Healing Light

I woke up this morning in the familiar fog of stuffy-headed cold symptoms and reluctantly got out of my blanket-strewn bed. The sun peeked pompously through each nook and cranny of the blinds as if taunting me with the brilliance of another beautiful day. Another day spent inside.

Determinedly, I gulped down a dose of DayQuil and began my daily tasks of laundering, vacuuming, emailing, creating invitations for an upcoming family party (more to come) and cleaning my bedroom; taking breaks every now and then to replenish the supply of tissues in my pocket. "Goodbye," I'd say to my cold as the vacuum sucked up a particularly large amount of dirt,"Time's up. Off you go."
When everything was clean, folded and in its place, I opened my bedroom blinds. The glorious afternoon sunlight poured generously through each slat like a cleansing rush of cool ocean waves.

I took in a deep breath of fresh Autumn air as it wafted through the open window and lovingly savored it's crisp aroma, "aaaaaaaaaaahhh..."
I'm feeling better already.
Please enjoy a favorite talk of mine from conference.
Thank you everyone for your sweet well-wishes! You're awesome. x0xo

Cold Weather

...apart from creating this beautiful & colorful season, has a downside...

{cue cartoonish trombone sound effect: mwer mwer mwow}

{picture taken on good ol' PhotoBooth. I left it unflipped because I like it that way}
Lindsay's Cold Prevention Technique(my apologies for being hypocritical):Wash your hands,Drink lots of water,Take Vitamin C,Bundle up,andSleep.
Be Healthy. Be Happy. Love Life.

Delicious Autumn

...My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird

I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns."

~George Eliot~

Ditto, Mr. Eliot.

Ditto.

J&C Family

This is a sneak peek of my dad's brother's beautiful family. You may remember them from this post. I had the opportunity to shoot their family portraits today in the beautiful, overcast, Fall weather! More to come.

P.S. Love the color scheme!

Mother Nature's throwin' a shindig

...and you're invited!

I almost forgot how much I love Autumn.

Everything about this season is spectacular!

The leaves change colors and fall to the ground like confetti in celebration of:

F a l l - B r e a k !

H a l l o w e e n !

M y - B i r t h d a y !

T h a n k s g i v i n g !

P r e - C h r i s t m a s - n e s s !

It's like Mother Nature's Grand Opening of my favorite time of year...

...and I heart it!

*pictures of my n&ns taken several Autumns ago in my front yard

Jaleny Bean

Today,
October 7th 2009,
Is Jalene's birthday!(you may remember her from here or here or here or here)
She is the big 2-2!Jalene and I have been best friends since our junior year of high school and, as you can see above, we have had some awesome times:

• Grocery shopping in prom dresses just for fun
• Dressing up as old people for the Harvest dance
• Buying matching Cookie Monster t-shirts and wearing them to school
• EFY: stepping on snails, performing Jalene's song, eating "delicious" chocolate cake, staying up late talking and dancing...and spiritual education of course
• Chipmunk karaoke hardcore (like an apple core)!!!
• Going to our cute friends' farewells, homecomings, weddings and receptions
• Lots and lots of awesome photo shoots
• Singing duets in choir countless times (and sometimes crying)
• Randomly creating the world's largest collection of inside jokes

The list goes on and on and on and on and on...
Happy Birthday Jaleny Bean!I hope all your birthday wishes come true :)

Dislike & Love - Part II

Today, I Dislike...

the "joys" of being a girl,

my MIA tennis instructor

(again),

making people unhappy,

being the only one on the desk at work.

. . .

Today, I Love...

Minute Maid Grapefruit Juice,

the cold weather that allows me to wear

my new coat and knit beret,

The young man that typed

"SMILE!!!! HAVE A GREAT DAY"

on the two-way screen,

reading through my notes from conference,

the Harvesty excitement of going to a

non-haunted corn maze for the first time,

the guy on campus who looked like Nick Arrojo,

the thought of getting off in 20 minutes.

. . .

Mama said there'll be days like this (love that song, add that to the list), it's just part of life.

Just remember to make sure your "Love List" is always longer than your "Dislike List"

...and everything will be hunky-dory!

What I'm Made Of

=

the unconditional love of our Father in Heaven . . . the knowledge of His perfect plan . . . the infinite sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ . . . the knowledge that He lives . . . the comfort and companionship of The Holy Ghost . . . the inspired journals of ancient prophets . . . the abiding faith of ancestors . . . the eternal covenants of the holy temple . . . the loving guidance of my parents . . . the enduring examples of my family members . . . the tight hugs of my n&ns . . . the kind corrections of my friends . . . the perception of gracious strangers . . . the observation of "secret" acts of service . . . the peace of being understood . . . the closeness of personal prayer . . . the humility of listening . . . the loving patience of faith . . . the excitement of understanding . . . the childlike submission of obedience . . . the joyous sound of laughter . . . the tranquil stillness of nature . . . the growth of trying my hardest . . . the humility of completely failing . . . the resolved courage of trying again . . . the times I've cried in sorrow and been forgiven . . . the moments I catch a glimpse of the bigger picture . . . the fresh beginning and productive end of a good day . . . the overwhelming feeling of gratitude for life . . . and the opportunity twice a year to watch and listen to this

I am full of gratitude for the abundant blessings of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and the opportunity to learn what He desires me to know through His living Prophet and Apostles.

