Easter Goods

Time is crunching! Don't forget to join the giveaway if you haven't already, click at the top tab, or go HERE.

I know we still have a few weeks away, but I thought I would share a little early on goods in the Easter world.

 Remember last year when I made my 12 Eggs for the "Easter Story", and stored them in this

 Lovely old oatmeal container? Well this year, I finally decorated it,

 Somewhat, I think it still needs something, but what I did here was add pictures of Christ from old church magazines. Maybe I will still add more to it, we'll see, but at least for now it no longer looks edible!

 Then this year I also ventured into making a new wreath. It is finally getting warm here and it felt right to change my old winter wreath for something that said "happy spring" is here!

 This was a very simple wreath, and I was able to scrounge items from around the house and didn't need to buy anything, which is always a great feeling!

 The "J" for Jacob, is just card stock paper, I just free-handed and cut, but if you are worried about making it not straight or uneven, I am sure you could type and print a more accurate letter, and if you wanted it still to be white, then reverse the letter on your computer, print, and cut out, using the backside of the paper (so it is white not black). Then from my earlier egg project, I had a bunch of leftover eggs, that I simple hot glued, along with little beads, and excess flowers.

 To give you an idea of what it is all supported on (again, sorry for not taking better before and process of pictures, I really should just glue my camera to one hand so that it is always by me and I won't forget to take more pics!!) The circular shape is half of a large poster board, and also free handed the shape that I wanted, if you wanted a more definite round shape you could probably use a large mixing bowel, or a bucket as a guide to trace with.

 Then the leaves are a strand of fun leafy garland (I bought it at a dollar store many years ago, but I am sure you could find one similar there as well) that I staggered and tapped onto the paper, and you can kind of see the tape on the back. I also wrapped the leaves and everything with a little tightening touch of ribbon to help hold it all together.

 The little beads are these fun foam ball things. I am not entirely sure what they are called, even where you can buy them since I was given them a while back by someone who didn't know what to do with them. But not to leave you hanging, I am ALMOST positive you could find them at an sort of craft store, like Porters, or Michael's, and maybe even Joann's. They add a nice touch of fun color and feeling of "spring"!

So I spread their "fun" a little more, but adding them to my white stick vases. and maybe if I feel a little more ambitious I might glue some of them on the sticks to make it look like little buds. We'll see.

Then in my own searches of fun Easter sort of activities, I found these various websites that have great ideas of things you can do with old plastic eggs, or just Easter things in general. It is such a special time of year, I want to make it fun and special for my little family.

So here is some idea sites:
From Craft Interrupted, ideas on what to do with leftover eggs
From Playing House, fun games with Easter eggs
From Fanciful Spaces, Easter egg lights
From Creative Connections for Kids, "Not just for hunting!" Easter egg activities
From Happy Home Fairy, a fun printable about the Real meaning of the Easter bunny

And last but not least, a touch of a great video, about what our Savior did, which I think it is a great thing to remember this time of year, this Easter season.

Thanks again for stopping by, don't forget to join our 100th Venture Giveaway at the top of the page, or go HERE, only a few days left for your chance to win an adorable apron, or free $10 worth of great books!

Sun Up Saturday, Happy Christmas thoughts!

It is that lovely time of the month again (not the girly kind :), and I am just so thrilled to share today. If you haven't noticed from my other posts this month I just love this time of year, the music, the hot cocoa, the decorations, the presents (giving and receiving!), and most importantly, another extra special way to remember our Savior. I know we should try to focus our lives around Him all year long, but in the busy hussel bussel of life and daily things, it can be easy to forget the important simple things, at least that's how it is for me. I love the simple gentle reminder this time of year gives me, of what a great blessing we all have, to have Christ in our lives, to remember His goodness.

I know December isn't really when he was born, and the fact that we celebrate Christ's birth this time of year may seem a little off in some ways, but I love that is right before the new year. By the time Thanksgiving comes around, sometimes I feel like the year has drudged on, with so many busy things going on, it all adds up, becomes exhausting, and then Christmas comes. It brings peaceful joys and happy spirits. It brings the love of Christ back into my life, in a powerful, rekindled light, ready to take on a new year and hopefully try to keep his light bright again.

