My Little Brother

My brother is turning 13 next week. I just read this poem, which he wrote about what it's like being a Mormon. I'm proud of him for being way braver than I ever was when I was his age. Happy Birthday, Brigham!

I made crafty stuff again.

Happy Valentines Day!

So, I'm not one of those craft bloggers, but...

My roommate and I made this awesome thing for Relief Society to help remind us all to do our visiting teaching.

First we made the cute little magnet sheepies:



We made lots of them. One for each girl that needs to get visited each month.



Then we decorated the magnetic dry erase board so one half looks like the desert, and the other half is the grassy pasture where we want all the sheep to end up each month. Observe:



Cute, huh? I adapted this idea from something Maggie did one time when she was in charge of visiting teaching in our old ward. I won't tell you how long Esperanza and I worked on this today, because then it doesn't seem quite as cool. It was a fun project though, and hopefully it will be useful.

I made something delicious and I want everyone to know about it.

So, I had some fresh rosemary and garlic around, and some already-cooked pasta left over and some cooked potatoes and carrots and onions that were also left over from something I had made. I threw it all in a pot of water, with some chicken bouillon, and then cracked an egg in it (I love eggs in soup) and VOILA! A delicious soup. Then I made a grilled cheese (with pepper jack cheese--the best) and my standard banana smoothie (a banana and milk in the blender, then some cinnamon sprinkled on top.) The soup smelled amazing, and I was very pleased with my thrown together, yet delicious meal. It took like, 10 minutes to make. Everyone rejoice!

Christmas 2010

War Eagle!

Scripture Reading Blog

Happy New Year everyone! I have a goal to improve the quality and consistency of my scripture study this year. To help myself do this, I have created a blog where I will post one short thought on my scripture reading each day this year. You can check it out here. Here's to a fabulous 2011!

Sister Gotze

I had the chance to go to a viewing for Filomena Gotze, who passed away last week from a stroke. She and her husband had flown to Utah from Aruba to celebrate their daughter's college graduation and visit with some of her other kids and grandkids.

As I watched the picture slideshow, what really got my attention was her eyes--they just shine in every picture. She looks so tranquil and happy with her grandkids, her kids, her husband, her church friends.

There's a different feeling at a funeral where people know about God's plan. There wasn't lots of crying, although my heart ached for her sweet husband of 40+ years. Still, her kids and husband talked about how things had worked out in a way that let them know God was mindful of them. She was able to spend time with kids and grandkids who lived in the U.S. and Spain, and visit Temple Square just before she died. Temple Square was a place she really loved.

Seeing two sisters I loved from my mission pass away recently has reminded me about the person I want to be. I'm grateful for both of their examples. I'm so grateful that families can be together eternally, through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I hope I can live worthy of those blessings.