Bringing the light of the gospel into your home

I wanted to share a talk with you. We read it recently for Family Home Evening and I think everyone deserves the chance to read Jean B. Bingham's (First Counselor in the Primary General Presidency) words.

I Will Bring the Light of the Gospel into My Home

My favourite part was the story of a girl who lived on a hill on one side of a valley.
Each late afternoon she noticed on the hill on the opposite side of the valley a house that had shining, golden windows. Her own home was small and somewhat shabby, and the girl dreamed of living in that beautiful house with windows of gold.
One day the girl was given permission to ride her bike across the valley. She eagerly rode until she reached the house with the golden windows that she had admired for so long. But when she dismounted from her bike, she saw that the house was abandoned and dilapidated, with tall weeds in the yard and windows that were plain and dirty. Sadly, the girl turned her face toward home. To her surprise, she saw a house with shining, golden windows on the hill across the valley and soon realized it was her very own home!

It's very easy to do (especially with pinterest and instagram out there), and I am probably the most guilty of them all, "we look at what others might have or be and feel we are less in comparison".
Yes, we can bring the light of the gospel into our homes, if we look for and share positive things about others and let the less-than-perfect fade away. Instead of judging others and ourselves, count your blessings, encourage people to be their best, and love unconditionally.

Our overarching goal (I guess you could even say New Year's Resolution) this year is just that, to bring the light of the gospel into our homes more.


You can read her full talk here.
 

January Update

As some may know, Bradley is graduating from the University of Lethbridge this May with an undergrad degree in applied statistics with a concentration in psychology and I am so proud of him. He has been busy applying to Grad schools and scholarships as well as keeping up with his current work load. A few of the prospective schools are (in this particular order) University of Manitoba, McMaster University (in Hamilton, Ontario), University of Alberta, and just in case, University of Lethbridge. Where ever we do decide to go, we are planning on being there for the next 4-6 years.

It's no small decision.

I have a feeling our summer is going to be full of academic conferences, leaving little time for much of anything else. But oh, what an exciting time in our lives.

In other news, the Paris temple is being dedicated this May! I would love to go... (see aforementioned summer plans). The temple is located along the bus route I would have to take every Sunday to get to church in Versailles, but while I was there, there was only the foundation to be seen.

I finally get to take a kickboxing class like I've been wanting to for ages! It actually starts this coming Monday, and I'm so excited!

I promise there will be more of these monthly updates, until then...

Let go, let God

Trust in Him

The fall, like always, brings with it the start of a school year (specifically the start of Brad's last year of his undergrad) which is always exciting. As for me, I have decided to take a break from school. I have a good full time job at an optometrists office so I am not teaching piano this year (which is sad, I love teaching...). I tell people it's so I can support Brad and we can save money for when grad school hits us, but it is also because I need a mental break. School is stressful... and your mental health is important.

I don't know when I will continue my education but I do know that I still want to get more education, it's just going to take longer than what I originally planned. More often than not, the plan God has in mind for us doesn't always work with the plan we had intended. I'm not saying to forget your dreams and plans but to let God lead your life to paths and doors you wouldn't have seen otherwise.

Alma 57:27 Now this was the faith of these of whom I have spoken; they are young, and their minds are firm, and they do put their trust in God continually.

D&C 84:116 Let him trust in me and he shall not be confounded;

I know that when I let God lead my life and I have faith in him to know what is best for me, everything turns out better than I could've imagined.

Our adventure

In July, my hubby and I went on an adventure. It was cold, wet and tiring but an adventure nonetheless.

At the beginning of summer I wanted to take a road trip to Oregon to see my bestie, my travel buddy, from France. You may remember reading about the times I had with Alandra or you may not. But we got really close that year in France and I hadn't seen her since we parted ways that tearful day at the airport. 

Unfortunately that road trip wasn't able to become a reality and I was heartbroken. So as I consolation prize, Bradley took me back-country camping in Waterton. 

As soon as we parked the car I swear it started raining. We hopped on our bikes with our packs that probably weighed as much as I do. 