I don't know what you are like, or what your life is like. But for me it is SO extremely easy to forget what is most important. It is so easy to forget my many blessing. To forget my value and worth as a human being, as a child of God. What a powerful blessing, to be a child of God, offspring of the Divine Creator. We may hear the phrase a lot, but do we really hear it? Do we really FEEL it? I know I have a hard time letting it sink in. Many times I joke with my husband that I think I have some loose wires, or disconnection between my heart and my head, because I "Know" lots of things in my head, but it is very hard for me to make a connection down to my heart and really "feel" to really Know in my heart. The confusion, heartache, loneliness, frustration, insecurity, it can all build up so fast. Why? Because I being selfish, I worry too much about myself I am forgetting what is most important. After a year of building up in these different sort of ways I love the grand entrance Christmas time brings, reminding me how wonderful it is to think more about Christ, to find more ways to serve and be like him, and try to be closer to me family.

Christmas time has such a reviving affect on me, an almost born again sort of feeling, in wanting to start fresh, and be re-committed to living a more Christ-like life. It opens my eyes to see if there is more ways I can help others instead of allowing myself to stay enclosed within this little stay-at-home, mommy bubble I have.

I love these new little clips they have put out:

What a great time to reflect on the amazing events that occurred those many years ago. Heavenly Father's hand is in our lives and it is such a wonderful blessing. Even though it can be hard to remember at times, I do know that He is real, and He is our Father. He gave us the best gift any of us could ever dream of, His Son, to come lead by example of the most beautiful life, and then take upon Him our sins, weaknesses, trials, so that we can become whole again. Then ultimately dying and Resurrected so that we can too some day. Death is not the end because of our precious Brother. This wonderful gift is all the more tender and beautiful to think about for me. This time of year was the last cherished moments I got to have with my Mommy. Come this January it will be 7 years since she moved on from this earth life experience. Because of this beautiful gift, of our Savior and His ressurection, knowing that someday I can be with her again, see her, hug her, and chat up a storm, makes this time of year all the more joyous. Even more I love and adore my own little family now, I can't imagine life without them, and because of what our Savior has done, none of us have to ever be permanently without the ones we love.

I don't know about you, but I just love this time of year and how it makes me feel, how it makes me reflect, how it makes me be. I love my Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. I am forever grateful for Him, that He was born, to valiant parents. That He lived. That He led the way. That He made all the best things in life possible. There really isn't a better gift, than Him. Let's share Him, by being like Him. I definitely could use some room for improvement. What a great way to give a gift in return to Him for this wonderful Christmas, than by sharing His endless love and by being our best selves.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas season this year. I hope it blesses and touches your heart, with all those nice warm fuzzies, and desires to be better. Thanks again for being the wonderful faithful readers that you are, I appreciate all the support, you are wonderful, yes YOU!

Merry Christmas friends!

Sun UP Saturday!

It is that lovely time of the month that I get to indulge you with my lovely deeper sort of thoughts on this lovely Saturday, and if you are living in a place like here in Rexburg, a little bit of "sunny" reading would be nice amongst the gloomy atmosphere outside.

Okay, besides all that, let's get to the topic.

If you haven't been aware or noticed, this lovely month of November is officially Pancreatic Cancer Awareness month. As much as I'd like to be a more observant well rounded sort of person and give better notice to these awareness sort of things, I am just not so good at it all (but I am trying! :). But this particular month's awareness, and this particular cancer will always stick out to me. If you know me well enough, or have read my blog long enough, it would be obvious why, but for those of you who it doesn't ring an immediate bell, keep reading on.

I know that God has a plan for all of us. I know that if we live the best we can in trying to be the kind of good person God hopes us to be we have the blessing of being on earth as long as we are meant to be, that we will not be taken from this life before our time is done. With this idea in mind, I think we also need a healthy balance in taking care of our bodies while we are here, including spiritually, mentally, physically, and emotionally. I think when we give our best efforts as much as our personal situations will allow, we give our bodies that much more of our best shot at living out the lives God intends us to give.

But then at times in life, despite our best efforts we still loose ones that we love, and they go home to greet our all loving God. It is then His end of the deal kicks in, if it is their time, it is their time. Come this January 8th, seven years ago it was that time for my lovely Momma to go home. It is hard not to think about it all, over and over in my head, wondering if there was more that could have been done to keep her here longer, but at the same time I know that this was how God planned it out to be for her, and for my family.

 She is the best Momma I could ever have. There isn't a day that goes by I don't miss her, or think about her. That I don't wish I could call her, or wish that she could come see my baby girl and hold and play with her and give her all those lovely grandma lovins I know she'd give. But as much as the longing hurts, I know this is how things were supposed to be.

