Call someone today

I'm really, really horrible at keeping in touch with people. I just tend to forget, or I put it off until it is more convenient to call/write (which obviously is never, I'm too busy for it to ever be "convenient"), or some other silly thing happens that prevents me from doing it. 

This makes me sad. I regret not talking to my family more often, particularly my older siblings and grandparents. Thankfully I do facetime with my parents and younger siblings often, partially because I just can't get enough of my adorable baby sister (and love being entertained by the rest of my cute siblings too). Other than that, I am really bad at keeping up with family, especially since we are spread across several states.

Lately, I've been feeling like something needs to change. I've got to be better. This morning, I had the thought come to my mind that I should give my grandpa H. a call. "Ok," I thought. "In a minute when I finish what I'm doing." A few seconds later, the thought came again. "Give him a call. Right now."

So I did. 

And I am so glad I listened to that prompting. 

My grandma H. passed away somewhat suddenly a couple of years ago. It was is really hard on my sweet grandpa. He just loves her so much. Every time I have talked to him since then she is almost always the subject of our conversation  He asks me how married life is going, and then tells me (again) how much he loves and misses his Lila. That means so much to me. I am thankful to have parents and grandparents that have taught me by example how to have a happy life and marriage. I'm also grateful to have been close with all four of my grandparents.

While he spoke of my grandma today, it reminded me again of how fragile life is and that it may not be long before he is reunited with her. That also makes me sad. On the other hand, it also makes me thankful to know that families are eternal. Isn't that just wonderful? I love that so much about the gospel. Family is the most important thing and I'm so happy to be sealed to mine for time and eternity. 

Grandpa H and me at my wedding last year. Isn't he cute?

My challenge to you is to give someone a call today. Or maybe shoot someone a message. It only takes a few minutes but it can make a huge difference in your life and theirs.

Currently, I'm...

Loving: This springy, bird-singing, grass-growing, perfect weather. It makes my heart happy! Spring will always be my favorite season.

Feeling: Like Mother Nature punched me in the gut. And punched it hard. But also happy that I can stay home and eat my feelings until she goes away. Ah, the joys of womanhood...

Reading: Les Miserables. The abridged version, which is still pretty dang long. So far so good!

Watching: Psych and Duck Dynasty with Dallin. We're a little obsessed with both of them. I'm also watching The Voice on my own, and I love it! (P.S. Ryan Innes is one of Dallin's college friends which is kinda neat! Hope he wins!)

Listening to: Music from The Voice (especially this and this)

Eating: Lots of strawberries. I'm really thankful that some of my cravings are actually healthy! Although I am thinking that I might need to dip some of them in chocolate, because chocolate dipped strawberries are one of my favorite things in the world. Mmmm.

Working on: A million sewing/refashioning/craft projects. My goal is to finish one of them today. We'll see how that goes... hah! :) Just to name a few of my projects, I've got a maxi skirt to finish, a smash book to work on, a thrifted dress to alter, and a DIY camera bag to complete.

Wearing: Mint jeans. They make me very happy. :D

Wishing: Tomorrow's seminary lesson would prepare itself. Five lessons a week is a lot of work. Good thing I love it, even though I get a little burnt out sometimes! It helps that my students are the best.

Thankful: For a sweet husband, good health (knock on wood), and the good, kind, selfless people that keep my faith in humanity going strong.

Looking forward to: Spain! It's getting so close!

A pearl beyond price

Today I re-watched this talk by Elder L. Whitney Clayton from General Conference and it got me thinking (again) about happiness and success in marriage. 

I've often wondered what happens to two people who seem(ed) so in love that causes them to lose that spark or even get divorced. Now that I am married, I find myself pondering more often about what the difference is between a happy marriage and an unhappy marriage. I never want us to lose that spark. We have made covenants to be faithful to each other for time and eternity, and that is really, really long time to spend with someone you don't adore, don't you think? I'm really thankful to be a member of the LDS church and to have grown up in a good family. Both of these things have helped me learn from a young age how to have a good marriage.

