting other pictures, she tells me that probably nobody will want to do more because they are all mad that nobody knows what's going on. OK, now what? Oh and there are people hanging out on the bridge where we are wanting to do pictures. So I get her to let me start working with people again and get some arrangements we haven't gotten yet. Then I asked Jaime, my assistant to ask the people to leave the bridge for a little bit. We got some shots there that I think she will love. Then she tells me they called and everyone is ready.
We drive back and hide the cars behind some trees and I run down and got the officiator and sent him up the hill to them.
The sound guy is there, shirt hanging out, looking scraggly, and trying to do sound checks... I thought they were ready?
I start shooting guests and stuff, checking my exposure, because now clouds are going by and it keeps changing from sunny to shaded and I'm working with a camera that is not working right. Hindsight tells me I should have switched my main lens to the 20D and worked with that... duh! But I had the 80mm on there and I needed that for many of the ceremony shots.
Any who, sound guy was horrible! For the entire ceremony the sound kept going out, screeching and making some pounding noise. Oh my word. Then their ceremony (which I really wished that I could have asked them to change, but there's no delicate way to do that) had me running from the sidelines at the front to the isle, even though Jaime was there, she wasn't in the right spots that I could have just left her to get the shots. I'm really worried that the bride is going to be mad at me now because they posed themselves wrong (even though we specifically covered that the night before) for the candle lighting and I couldn't get all three of them (the daughter helped light the candle) in one shot.
I also had a hard time figuring out the exposure for the shots of the recessional. I kept second guessing the camera :(
I tried to get some shots of them in the limo, I'm not sure if any of those turned out or if the ones of them around the 50's car that the bride and groom were leaving in.
I'm going to wait a couple of days before I download and look at them.
So then the bride decided they should hit the bar on the way to the reception, so Jaime and I went to McDonald's and then to the reception.
After that most of the night went really well..... until....
Jaime brought the camera she'd been using for the day to me and it was showing an error code for a corrupt CF card and it could not find any images. The words of Lorelai Gilmore went through my head "aaaand the hits just keep on coming!"
My day started at 8 and ended a little after 9:30.
I thought the reception was beautiful and the DJ did a most excellent job getting people out on the dance floor and dancing. I liked his arrangements of music that he played.
When I got home I was so exhausted and my body hurt. It's sore today too. I prayed and asked for a miracle, please don't let her bad luck rub off on me anymore! And thankfully when I loaded the disk into a card reader it was able to find over 200 images. YES! Thank you Heavenly Father.
I'm now off to spend the week with my family and play with some trash the dress sessions before I take a look at what I got at the wedding.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

I Love You a Bushel and Peck

Today my husband and I celebrate our 15th year anniversary of marriage.
We didn't meet in some great fairy tale sort of way, in fact it is rather boring. I keep telling him that we need to come up with some wild wonderful story, but we never do. That's ok. We met none the less.
It hasn't been easy, and we've certainly had our trials, but as my original wedding ring had engraved, it has been "bliss"ful. We've had much more joy than sorrow.
We have four beautiful children who all have changed our lives forever.
Seven years into our marriage I fell in love with this man all over again when he changed his life completely, when he accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior. I was surprised with this falling in love all over again. I didn't know people could do that. But I did. In a much more deep and profound way than the first time. I knew the second time was the kind that lasted forever.
He's been my rock, my provider, my friend, my companion, my partner, my lover, my confidant. I couldn't ask for a better dad for my kids.
Today I celebrate all the wonderful things our marriage is, and the good things about us that we bring to it. I gave him a card that said so many things I wanted to say to him, and although I wasn't the author of it, I hope he pays close attention to the words of it. I chose it very carefully and was delighted to find it.
Our wedding day was rainy and I know that sent us good luck. Our sealing date it was something like -20 degrees and I know that solidified (haha, get it... solidified, ice, froze) our good luck. It hasn't been with fortune but it certainly has been with love, good times, and blessings.
The second song playing on my blog this week is "our song". One of our first dates was to see Robin Hood:Prince of Thieves. It was played a lot during that first summer we were together. We had an incident I won't go into detail here, that helped this song become "our song".


I hope that in another 15 years we can finally afford that dream vacation!

He reads my blog so I want to send a shout out to him, Happy Anniversary honey, I love you!

On a side note: Oh my gosh! I am so surprised at what he got me for a gift. Um, let's just say, he shouldn't have! Be watching my Thursday's Thumbs next week!

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Grrrrrr

I had the 30D into West Photo for sensor cleaning two weeks ago and it came back acting wierd. They aren't claiming any responsibility for what's going on with it. The shutter button is lagging and then not working at all at times. It will auto focus, but then has to warm up for several shots before the shutter button will start acting normal.
I sent it in for repairs, and had to reserve another 30D as a rental for a wedding I have in two weeks. They didn't even discount me on the rental. Grrrr. I'm not happy with them at all, but I don't know of any other shop in town that does what they do.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Disturbing

Forwarning: this movie contains very disturbing images, however I think that every adult, American or not, should see this video.
Some may say it's "distorted", however, I don't know how you explain away actual words from the Quran or Islamic leaders or followers, real live images or real events as being distorted when they are right there before our eyes. These aren't cartoons.
Everyone needs to know the truth about Islam and what the Quran says.

My personal opinion:
It is a horrible religion that abuses, trods down, demeans women, children and men.
It's hard to believe that so many people in the world will defend such a sickeningly disturbing religion and give it place within their country's borders. Islam in my opinion is a disturbing religion and must be stopped. There is no peace or peaceful, or beauty in such a grotesque theology. Some people are familiar with my term "dog poop brownies". I'm not like them and suggest that murder, hate or things like that are the answer. However I do think that God and Jesus Christ have the answer.