Since we couldn't start until after work at 5:30 we literally were racing the setting sun. 

It was an 8 point something km incline and we DID NOT stay on our bikes the whole time. I think I walked half the time. I am not complaining though, it was an adventure. 

We got to snowshoe cabin with sunlight to spare and a new burst of energy.

This was our 5 star accommodation equipped with a built in clothesline.

We saw some beautiful sites that made me appreciate nature.

And some sites that made me respect nature... (Luckily that is the only part of the bear that we saw)






Bringing the bikes was worth it even if it was just for the ride back. It took us less than an hour to ride downhill to the Red Canyon packing lot. We spent the hot afternoon walking through the icy water in the canyon to cool down. We even had time to go to a temple session after we cleaned up. I often forget how much I like being away from people and disconnecting from the world, so those 2 days were great to realign myself with nature and God.

What's your battle?

As I was reading the Book of Mormon last week I found this verse that got me thinking. 

First, some context:

Zeniff was taking a group from Zarahemla to the land of Lehi-Nephi and the Lamamite King lets them have the land. But it was a trap and King Laman just wanted them as slaves to work the land for them. Wars and contentions began to break out but Zeniff's people armed themselves with bows and arrows, swords and the strength of the Lord. Zeniff asked the Lord to deliver them out of the hands of their enemies and God did hear and answer their prayers. 

Although our battles aren't a war against the Lamanites do we have the strength of the Lord as we fight our daily challenges?

Your battle could be an illness (physical and/or mental), it could be a tough class or an assignment, a financial problem, it could be exercising and keeping healthy, a job (or lack there of), cleaning your house, making dinner, remembering to drink enough water... 

You get the picture. Basically your battle could be anything. And whatever your battle is, the Lord will deliver you if you remember to ask for help and go forth with the strength of the Lord. 

Pixie Cut!

You are probably aware of the big chop I just made to my hair!!  Ever since I got married I wanted to cut off all of my hair but I was too nervous... I kept flip flopping back and forth. Long hair like Rapunzel... or try something new with short hair.

So how short did I go? Pretty darn short... I was able to donate it again. I am sporting a pixie cut now, and I rock it... at least I'm telling myself that until I get over the shock.

I feel like I lost ten pounds though (ha there's a diet plan for you) and I keep expecting my hair to swing when I walk and to blow in my face when I go outside (Thanks again southern Alberta wind...) but it doesn't.

Thanks to pinterest, I was able to find many different kinds of short cuts. My favorite was the longer pixie cut style.

 I also had to keep in mind that I have a heart shape face so we didn't want to make my chin a focal point, but draw the attention to my eyes and smile.

If you are thinking about making a big cut to your locks make sure to:

Do it because you want to. 

Talk to a hairdresser who knows your hair 

Do it for yourself. 

Have confidence (you can rock anything if you just believe).

If you want to, do it. Don't let others decide for you.

No matter what you do, (to quote Taylor Swift) the haters gonna hate hate hate hate hate, and people are going to judge you if you do it AND if you don't. So do whatever will make you the happiest. 

Not Enough Storage? Not a problem!

We recently moved into a basement suit and after house sitting for a senior missionary couple it was quite the down size. But as far as basement suites go, this one is pretty decent. The windows are large (according to Brad that's my selling point), it has three bedrooms and our own washer and dryer! Though the kitchen is was lacking in the storage department and therefore we had no where to store our pots and pans.

We wanted them easily accessible, not too high (so I can reach without a chair) and organized. Ultimately, we decided to install a pegboard and it is the best/cutest thing ever! I love how it's functional and decorative!

The pegboard cost like $6 at home depot, we used scrap wood to space it from the wall (make sure you line them up with the studs on the wall you are putting them... we tried.. but we had to reposition one anyway). I painted the board a light blue colour and we ordered hooks in bulk off amazon. 

 We fiddled around with the order and placement of pots until I was happy. I traced all the pots and their handles so I could paint their shadow later.

I love it! And we will never have to guess where each pot goes we just match it with its shadow!