While there are many factors that can determine success of marriage, I believe the most important one is the mutual willingness to put your marriage and your spouse first. This means remembering that your marriage is special. It is precious. It should never be put on the back burner, not for any reason. It should always be your number one priority. 

Elder Clayton articulates my thoughts on this subject much better. Here's a quote from the talk I mentioned earlier:

"I have observed that in the happiest marriages both the husband and wife consider their relationship to be a pearl beyond price, a treasure of infinite worth. They both leave their fathers and mothers and set out together to build a marriage that will prosper for eternity. They understand that they walk a divinely ordained path. They know that no other relationship of any kind can bring as much joy, generate as much good, or produce as much personal refinement. Watch and learn: the best marriage partners regard their marriages as priceless." 

Those are wise words, and I know they are true. Never take your marriage or spouse for granted. Just as Elder Clayton said in his talk (which might be the most shared quote from conference!), marriage truly is a gift from God. Treat it like one.

(via)

Awkward and Awesome

I don't know who started it, but I've noticed a couple bloggers (here and here) that do an "awkward and awesome" segment on their blogs. I like this idea, so I am going to steal it. ;) Here's what's been awkward and awesome in my life lately.

Awkward:

• My stomach has been a little wonky today. I mentioned it to a few people and each asked me if I was pregnant. (In case you were wondering that yourself, I'm not. :P)
• I cannot eat chocolate without getting some of it on my face. No really, I'm serious! It's embarrassing. 
• I'm at least 2 weeks behind posting my Pin a Week projects. Eh. 
• I almost smacked a random guy's behind a couple days ago thinking it was my husband. Crisis avoided (Hallelujah!), but still awkward, at least for me.
• I may or may not have stepped out the door to get the mail today with nothing on but my undies and a t-shirt. Thankfully the cold wind on my bare legs alerted me of my pants discrepancy right away. Crisis #2 avoided. (Hallelujah again!)
• Speaking of cold wind, it snowed today. Nothing stuck, but it just a reminder that I do still live in AZ where the weather doesn't stay the same for long. Hopefully my warm spring weather comes back soon!

Awesome:

• This morning's seminary lesson actually went quite well!
• My little siblings are really fun to talk to on facetime, especially since my baby sister blows me lots of kisses and makes my heart melt into a little puddle of happiness. 
• This quote by Aesop.

(Made by me using Picnik and Phonto)

• Dallin made me some grilled ham & cheese sandwiches for dinner since that is the only thing that sounded good, and I didn't even ask him to. 
• I am slowly but surely getting more familiar with my camera and weaning myself off of automatic mode. Here's some pictures I took of our beautiful lilac bush yesterday. 

Spring flowers make me happy.

• I finally put away all of our clean laundry today! It was getting pretty bad, take my word for it. 
• I spent some time working on my smash book today. It feels good to do something creative. 
• There is Ben & Jerry's pumpkin cheesecake ice cream in my freezer. Walmart has been getting this in stock not and then, and it's APRIL! I'm very happy my pumpkin ice cream addiction doesn't have to be restricted to the fall. P.S. If you haven't tried it yet, you are missing out. Big time.
• I got tickets to see The Piano Guys in June! SO EXCITED!

Well, there you have it. What has been awkward or awesome in your life lately? Tell me about it! :)

Just a quick thought

I can't believe the way things are going in this world we live in. It seems like the evil has escalated so much even in the past year or two. It makes me sick. Yesterday, with the bombing in Boston and the missing girl from Provo (who was found, hallelujah!), I was feeling a little disheartened, but then I came across this scripture yesterday as I was preparing my seminary lesson.

Romans 12:21

Even though there is so much evil, grief, and darkness in the world, I'm thankful for the comfort of the scriptures and the knowledge that good will win. Of that I am sure. 

I'm going to try to remember to do more good in the world. To cheer up the sad, make someone feel glad, and lighten someone's load the best I can.