Purple is the color for Pancreatic Awareness. I like to wear in reverance and respect for my Momma, but also hope for those out there that are still fighting the good fight. As much as I know that there wasn't much else that could be done to save my Momma, I know that there is ways that others could be helped. We've been blessed with great technology and there are great advances for a reason. I think some cures our found for certain diseases at different times for different reasons. Maybe there wasn't supposed to be a cure for pancreatic cancer when my own Momma died from it, cuz that was just how she was supposed to go. But finding a cure for others could be the blessing that someone other victim needs in their life, that will give them that much more time on earth that they are supposed to live. Right now Pancreatic cancer is in very low rates of survivals, maybe my numbers are a little off, but I think it is around the 3% survival rate. That's not a very promising number, but with more dedicated work in research and a boost in funding and awareness I know those numbers can change and for the better. Maybe there are people that will get this cancer, but are meant to learn from it, grow from it, and eventually be a survivor of it. I would have loved it if my own Mother could have survived it too, but that wasn't the case, it just wasnt her time.

So where am I getting with all this? My mom didn't survive it, but maybe others can. And maybe we can help others survive too. Whether we reach out and help others in simple helpful ways, or maybe we can denote to help add to the research for that much more of a hope for other future survivors. PAN CAN is a Pancreatic Cancer Awarness group that helps raise money, or goes to congressmen to help get more fundings for the research. It could be that much of difference in helping those we love be on earth with us that much longer, if that is what God intends for them. We never can fully know the hand of cards that God will lend us for this life, but it doesn't hurt to try and make the most of it all, to bless others through it all. 

On a similar giving note. If you can't donate your time or maybe even some money, you could help donate some of yourself. If you are in the area of Rexburg, there is a great opportunity come Dec 1, where you can sign up to be a registered donor for bone marrow. And even if you aren't in the area, you can still order a kit and sign up that way. Here is the facebook link for it if you are interested Bone Marrow Donation Event.

We are in such a unique day and age where we can give and help others in such wonderful ways that could have never been possible just a 100 years ago, or even 50 years ago. I know we can't stop God's work, or God's ways that are already established, but that doesn't mean we can't still try to help serve and help others, and who knows, maybe us serving and helping others is His way, His plan for things to roll forward the way they need to. So let's leave our mark, whether we donate to help others, or just be that blessing that someone needs by our simple acts and kind deeds. Our opportunties are endless, so lets make a difference. If I could be that blessing to allow someone to have their Momma, I would do it, there's nothing like not having your Momma.

I hope you have a wonderful rest of your Saturday and rest of your lovely Novemeber. Thanks for stopping by.

How's my driving?

http://public.drivercheck.net:8080/CorpSites/dc/index.jsp

Have you ever come behind a car that had that sticker: "How's My Driving?" along with some kind of ID and  a phone number to call to actually report their driving? I have always wanted to call in whether they were good or bad, just to call for fun. Sometimes I think every car should have one of those stickers, especially when they do something stupid and drive you nuts, then maybe calling the number could give you some kind of venting and release for all those stupid drivers out there. Well this is how I usually think when I am on the road. Some of my absolute biggest pet peeves with people come when I am on the road, especially since we live in a college town, there are just some plain old STUPID drivers who think they own the road, same for pedestrians, sometimes they are just as bad as the drivers.

For this lovely Sun-Up Saturday I wanted to share a few little thoughts on this similar topic and a different perspective I got from a little experience the other day.

I was visiting this older lady from my church and she asked if I could come later that week to help her pull some weeds. She was having friends over for a little lunch picnic in her beautiful yard and she wanted it to look perfect. So the few days later came and I went to her house to help pick the weeds. As I was approaching her house I stopped before turning into her driveway because I needed to cross over the right hand side of the road and there was a car coming, so I stopped to wait for them to pass and then I would turn. Since it was a more residental street there was no middle turning lane.

Then to my great surprise I hear behind me a loud honking, over and over. "Rude!" I think. After the car from the opposite side passes, I quickly turn into the driveway to get out of "Jerk's" way. As I turned I looked to see the face of this impatient driver and he gave me the evil look like "Hello? What is your problem? Learn how to drive!" and even did the hand movements thrown up in the air in a "what the heck" sort of fashion. Rrrr! Have a mentioned that my biggest pet peeves come from driving?

