My favorite condiment

Soo during the winter I simply guzzle hot chocolate. Just love it, I think it is wonderful. I mean, what is not to love about it? It is chocolate and it is a drink! But, I don't just do plain old hot chocolate, oh no! I LOVE coffee creamers. And during the holidays you can get all sorts of fun ones, peppermint, eggnog, pumpkin pie, etc. But my favorite is hazelnut. And I have a secret. You see, I really am not a milk person. I mean, there are certain things you HAVE to have milk with. Brownies, chocolate chip cookies, big sunday dinners, etc. But to just drink a glass of milk?? No way jose. Not me. Not happening. Unless... you mix in some hazelnut coffee creamer!! Suddenly you are drinking hazelnut flavored calcium!! What could be better? The last few days my body has been craving something sweet and calcium. (Not sure why the calcium, but the sweet is typical sometimes.) So, rather than indulging and getting ice cream or chocolate, I pull the milk out and add in the hazelnut creamer. Suddenly that evil looking glass of milk is a yummy hazelnut drink! Perfect. So, those yummy creamers are more than just for hot chocolate, but can be used in milk too! :)

The Divine Investiture of Authority

So yesterday in Institute we were covering the last 3 chapters of 2 Nephi. We started talking about various places in the scriptures when it is actually God the father speaking, and not the Savior. This led us into looking at various scriptures where the Savior is talking FOR the Father, places where the Holy Ghost is speaking for the Savior, and etc. We then discussed about how President Hinckley once said that the Presidency of the church is just one of the presidencies, and how there is a Heavenly presidency. This works in with how the Godhead is one in purpose, but not one in body. Anything that one says stands for all three. We will never receive doctrine or council from the Holy Ghost or the Savior that our Heavenly Father would not give us himself. We also looked at the chain of how important this makes the promptings we receive from the Holy Ghost. If the Holy Ghost can speak for the Savior, or speaks for Heavenly Father, then promptings are like a command from God himself. When we teach by the spirit of the Holy Ghost we are teaching with the power of God. When you really look at it that way, it kind of blows your mind. Promptings from the Holy Ghost are not just mild suggestions, but they are personal revelations to YOU from GOD himself... Makes you think twice about all of the times that you get ideas or promptings or thoughts put in your head and where they are coming from doesn't it?

On a Prayer

So this is perhaps one of my most favorite songs ever. I have a lot of most favorite songs, but I just love the message of this one. It is by Garth Brooks and it is the theme song to the movie Frequency. I don't know how many times I have felt like the first verse of this song. You are just barely making it through life, everything is tossing you about, you feel as if though your very soul is lost and broken and you just don't know what to do or where to go in life. Yet, suddenly you see that lighthouse that is always there just shining without fail, waiting for you to go towards it. The Savior is always there with his hand outstretched waiting for us to grasp onto it. There are times where you feel like you don't have the energy of even the desire to grab on and all you can do is weakly reach your own hand out and let your Savior make up the difference. No matter where you are He is always there, constantly believing in you, even when no one else does. There is nothing that we can do to change His ultimate love for us. So often it is difficult to believe that anyone has so much love for little ol' you, but it's true. Just keep on holding on and fighting. Sometimes all you can do is fight for yourself.

There's a ship out
On the ocean
At the mercy of the sea
It's been tossed about lost and broken
Wandering aimlessly
And God, somehow you know that ship is me
There's a lighthouse in a harbor shining faithfully
Pouring its light out across the water
For this sinking soul to see
That someone out there still believes in me

Chorus:

On a prayer
In a song
I hear your voice and it keeps me hanging on
Ahhh, raining down against the wind
I'm reaching out 'til we reach the circle's end
When you come back to me again

There's a moment
we all come to
in our own time and our own space
Where all that we've done
we can undo
if our heart's in the right place

On a prayer
In a song
I hear your voice and it keeps me hanging on
Ahhh, raining down against the wind
I'm reaching out til' we reach the circle's end
When you come back to me again

And again I see my yesterdays in front of me
Unfolding like a mystery
You're changing all that is and used to be