This is my sure foundation, my heart and soul,

It is all of who I am and will ever be.

And I love it with every ounce of my heart!

Zing Zang Zoom!

Yes, that was the theme of this season's Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

It was catchy...for the first minute or so, then I was about ready for them to stop singing,

"DO NOT TRYYYYY...THIS AT HOOOOOME..."

over and over again! *shudder*

Other than the music however, the circus was spectabulous!

In fact, one might even say it's "The Greatest Show On Earth"!

They had the animals out beforehand so the kiddles could seem them up close.

Magnificently Fierce Tigers,

We saw two of them jumping at each other in their cages and growling ferociously through the bars! Those things got some serious teeth...eeesh!

Enormously Awesome Elephants,

and adorable Sadster

Elegant Zebras,

(What? I think they're pretty!)

Witto Mini Ponies,

Brilliant Show Horses

(not dumb ol' donkeys, Brian Regan anyone? Forward to 2:35/7:57)

Talented Dogs,

and other such animals.

But that was not the best part of the circus!

No, I dare say that the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey could never conjure up anything comparable to what I loved most about the circus...

Can you guess what it is?

It's all of these adorable and hilarious children that make my world go 'round.

I affectionately refer to them as

my n&ns

because they melt my heart, not in my hand...something like that :)

Yes, I'm sure this was "not allowed" but we boosted them up so they could climb on the statues of John Stockton and Karl Malone in front of the Energy Solutions Arena.

I love this picture of Whittles holding John's hand

And Jaker hugging Karl's calf!

Love the shoes. The 80's are coming back!

Speaking of shoes :)

Then, it was time for the circus to begin. We collected our tickets from Dad and proceeded into the ESA. The guys at the door saw my massive camera and stopped me (oh no!),

Mr. Ticket-Taking, Dream-Breaking Man: "I'm sorry ma'am, the zoom of your camera is larger than 55mm, we're going to have to ask you to check it in."

Me: (forlorn) "What if I just don't zoom? I won't even take pictures of the circus, I just want to take pictures of my nieces and nephews."

Mr. TTDB Man: "I wish there was some handshake that we could do to guarentee that, but we just can't, I'm sorry."

Me: (in my head, mumbling as I walked to the check-in desk) "Stupid...rules...zoom too big...Mr...check it in...stupid..."

So, reluctantly, I proceeded to check in my camera.

They gave me a little ticket and taped the other half to my camera...

nay, to my child,

and placed it in a cabinet which they locked "safe and sound"...

[ and scene ]

That was super obnoxious!

But I determined to take lots of mental pictures of the kidlets:

"ooo-ing" wide-eyed at the tight rope walkers

and the mind-boggling, disappearing elephant,

"aaah-ing" at the two ladies they shot from canons across the arena

or the courageous "tiger-tamer" with a phony accent,

and laughing adoringly at the hurdle-jumping poodles

or the slipping, tripping, and flipping clowns!

The circus was absolutely magical and brilliantly entertaining,

but as Dad and I discussed in the car on the way there,

"The best part is being together as a family."

I love my n&ns! I love my whole wonderful family with my whole heart!

(Kim & Rogan's clan, Pete & Emily's clan and Heather & Joseph left before this picture was taken sadly.)

(The Paul & Jill clan were at Disneyland...lucky!)

Thank you Dad & Mom,not only for taking us to the circus, which was amazing,but also for having us, raising us, giving us opportunities to get together more oftenand for the greatest opportunity of all
to be together forever!

P.S. In case you were wondering, I got my camera back free of any scratches or nicks. Phew!

How To Milk A Grasshopper

As my first post of the month of Octoberaka the official beginning of Autumnaka nippier weather,I deem it appropriate to post this rare and delightful bit of information to all of you!I hope you enjoy it!
. . .
"How To Milk A Grasshopper"My sister Heather shared this with me, thanks Feathy Lou!
I know what you're thinking..."Milk a what now?!"But I'm not talking about this kind of grasshopper...

Gross guys!

I'm talking about this kind of grasshopper...

Yum!

Trust me guys, this post is about to change your life.

You'll thank me later (you're welcome)!

You will need:

a mug of your favorite hot cocoa,

a package of Keebler's Fudge Shoppe Grasshopper Cookies,

and a soup spoon.

Begin by biting a morsel off the edge of a grasshopper.

Turn it and bite the opposite edge so it looks like this.

This creates your "straw". Submerge one bitten edge beneath the surface of your hot cocoa...

...and your mouth on the other end. Slurp for as long as you like, but be warned, once the cookie begins to melt in your fingers it will fall apart.

Simply pop it in your mouth and let it melt into a

luscious chocolaty puddle

Tip: Once the level of your hot chocolate starts to go down, scoop some up in your spoon and sip from there.

Mmm-hmmm-hmmmm!

Died and gone to mint chocolate heaven

Your turn!Go ahead, milk a grasshopper!You won't regret it!