As I was looking to see the drivers face, I also immediately recognized the mans face as one of the leaders from my church, and later on when I drove home I noticed his car was parked at the church, so as he honked at me, he was on his way to the church to do some meetings or the like. My immediate feelings of "jerk" and annoyance toward the driver that I always feel, turned to feelings of awkwardness and almost shame. Feeling almost like I disappointed this leader because I was in his way even though I didn't do anything wrong. And I hate the feeling like I am disappointing some one (I have a nasty case of being a people pleaser).

Even though this was only a few seconds of my life and wasn't really a big deal, and no one got hurt, I can't let this situation get off my mind. It has really got me thinking. In my thinkings of it to death, I have thought of myself in his shoes and the many times I give evil glares at other drivers or do the "what the heck" hands thrown in the air movements. Did this man know that I was on my way to helping another fellow church member? Did he know that I was also one of his fellow church members? Would he have made those same rude gestures and looks at me if he had known these things? He was also on his way to do some church related assignments at the church, did this little moment make him feel less spiritual, less in tune with the spirit to be doing God's work? There are so many countless times that I forget that there are individual people in those cars I am around. But if I don't personally know those other drivers it is so much easier for me to get angry at them for getting in my way and making stupid mistakes. If I were to personally know a driver in a car near me that did something I didn't like it wouldn't bother me, simply because I know that person, or I would think, "oh they are just so silly" and then put it aside. Do you ever get like that? That some how magically having a better connection with someone keeps you from totally blowing up at them.

I have been listening to the book "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephan R. Covey. In it he shares a story that really relates to this idea. I believe he was on a bus or train and it was all quiet, all the passengers were quietly and peacefully enjoying their ride. Then a man and 5 children came on and the children were going crazy making all sorts of havoc and noise while the man was very calm and down looking and didn't do or say anything to calm his children down. Covey started to get a little annoyed at these children and that they were disrupting the peace they once felt on the bus. So he spoke up to the man and said, "Um, it was nice and quiet in here, and now your children are all crazy, is there something you can do to calm them down?" The man breaks out of a stare he had in zoning out and looks up and says "Oh, I am sorry, I didn't mean to bring all this chaos, we just got back from the hospital and their mother passed away, and I still don't know how to take it all in, I guess they don't know how to handle it either. So sorry sir to bring some disturbance." Covey's imediate feelings of frustration towards this family immediately changed to compassion and sorrow for them. He called this our paradime, a change in our perspective.

Ever since listening to this story and having my own experience I have been trying really hard to look at people differently. People are like these little cars so to speak, and inside there are souls with problems, heartache, feelings; individuals just trying to figure things out and make it through life just like me. I don't know what those other people around me are going through, or why they do what they do, but they all could use a little more love, a little more respect and a lot less of my evil glares and frustrated smuggy ways.

Sometimes I wonder how Christ could be so loving to all, no matter who they are. I have been burned by several different sort of "jerks" out there and I don't see how He could love someone that was SO rude to me. But with this new paradime, this new perspective, I can see that He loves them, because He KNOWs them. When I look at people sometimes all I see is entitled, self-centered, jerks; but when He looks at them, he sees what they are struggling with, He sees a person longing to feel loved, to feel important, to feel value, He sees someone that is doing everything they can to make it through in this life.

It all makes sense why one of Satan's tactics is to make us less personallable with people and more self obsorbed. The less we do to get to know others and understand their situations the more willing we are to judge them, to get frustrated and maybe even resent them. But the harder we work at trying to understand where they are coming from, what they are struggling with and see the beautiful value they have as a person, then the more peace we can also feel because we will be less likely to habor mean feelings at them.

So the next time I am on the road and I come accross a driver that does something that annoys me or even in regular life and I am in contact with people, I am gonna try a little harder to think about where they are coming from, to think about them more as an individual, a child of God, just like me. Will you?


Thanks again for stopping by and reading my rabbling thoughts. Come join me again next week for another Fall Feature where I will share some fun decorative blocks I put together.

Until next time. . .

Pushing Down Walls

Welcome to the Hood! The Parent hood. This lovely Sun-Up Saturday I wanted to share some of my random yet somewhat deeper thinkings on this lovely phase of life that most of us if not all of us will embark into.

