5.19.11 My Birthday Present

Marc surprised me for my birthday with this beautiful piece of art

It is by one of my favorite LDS artists, J. Kirk Richards.  I first fell in love with Richards' works when I saw his painting The Last Supper at the BYU Bookstore when I was still in school.  I was so impressed that Marc picked it out himself.  Equally impressive is that he carried the huge box from Deseret Book at the University Mall to my parents' house.  He had taken his motorcycle so he didn't have much of a choice.  Thank you Marc Von Young!!!!

I actually spent my birthday in Ontario, Canada (for the third time).  Since we were on vacation, I kept forgetting it was my birthday.  I'll post more photos of the trip soon.

04.28.11 It's a boy!

We had our 20 week ultrasound today.  It was a pretty surreal experience and it is still a little unreal that the baby we saw squirming around on the screen is in my belly.

Here is our little boy looking forward...

And here is his profile...

And his little arm...

And the evidence that he is a boy...

Now it's time to pull out the baby name book.  We've thrown around a few girl names but not really thought of names for a boy.  Fortunately, there is plenty of time to figure it out.

03.01.11 Hooray for March!

It's not so much that I love March, I just despise February.  It hasn't always been this way, but the combination of winter, 12 hour days at work, and usually being sick during February for the past couple of years has made me go into survival mode, counting down the days until its over.

Now that its gone, I can give a sigh of relief...and hopefully days of feeling sick will be over soon.

As for being sick lately, this is why:

So pretty soon, it will be all worth it.  Or not pretty soon, because September 12 seems like forever away!  But at least I have February in the bag!

11.12.10 Addiction

I posted this last month on a blog for work about substance abuse and addiction.  I've been involved with a coalition in Utah County since last May called the Substance Misuse and Abuse Reduction Team (SMART).  In the past six months I have learned so much regarding the science of addiction.

A couple of days after I wrote that post, I was reading a book called The Peacegiver by James L. Ferrell.  I had started reading this book over a year ago, but this time I read the entire thing in a couple of days.  One of the last chapters in the book talks about sin and how when we sin it opens the door for the devil to captivate us with the chains of hell.  The author explains that, "...just as the addict loses control to his physical addictions...sin is an addictive substance...our bodies become wired for it." (pg.156-157).

Sin truly is an addiction.  Just like alcohol, pornography, or even chocolate, it feels so good to give into the temptation to sin.  For myself, I think of the temptation to gossip and how I know I shouldn't speak negatively about someone, but when I finally do, in the moment it feels that I've unloaded a burden.  However, the problem with an addiction is that the long term consequences are always negative.  Yet, before we see or fully understand the consequences, we can become addicted to the gratifying feeling of the initial indulgence.

Addiction cannot be conquered by simply ceasing to take part in the addictive action.  Just as drugs and alcohol can rewire your brain and impede with your thought processes and decision making even when not under the influence, partaking in sin rewires the desires of our heart.  As Ferrell writes, "...we [begin to] lose sight of the Lord and our need for him.  We begin to see the world in ways that excuse our indiscretions.  And then, kind of like an addiction, I suppose, we find it easier to continue in sinful paths." (pg. 161).

Thankfully, there is hope for all of us "addicts".  We are supremely blessed that through Jesus Christ, we not only find the power to cease from sinful acts, we find recovery--a complete change of heart and, in essence, a new person.

10.15.2010 Mail Time

These came today in the mail.  I love getting packages in the mail!  And I love when they contain such things as lovely as this letterpress calendar.  Letterpress is such a beautiful art, and every year I've been meaning to purchase a letterpress calendar on etsy, but at first it takes me while to find one I like, then I decide to think about it for a few days, and then I forget about it.

My friend, Willow Withy, made this one.  I saw the post on her Facebook profile and I had to have it.  I've always loved air mail envelopes, which makes these even better.  I think May is my favorite.  Yes, May being my birthday month makes me a bit of a partial judge, but I think the paper airplane is great.  My dream is that one day I'll learn how to do letterpress myself.  I would love to have "The Family:  A Proclamation to the World" done in letterpress.  With the right design I think it would be beautiful.

So thank you to Willow for making this beautiful calendar.  For those of you who don't know Willow, she is one of the most talented and creative women ever!

Now I just have to decide if I'm going to put it up at home or at work...probably work because my little desk could use some cheering up.  And, of course, I have to wait until January 2011 rolls around.

10.14.10 Lessons learned from a traffic jam

What is it about traffic that makes people go crazy...me in particular?  I was having a great, productive day and a smooth drive home from my meeting in Salt Lake this afternoon.  I was thinking about how much I love autumn and listening to feel good music when I suddenly hit horrible traffic on I-15 around American Fork.  It was stop and go for about 3 miles due to construction.  Twenty minutes later my whole mood had transformed.  Before the traffic I was looking forward to getting back to my office to help a woman prepare her taxes.  After 15 minutes I was cursing her for procrastinating until the last possible minute.  Earlier I was enjoying "The Only Living Boy in New York," and thinking how lucky I was to have a wonderful husband.  Minutes later I was yelling at the woman driving the Cougar in front of me and yelling at my new phone that apparently has a very limited texting dictionary (on a side note--I am usually very strict about never texting on the freeway, but we were literally stopped most of the time).

I was absolutely infuriated by the time I got off the center street exit in Provo.  And then this came into my mind:

"When I come to my evening prayers and try to reckon up the sins of the day, nine times out of ten the most obvious one is  some sin against charity; I have sulked or snapped or sneered or snubbed or stormed.  And the excuse  that immediately springs to my mind is that the provocation was so sudden and unexpected: I was caught off my guard, I had not time to collect myself.  Now that may be an extenuating circumstance as regards those particular  acts: they would obviously be worse if they had been deliberate and premeditated.  On the other hand, surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of a man he is? Surely what pops out before the man has time to put on a disguise is the truth? If there are rats in a cellar you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly.  But the suddenness does not create the rats:  it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way the suddenness of the provocation does not make me an ill-tempered man:  it only shows me what an ill-tempered man I am.  The rats are  always there  in the cellar, but if you go in shouting and noisily they will have taken cover before you switch on the light.”
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity


I have rats in my cellar--lots and lots of rats.  And so I can't blame the traffic, the construction, or that woman in the Cougar who obviously has no idea how to drive.  I only have myself and my rats to blame.  So, as is often the case, it looks like I need to spend more time and effort on developing the godly attributes of patience and charity and less time on things of lesser importance.

And just because I really do love autumn, here's a photo from a couple of years ago.

10.14.10 Look what I found!

Just another reason for me to love IKEA!  I fell in love with Elderflower sodas while on study abroad in London.  I found them again in Ontario...so so good!  And today while at IKEA I randomly found this Elderflower drink concentrate.  Too bad I didn't pick up some soda water on my way home so I could enjoy it tonight.  But tomorrow, this is what will be in my glass all night.