Top five pet peeves {Friday Five}

Let's be honest. I have more than five pet peeves. ;)
 Here are just 5 of them (in no particular order).

1. Bad drivers.

Although I hate to admit it, I can have a bit of road rage at times, In my defense, I usually do keep my cool, and the extent of my "road rage" is just sticking out my tongue in their general direction or wishing a flock of large birds would pelt their car with some... surprises. 

But... on the inside, this is how I feel. 

2. Bad spelling and grammar

I'm not saying my spelling and grammar is perfect. No siree. I make some pretty stupid mistakes sometimes. It doesn't bother me at all when people misspell a word or two, or make some other error by accident. It happens to the best of us. I also think it's okay to take some creative liberties that sacrifice some grammatical rules, as long as it isn't too hard to read. What does bother me is when people make really simple, obvious mistakes, and then make them all the time. I'm amazed that these people made it past elementary school, and that some of them even became my college professors. 

If you ever want to make my soul die a little, just tell me something like, "I don't know weather I like you're blog, because you write wierd stuff their sometimes and its alot of gross stuff about how much you love you're husband and that definately is way TMI."

Also, I promise to put less mushy stuff, but I can't help it because my husband is pretty fantastic. Sorry. ;)

P.S. don't get me started on people who use the word "literally" incorrectly. Girl, if your heart is "literally breaking" then you should probably do something about it, like... call 911 maybe? ;)




3. Crude language

Few things disgust me as much as this does. One of the (many) reasons I quit my job a few months ago was the unceasing cursing and vulgar subject matter. It was never-ending, no matter how many times I nicely asked my co-workers to please stop talking about that stuff when I was around, or at least give me a heads up so I could plug my ears or go outside. It was miserable. Hearing the horrible things they said left me feeling filthy. Oh, I am so thankful I don't work there anymore. So thankful.

I have wanted to do this so many times.

4. Loud chewing

I am really trying to get over this one because it is a little ridiculous. Unfortunately, it seems like the older I get the more sensitive I am. I'm seriously concerned about what is going to happen when I am pregnant. Hopefully it doesn't get too serious or else I might be eating in seclusion for 9 months. ;)

5. These.








My response?



and



'Nuff said.

What are some of your biggest pet peeves?

P.S. If I we ever get a pet I shall name it Peeve so that I have a literal pet Peeve.

P.P.S. You should watch this. These guys are amazing.


Happy Friday! 

Happy list

I've been having a very difficult week so far. I prefer not to get too personal on my blog since it is public, but I'm dealing with some stressful things that have been testing my patience and ability to stay calm, peaceful, and unafraid.

A couple years ago I started writing little "happy lists" whenever I feel upset, stressed, or frustrated. It helps me to think of all the positive, cheery things in my life and usually it is easier for me to chill out. Here's the one I posted this evening on facebook:

"Happy list of the day: Target, love notes, Burt's Bees lip balm, 

Olive Garden, comfy sweaters, prayer, scriptures, and happy music."

It made me feel a little better. If you were to ask me, "On a scale of 1 to watching Bambi as a child, how stressed are you?" I would probably say I went from a 9 to a 7.5, with 2-3 being average (I'm kind of an anxious person naturally. Also, don't judge me for my former fear of the movie Bambi. :P). 

Although my happy list did help, what really did the trick tonight was reading the Book of Mormon and listening to this conference talk about personal peace. There is great power in the scriptures, my friends. Great power. When I started reading, my heart felt like it had been wrapped in a toasty warm electric blanket and given a bowl of homemade chicken soup. 

There are a lot of things I am thankful to have in my life, but the scriptures and the ability to pray to my Father in Heaven are at the top of that list. What a blessing it is to be able to find peace through scriptures and prayer and the Spirit, no matter what stressful situations we may find ourselves in or what sorrows and challenges we face! So, my dear readers, if you are having a rough day too, just remember that peace can be found, God is aware of you, and everything will be okay in the end. I know that for a fact.