Now, more officially being a parent (for almost a whole whoppin 8 months now!!) and have entered this "hood" it all has had me thinking in a whole new light, mostly because I am with this lovely little girl for pretty close to 24-7 and there has been so much I have been able to learn from her. For today's little sharing I wanted to write a little on one area in particular that has me thinking all the time. To begin, I will share a little story about my girl.

My little girl, my little steam roller, is in the rolling phase now (thus the steam roller term). She isn't quit crawling yet, so her main mot of transportation is rolling, all over the place! It is fun to watch her figure things out and how she gets her way around, yet she still runs into road blocks that she hasn't quit got over yet. One area in particular that keeps her in a rut are walls and couches. She can roll and roll but once she hits a wall or the couch she gets totally stumped. Sometimes it will click for her to just start rolling back the opposite way, but other times she is just so stubborn. She will turn and smash up against that wall forever, and no matter how hard she persists that wall doesn't move out of her way and she just gets mad and upset, yet she will still persist. I don't understand what makes the difference in her realizing that she can just go the other way sometimes yet other times she still persists into the wall, but she does it and she does over and over.

Being a parent now I think a lot more about God and what he thinks of us, his little kiddos. Especially situations like I shared above. I am way far away from being all knowing like Him, but I know a lot and understand a lot more than my little girl does at this stage in her life. Like the story I shared above, I know that if she would just turn the other way she could find her toys and play and be happy again, or if she would push a little harder with her arms and legs she could go forward in a crawling motion and have even more access to things she wants. But even though this sets so logically with me, I think I do the same thing as my little girl but in bigger scales when it comes to persisting into walls. I am pretty sure there are things that I do that are like rolling into a wall, over and over again expecting that firm set standard or rule to change for me instead of me changing my stubborn ways. It reminds me of the scripture in Isaiah that reads:

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." -Isaiah 55:8-9

God is a really smart cookie, if not the smartest cookie and He KNOWS what he is doing when he makes certain commandments or will establish certain things, yet there are times we still push against it, thinking we can change it. I have seen this more and more in our society today especially as it seems more and more are pulling away from God and everything that He is about. But the crazy truth is that it is only making us unhappy and frustrated when we decide to be like this. I am sure it is hard for God to watch us be like this, but in the end we really are just hurting ourselves, over and over again as long as we persist.

We can make the choice to stop going against it and go another way and "find our toys" or do what we are supposed to and we can be happy again. Do you ever let your stubbornness get in the way of your happiness? I do all the time!

Overall it reminds me of another scripture in Proverbs that reads:

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." - Proverbs 3:5-6

Even though it seems like we can push down that wall or that couch, or that we want our way and want to get passed it, God knows better, he knows what is best. If we trust Him, he can help us figure it out, he can help us find those best "toys" to play way, those best paths to take that will be the best for us and our individual needs and circumstances. He loves us so much and wants the best for us, but we have to do it in his terms just like our little ones have to do things in our terms. That's just how things are and the easier and quicker we let ourselves understand this, the happy we can be with our lives. But that's the key is letting ourselves trust God, every day, one day at a time and be willing to turn the other way even if we feel stubborn and don't want to.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoying my random parenting/life thoughts. Hope you have a lovely Saturday!

Until next time. . . .

Mirror Frosting

In today's "We-flecting Wednesday" I thought I would share a little treat that relates to my wonderful Hubby and I (in a fun honoring of our 2 Year Anniversary this weekend). I made him this mirror as a gift back when we were still engaged.

Sorry if it is hard to see the image well, but it is some mountians with a storm on the side and leading to the top of the mountain is an LDS temple

In case you are curious, the inspiration I got for the design for this mirror is from the following little story. It was from a Devotional given at Brigham Young University-Idaho on Janurary 13, 2009 by President Kim B. Clark. In praying and deciding of whether or not I should marry Michael, this talk keep coming to mind and is what ultimately gave me the peace and assurance that I should marry him. So from this inspiration I made the mirror for Michael, and it is a nice reminder in our home that when times are tough, if we look to the right "mirror" things will always work out. Ok, so now to the part of the talk that I am refering to, so you won't be as confused to what I am talking about. The part of the talk that stuck out to me is this: (if you want to read the rest fo the talk, you can read it HERE)

"We may experience a thousand different things that rob our minds of peace. At their root, however, is a gap between what we want our lives to be and what we are afraid is going to happen. Consider, for example, the parable of the two mirrors:

 

The King of the land sent one of his sons and one of his daughters off on an important journey to establish peace in the land.