I won't imbed the video because the top image is horrible to look at.

Direct link: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3369102968312745410

I also would like you to watch this interview done with Glenn Beck, talking about this movie.

Monday, June 9, 2008

I Thought 409 Was a Cleaner!

Um, yeah.... it's now also the price per gallon of regular gas!

*insert crying emoticon*

I'm thinking that my home is looking pretty nice about now, and I'll just stick around here as much as I can. Pile up my errands more now, just what I want to do, jam a bunch of errands into one day. Whoopie. At least school is out, seminary is done, and there will be some saving there.

Today is such a lovely day... dang it that I don't have a client.

Friday, June 6, 2008

Just Thinking Out Loud

Today we went to a funeral of a friend of Joel's. This isn't the first friend that has died since we've met. This friend was only 53 when he died playing golf last Sunday.
Nothing like a funeral to help you put your own life in perspective, eh?
I've been re-reading Sherri Dew's book Nobody Can Take Your Place. I love her. I love this book. I love the message in it. Just in the first three chapters I'm inspired to make a difference in my kids, and my kid's friend's lives. I want to be out in the yard, playing with them, teaching them the gospel with my example and how I'm living my life, how I'm treating them or teaching them to treat each other.
I love my role as a woman and a mother, in this world. I am thankful that I'm not a man, or have the demands on my life that a man has. I love the words of Margaret D. Nadauld where she said,
"Daughters of God know that it is the nurturing nature of women that can bring everlasting blessings, and they live to cultivate this divine attribute. Surely when a woman reverences motherhood, her children will arise up and call her blessed (see Prov. 31:28).

Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity. "

Something I read in Sheri Dew's book yesterday really struck a chord with me. I've felt very urgently for the last couple of years that I must do whatever I can to bring up righteous children. I feel that I am raising soldiers for the army of God. I know that I cannot ask it of them if I am not willing to be it myself. The part I was reading is where she quotes President Woodruff saying, "The Lord has chosen a small number of choice spirits of sons and daughters out of all the creations of God, who are to inherit this earth; and this company of choice spirits have been kept in the spirit world for six thousand years to come forth in the last days... to build... up and to defend [the kingdom of God]"

She then says...

"That includes you, as one of those who have been reserved for this eleventh hour (see D&C 33:3). You are here now because you were divinely elected to be here now... It is humbling and a little scary. But do you think God would have left the last days to chance by sending men and women He couldn't depend on? There is no chance He would have been that cavalier or careless. The cumulative verdict of patriarchal blessings in our time is that we were sent now because some of the most trustworthy of our Father's children would be needed in the final decisive battle for righteousness. That is who we are, and it is who we have always been."

Satan has declared war on motherhood and on the family. She says, "He well knows that those who rock the cradle are perhaps in the best possible position to rock his diabolical earthly empire."

*enter chills*

"As mothers in Israel, we are the Lord's secret weapon. We just cannot let the Lord down. And if the day comes when Latter-day Saint women are the only women on earth who find nobility and divinity in motherhood, so be it."

So be it.

I want to be a better mother, the kind of mothering figure that the Lord would be happy to have on His side. I hope that will be something I will be remembered for when it's my time to go. I hope that I've touched lives more that I could imagine.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Oh My Word


Do you recognize this person?

Looks like a washed up wrestler?

Maybe a down on his hygiene Mayor?

Oh, I know.... Loser needs to get a life and quit running in politics ex-Governor? Ding! Ding! Ding!

Actually all of those are correct. This is Jesse Ventura after living in Baja Mexico for a while, returned to the US and thinking of running for the U.S. Senate.
Travelers beware- this is what .... hmmmmm..... actually a lot of things will do this to you.
I can only imagine how much more bizarre his ideas have become since his stint in the Governor's office. That's the only vote I've ever regretted.
Someone have a hot poker? My eyes are begging.

School's Out For Summer!

Well at least it is for my youngest. Their schools are so messed up. All year he's gone to afternoon Kindergarten and for the last day of school he gets to go to morning Kindergarten and then no school tomorrow. And both today and tomorrow my older son has half days.
So dumb.

I'm ready to have more flexibility in my schedule. It will also be nice to have Jake going to the gym with me. Play some b-ball without neighborhood kids, racing on the bikes, stuff like that. Fun!

We are expecting some thunderstorms tonight so t-ball practice for the kids might be cancelled. I want summer to start! Today's high is supposed to reach 72. I don't think anyone has been using the pool at the YMCA yet, even tho' it opened two weeks ago. It just hasn't been warm enough. It will be great on my heat/electric bill :) However I am tired of being cold! I've been cold for 8 months now!

Monday, June 2, 2008

A Sad Thing

So I mentioned earlier how our neighbor children have been coming around the house. It's gotten so we can't even go out to the car without someone coming over wanting to play. It's mostly fine, sometimes a little annoying. One thing that bothers me is that one neighbor's daughters are always eating some sort of junk food and trying to share it with my kids. I keep junk food at a minimum with my kids. I don't let them chew gum or drink pop. That's what ruined my teeth. Juice ruined Joshua's teeth.
Their little girl that starts Kindergarten next year has rotting front teeth. It's so sad. The dad just spent a few thousand on a new porch because their last one broke, instead of taking her to a dentist. Just makes my heart hurt for her. This morning she came over in the morning with a bag of M&M's. I wouldn't let my kids have any until after lunch, and then I only let them have a handful.
I've told them several times not to give my kids gum, and then have found Joy with gum. The older two tell them "no thank you", but Joy hasn't learned to say that yet. I've told my kids now that if I find her with gum again, they will not be allowed to play here anymore.
That's sad, because it's been nice to have kids around for my kids to play with.