On a prayer
In a song
I hear your voice and it keeps me hanging on
Ahhh, raining down against the wind
I'm reaching out til' we reach the circle's end
When you come back to me again
(When you come back to me again)

Fun Times

So lately I haven't really had time to go and do anything with anyone. Not that there are a lot of people that I do things with, but I hadn't seen Ashley or Karen for quite awhile. So yesterday I made plans to meet up with Ashley. We made plans to meet up at 6 at the mall. We always meet in the same place at Chandler Mall, in Barnes and Noble. I got there early, and to pass the time I did what I always do, checked out the bargain books and then lost myself in the travel section. Ever since planning the trip to England last year, the travel section is just wonderful to me. I love looking at the books and imaging all the places that I so want to go to. Within the travel section are currently some calendars. I always like to look at the calendars of America and wonder why there are no pictures of Idaho in any of them. Well yesterday I found 3 different ones that had pictures of Idaho, and two of them had them on the cover! The first one was Lure of Fishing. I looked at it, and I am thinking oh wow! I know that place! It had a picture of a fisherman casting his line in Little Redfish Lake. There was no title for the picture, but when it is a place you have gone to every year of your life, you are able to recognize it. There was another calendar that was American farms, and for one of the winter months it had a picture of a farm in Idaho. The third calendar was from National Geographic and it was American Landscapes. I looked at the cover picture, and it was of the Stanley Basin, pretty much what the view is like from our cabin. Then, I was looking at this book of 500 places to see before you die. I flipped to the back in the index to see where there were in Idaho. There were a few different places, but the last entry was the Stinker Station. This made me laugh, and say no way! Yeah, I am one of those people who talks to herself out lout in a public area. So I flip to the page and there number 485 under 10 places that go blink in the night is the Stinker Station. It gave a short few line description about it and then last line says that while there are several throughout the state, something about how you will be able to find the one at 1777 Kimberly Road, Twin Falls. This just totally made my day. This is the Stinker Station that we would always drive by and my dad would take us to get hot dogs at when we were little.

After Ashley got there, I had to show her my discoveries and then we started wondering around the mall. We had mucho fun. :) I am pretty sure that every store we were in we erupted into random and really loud and long laughter. After shopping and an interesting time in Bath and Body Works where I talked her into buying stuff and then talking myself out of buying stuff we decided it was time to eat so we went to the Cheesecake Factory, where we were seated about 3 feet away from these two guys. Both Ashley and I had to restrain ourselves from piping in on their conversation a few times. At first it was awkward, because here you are trying to have a conversation and there are people you do not know sitting right next to you.

Through Heaven's Eyes

So, today's song is "Through Heaven's Eyes" from the Prince of Egypt. I was listening to this this evening on my way back to the house. I love every verse of this song, but today the part that struck me the most was about learning to join the dance. I mean this song has a great message about looking through heaven's eyes, but it was just the thought that you have to make an effort and JOIN life, you have to join the dance and take an active part in it. I don't know what it was about today that made that just really strike me. Today was one of those emotional roller coaster days. If you are a girl, you know what I am talking about, where you are just weepy and down and there isn't much you can do about it. 


A single thread in a tapestry
Through its color brightly shine
Can never see its purpose
In the pattern of the grand design

And the stone that sits on the very top
Of the mountain's mighty face
Does it think it's more important
Than the stones that form the base?

So how can you see what your life is worth
Or where your value lies?
You can never see through the eyes of man
You must look at your life

Look at your life through heaven's eyes

A lake of gold in the desert sand
Is less than a cool fresh spring
And to one lost sheep, a shepherd boy
Is greater than the richest king
If a man lose ev'rything he owns
Has he truly lost his worth?
Or is it the beginning
Of a new and brighter birth?