 

 

The brother and sister set off and followed the King's directions carefully. Then, unexpectedly, there arose a great storm. The wind blew, the rain was heavy, and swirling debris obscured the path. The son and daughter took refuge in a small hut. In the hut were two mirrors beckoning for their attention and focus. Each mirror showed them a vision of the future with them in the picture.

 

The first mirror was full of darkness and swirling fog. The son and daughter saw themselves in despair, lost, hungry and cold, unable to complete the journey. The mirror seemed to whisper, "Turn back; it's hopeless; give up."

 

 

The second mirror was bright and clear. They could see the storm, but they saw themselves making their way through it, completing their journey and establishing peace.

 

 

The second mirror seemed to whisper, "Carry on; walk in the light; the way is sure; you can do it." They chose the second mirror, left the hut with confidence, fought their way through the storm, and completed their journey.

 

You and I are often like the son and daughter. We keep the commandments and make progress in our journey of peace. But we encounter storms of life that bring uncertainty, anxiety, and stress.

 

  

When the storms come, the same two mirrors beckon for our attention. The first mirror is the mirror of fear; its perspective is the fallen world. When we look into the mirror of fear, we see a future that is dark and unhappy, full of failure, self-doubt, and even despair. The mirror of fear is the mirror of the adversary who whispers, "Things are going to be bad. It's not going to work. It's all your fault. You're not going to make it. Give up."

 

 

The second mirror is the mirror of hope and faith. It is the mirror of Christ; its perspective is eternal. In that mirror we see ourselves as beloved, valiant spirit children of Heavenly Father, here on earth to gain the experiences of mortality and to learn to be obedient and faithful. The Spirit whispers that the Savior, who has all power over all things, loves us and will help us through anything that happens. If we look into the mirror of Christ, trust in Him and in His timing, we will face our storms with hope and stop the cascade of fear.

 

This is what the Savior meant when He said,

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.^16"

So there is the little story behind the mirror I made. I love this story, it is such a great reminder how important it is to have a good perspective with everything we experience in life.

Then if you are curious to how I made the mirror it's your lucky day, becasue I will tell you. I smiply bought the mirror I wanted to use. Then I put contact paper over the entire mirror. Then I traced out the design I wanted to be etched on and then using an exacto knife I cut the contact paper but left the opposite of my design on the mirror.

Then I used this lovely stuff. I used a paint brush and put it on over the mirror on the areas that were exposed still. I let it set for I think 3 mins (but is says on the instructions how long), and then washed it off giving the mirror the lovely look that it has. The longest part was etching the design into the contact paper. Oh and beware if you try this at home, this frosting mirror stuff stinks really bad- like a really bad case of rotton eggs, just a little warning.

So there you have it, this lovely Wednesday. I hope you have a wonderful rest of the day and don't forget to join the giveaway (I will be giving away 15 alligator clips), it will end tomorrow at Midnight and I will announce the winner for my "fun find" on Friday!

You can enter the giveaway HERE.

Thanks! And Until next time!. . . .

Bravery

What does it mean to be brave? When I think about my life and things I have experienced and my many feelings of insecurities I feel like I don't have a brave bone in my body. Even though I have done things that would be classified as brave, like having a baby for example, I personally still don't feel brave (maybe this one I don't feel brave in part because I knew I couldn't do it on my own, I chickened out and got an epidural because I simply couldn't handle it anymore).

In the dictionary, it defines brave as: 

1.possessing or exhibiting courage or courageous endurance.

2. making a fine appearance.

3. Archaic . excellent; fine; admirable.

When I think of these I have a hard time seeing myself fit into any of these categories. Maybe I am trying to compare myself too much to others who far better match these then I do, so in turn I make myself feel like I don't even come close to being brave. When I initially think of bravery I think of the extreme senses like dying for someone or maybe fighting a war, so anything in a lesser sense (mostly thinking of myself) I don't feel like I come even close to being brave because when I think of dying or fighting for someone I am far from bravery (mostly because I don't think I could do it).

Before I carry on anymore, the initial thing that got my mind turning and thinking so much about this all lately is primarily my little brother and my sister. First, because my little brother- as of this coming Monday he will have officially been at boot camp for the Marines for two weeks now and has several more weeks to go. I have always admired this little brother of mine, but now I am in awe (and in so many more ways scared for him), I know that I could never handle something like boot camp, especially since I would know it is only the beginning of possibly being sent out to fight somewhere sometime down the road. I think my brother is very brave and I admire his courage, his willingness. Second, in thinking of my sister, her husband has been in the Army program through college, and now that he is graduated, their busy, moving lots of times, possibly being sent out soon sort of lifestyle has begun. It's one thing to personally serve your country, but I think it is another whole ball game to be the wife (or spouse) of someone who is serving your country. I really admire her and husband, I really think of them as being brave and I don't think I could ever measure up to those great levels.

So back to my train of thoughts, what does it really mean to be brave? These two wonderful examples definitely stick out to me as being brave, but does it only count if it goes to these higher extreme levels? I feel like I live a plain mediocre life, home all day while my hubby works hard out of the home, watching after my little girl- I am lucky if I can get myself out of my PJ's for the day, let alone out of the house. I save a lot of my out and about errands for my hubby's days off so that I don't have to do a lot of those sort of things alone. My days mostly consist of babbling crazy noises, singing songs and nursery rhymes, lots of clapping and making goofy faces, and then the occasional household menial chores like laundry, dishes, cleaning, cooking, etc. I think of this and then think of my brother and I feel far from brave, his levels far exceeds mine.

But I think this is where my main problem lies, I have an increasing problem of trying to compare myself to others. I am lacking in the courage to believe in myself, to believe that I have greatness, even if I live in simpleness. For as long as I can remember I have felt very insecure about myself and struggle on a daily basis to feel and know my self worth and sense of goodness within. I know in my mind that I have a great worth, but to make it feel real in my heart is a daily struggle I fight. Maybe this daily struggle, this battle within makes me brave, as long as I don't let the negative side win. I may not be brave enough to want to put myself out there to die for our country and live protecting it, but that doesn't mean I can't have a sense of bravery inside.

I heard this brilliant quote from a movie the other day, I think I need to print it out and put in my fridge so I can have the constant reminder of its powerful truth, it reads:

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same." -Marianne Williamson

Isn't that great? Satan, the devil, the adversary- whatever you'd like to call him is very real and has very distinct and personal plans to run us over and makes us feel weak, make us feel like crap in all the ways possible. But we are so much better than this, we just have to believe it, we just have to live it- this alone takes much bravery; "we were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us!" And when we allow this to happen, when we let our light shine we are taking brave steps all the time. Each brave step we take towards shinning we can become that much stronger, that much more capable of buzzing Satan off and being the great individuals God intends us to be.

We are all on different levels, for some it might be brave to just get out of bed, taking that courage to not let the body overcome and make a waste for the day. For others bravery could be that heroic trip towards to hospital to deliver their baby. Could be passing that test, passing that class, getting that degree. Could be enduring one more cancer treatment, one more lonely night. Could be taking their first step, singing a song, writing a book, or fighting in a war. We may not be like the person next to us, but that doesn't mean we don't have greatness, that we don't have bravery.

I guess what I am trying to get at this lovely Sun up Saturday is lets not give in. Let us be brave. No matter what level of bravery your life asks for, no matter what your life circumstances are you can be strong, we can be strong, we can share our greatness, we can shine our lights, even if it is only seen by our children, even if no one is watching, even if we live a simple life.

I will work on my battle within, how about you? I will be brave, I will be strong, how about you?

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a brave happy Saturday!

Until next time.. . .

Sun-Up Saturday!

I love how fitting it is that this lovely Saturday the sun is actually out and up and so warm and toasty, it makes it that much easier to be happier and appreciate the day before us.

This is my first "Sun-Up Saturday", if you check out my schedule HERE, or on one of the top tabs of this page titled "Venture Schedule," it gives a little more detail about what this is about. But for those that don't want to check it, I will just give you a short brief on it. Life is a venture all in itself, so I thought it would be fun to at least once a month take a step out of the crafty world and share some thoughts on life and my attempts to make it a little more sunny.
In the scriptures it talks all the time about if you want to find your life you need to loose your life. I think about this idea on occasion and it is interesting how it can be taken on so many different levels and have so many different affects. Well to get to the point, I have been thinking about this idea a little more in depth lately in thinking of a friend of mine.