So how do you measure the worth of a man
In wealth or strength or size?
In how much he gained or how much he gave?
The answer will come
The answer will come to him who tries
To look at his life through heaven's eyes

And that's why we share all we have with you
Though there's little to be found
When all you've got is nothing
There's a lot to go around

No life can escape being blown about
By the winds of change and chance
And though you never know all the steps
You must learn to join the dance
You must learn to join the dance

So how do you judge what a man is worth
By what he builds or buys?
You can never see with your eyes on earth
Look through heaven's eyes
Look at your life
Look at your life
Look at your life through heaven's eyes

Butter, Milk, and Honey

So in my Institute Class at the beginning of each class a student has about 5 minutes to teach the class about what they learned from that days of reading. The past few classes have been covering the Isaiah portions of 2 Nephi. Today was chapters 17-24. You know a lot of us read the chapters but do not have that much understanding about what we are reading. We know that we are supposed to read them, but you sometimes wind up just staring thinking Isaiah why oh why couldn't you put it in simple English for us??? Of course those who speak Spanish or French or Italian are not thinking that, but you know what I mean!! Anyways, the girl who had today got up to teach us. She talked about the verses that say Butter and Honey. She then went on to explain that the butter and honey had confused her until she realized what butter was and that it was the same thing as milk and honey. She then went on to explain what milk and honey represent. Milk is revelation and scripture and honey is repentance. She explained all of these things to us and then sat down. Brother Calton gets up, looks at her and says "Where did you COME from? Are you for real? That was amazing, I don't even know what to say now." He then informs us that Lauren has been a member for 8 MONTHS and all of us life time members just sat there flabbergasted and maybe slightly ashamed. Here we have been studying the Book Of Mormon all of our lives and never had any of us gotten that much out of Isaiah. She also spent 8 HOURS studying this section to get the most out of it that she could. Once again you feel yourself go oh my goodness that is just amazing.

This is My Life

So I am a big music person. I love music and the way the lyrics can be related to certain events, times, feelings, etc. in our life. The past few months there have been various songs that I have really related to at different times. Today I was listening to my ipod on my way back from Show Low and I was listening to the CD Prayer of A Common Man by Phil Vassar, who is one of my all time favorite singer/songwriters. I had just listened to it a few days before, but today I was particularly listening to the lyrics. The first song on the CD, This is My Life really struck me today. I have listened to it several times before, but for some reason right then I really liked the words.

Fat cats just getting fatter
Lining their pockets
What does it matter?
All I want is an honest wage
A piece of ground where my kids are safe
80 bucks to fill my truck
Old man telling me times are tough
Sticking it to the middle class
Well, they can kiss my price of gas

Its time to speak my mind
Hey-- this is my life
Woa – woa this is my life
Hey--yea this is my life
Woa-woa
Yea, and I want it back

Republican or democrat
Well, I don’t give a damn about that
I want a chance to do my job
Pledge allegiance to my God
Talkin’ heads trying to buy my vote
I’m just trying to pay my note
I’m a husband trying to be a father
Raise my son and raise my daughter

Can you hear me?
Hey-- this is my life
Woa – woa this is my life
Hey--yea this is my life
Woa-woa
And I want it back

Well, I’m just standing on the edge of the brink
I will not go quietly
I’ll tell you what I think

Its time to speak my piece
Squeaky wheel always gets the grease
One single voice don’t matter
But everybody’s screaming up the ladder
Gonna get the attention of the man on top
Make it louder, shake and rock
It might just come tumbling down
Spread all that wealth around

That’s what I’m talking about
Hey-ya this is my life
Woa – woa this is my life
Hey-hey-yea this is my life
Woa-woa
This is my life
This is my life


The bolded part is what really struck me. I have realized lately that in life I tend to be more of a reactive individual, rather than a proactive person. I let things happen to me rather than making things happen. While in some instances this is just fine, I think that it is time that I start taking charge of my life and making things happen rather than just letting things happen to me. I have always been pretty good at dealing with whatever comes my way. And this weekend I realized that the thing I have the hardest time with is the unknown. If I don't know what it is I am dealing with then I have a really hard time, but if I know what it is I can deal with it, no matter what it is. Does that make sense? I guess it is like FDR said.. "All we have to fear is fear itself." I do not do well with the unknown. I do not like not knowing how someone feels about me or not knowing what is going to happen. Perhaps that is where my irrational fear of aliens comes from. I do not know what is out there and it freaks me out.... Hmmm interesting thing to ponder.