For her sake (since it is a very personal matter to her), I will call her Kim, even though that's not really her name. She has been a good friend for the past years in my new life in Idaho. We roomed together, went to church together, lost a little out of touch when she got married, but not too much because we actually majored in the same degree, so we had classes together. Then we really started to hang out more towards the end of my pregnancy and on since she has a little girl as well (funny how having kids helps you befriend others with kids). There has always been something neat about her, and I have always admired different things with her parenting and her way of life and it has always been a treat to get to know her better.

We would meet once a week to let our babies play together (well, my girl isn't exactly sociable yet, it was more so we could actually have adult conversations while I husbands were forever gone and busy all day long). Even though we would talk about various things in our personal lives, there was still a level on unshared things. One week we wouldn't be able to meet because she needed to go to AZ for family matters. Being noisy that I am I was super curious about her trip, especially since I am from AZ. Being the private polite girl that she is, she didn't want to divulge into it too much, but I finally got out of her that she was going there to be evaluated if she would be a candidate to donate part of her liver to her sister in law. This sister has some kind of rare liver disease that if she doesn't get a transplant she will most likely get liver cancer and die with in the next few years. She has checked with all her family members and non were a match to donate to her and it all came down to my friend Kim. She came back from AZ and everything came in the clear- she would be a perfect match to donate. A few months later have passed and she just went down to AZ again to officially go through the process of donating- they completed the surgery last week and she is still recovering before making the long trip back up.

When I think of losing your life to find it, I would always think of "be nice," "share, even if you don't want to," you know, all the simple easy, cheesy answers. But more recently thinking about my friend and all that she went through, all the risks, and everything involved, not to mention she has a little toddler girl now that will be interesting to try and keep up with her with this recovering. I know transplant surgeries have been around for a while- so it probably isn't that risky and they will probably both be fine in the end. But I can't help but think what I would do if I was in that situation. If there was no one left, would I be willing, REALLY willing to donate part of my body to save some one's life? Hospitals and the whole setting of them all somewhat frighten me, intimidate me, especially surgery type settings, putting under type situations. The only time I have ever been a patient in the hospital was to have my little girl just a few months ago- and before her and all the doctor appointments I had associated with being pregnant I had never even gone to the doctor. For those reasons alone it would be a big scary jump for me to want to volunteer for such a task. Would I be willing to help someone out like this? Would I REALLY?

I am amazed out how willing my friend has been about this. She has been willing without question, without hesitation. Could I, will I ever be that willing to help others out!? Watching my friend through this whole process has made me think a little more differently of what it means to lose your life. I know most of us will probably not have the opportunity to donate part of  our body for someone else- but that doesn't mean we can't donate ourselves with the same willingness, with the same conviction to help others, especially for those in need; especially for those that just might need you and only you to help them feel better. You could very well be that perfect match to save them that day, only you could have helped and no one else.

On similar notes, at my primary presidency meeting (where I help in my church) this week, one of the sisters gave a spiritual thought on Ester from the Bible. She talked about how Ester could have very well been placed in her situation so she could be the one to save the Jews, but if she failed God would still deliver them somehow, because no one can frustrate the works of God. We are placed in situations in our lives to do something, be someone, help someone. We have that honor and privilege to help and prove ourselves and further God's work- but if we decide to not fulfill our part God will find another way. Am I doing everything God wants me to do? Am I being the instrument in His hands that he needs me to be, or am I chickening out that He has to get his back-up to fill my place? Am I being the blessing in others lives that He needs me to be? Am I giving up my life to God, losing it to Him that I can find it in the end?

I am certainly far from perfect, in every possible sense of the word I am VERY far from it, but I certainly can't help but think I could defiantly be doing better, I could be "losing" my life more, if you catch my drift. So I guess what I am trying to get at this "Sun-Up Saturday"- is what are you doing to help others? Is there room for improvement, to help others better? I know I have lots of room for improvement, and I know helping others will make us all feel a little more happy- a little more "sunny"!

I hope you let yourself be more aware of others and try and help them out more- I will try to be better too!

Thanks for reading this "Sun-up Saturday!" And on similar notes for this little discussion, one way to you could start your day in helping someone is actually by helping the girl I mentioned earlier. If you go HERE, you can actually read a little more about this girl that received the transplant and if you have the means you can donate to her and help her out with all the medical bills she'll be having. It wouldn't have to much, but I am sure any little amount would help- and who knows, maybe this is a way we can all help out and reach to others, being an instrument in God's hands to help someone in need.

Anyway, hope you have a "Sunny" Saturday, filled with love and service!

Until next time!....