{oh so many feet}

okay... so im one of the relief society teachers in my ward. i had to give the lesson today... it was on elder holland's talk from the april 2009 conference entitled "none were with him." [click here if you want to read it.] it really is a powerful talk. i loved it. and the lesson went pretty well, too, i thought. i still get really nervous teaching. it is not something i am particularly good at, but i give it my best anyway. the last lesson i did was about pioneers and i told a story about an ancestor of mine that we call "the cookie lady" so naturally, to tie into the talk and be sort of an object lesson, i brought in some cookies. needless to say, they were a big hit. well this talk was about how because Jesus suffered and died for us and because He was completely forsaken by all, we would never have to feel the complete depth of what He felt on our behalf. It talked about how even when we feel completely alone and abandoned, we never really are... that He is always there for us and has complete empathy for us while we are going through our personal gethsemanes. anyway... i ended up using a poem that i had heard years ago... its called "footprints in the sand." this is the poem. i absolutely love it...

FOOTPRINTS

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the LORD. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand: One belonged to him, the other to the LORD.

When the last scene of his life flashed before him he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of foot prints. He also noticed that it happened at the lowest and saddest times in his life.

This really bothered him and he questioned the LORD about it. "LORD, you said that once I decided to follow you you would walk with me all of the way But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times of my life there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why, when I needed you the most, you would leave me."

The LORD replied, "My precious, precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.

By Carolyn Joyce Carty ©

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amazing right? it gives me goosebumps every time. well... i made cookies to take in today to again tie my lesson together. i figure i always remember lessons better when there are handouts... and i mighta hoped that they would forgive my lack of teaching skills if there were treats... haha. i was really happy with the end results. i think the sisters loved the cookies and the lesson was well received... i sure am thankful for the sisters in my ward... they always have such good comments! so... here are pictures! :)

i used mom/paula's sugar cookie recipe, a foot shaped cookie cutter, regular icing and organic sugar cause it looked a little more sand-like. pretty stinking cute, dont you think?

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another note about some feet... i got these stinking cute shoes awhile back, and im absolutely in love with them! but they gave me some wicked blisters... i guess i should have worn them around the house with socks or something first! hahaha....

the culprits:

the victim:

[there are matching blisters on each pinky toe and heels... well not anymore. i drained them. lol]

like grandma used to say... "a litte pain for beauty's sake" ...right? hahaha....

{birds can fly so high}

so... like you know, i will be moving in with nicole once i find a job. nicole and i have been decorating and junk... and i just finished up the painting that goes above the table... you'll see it right as you walk into the apartment.

and i have to tell you about this canvas. i am absolutely in love with it. i stretched it when i was at ea ...working for mr. rhodes. he had found this big roll of super old canvas, and it was still in great shape. he said that if i wanted it i could have it. so grandpa farr made me the frame and i learned how to stretch my own canvas. its 3' x 4' - huge... and absolutely perfect. i hope that heaven smells like this canvas.... its the best combination of old canvas and pine wood. mmm.... i seriously wish that you could smell it too...and then with the oil paint on it... its just, wow. amazing. anyway... now that you all know how insane i am, heres the painting. i am thoroughly pleased this one... the texture, the colors, the simplicity. i just love it all.

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:)

{my first commissioned painting}

so im not really getting paid in cash for it, but i get a free canvas.... and i get more practice painting.

anyway. i promised my dear friend zac that i would paint something for him... he just had to choose the picture. he is a great photographer and this was one of his pictures. i played around with the contrast and this is what i ended up painting...

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{recycle reduce reuse}

honestly... this is really only for kelsey [just because im pretty sure no one else will care... hahaha]

so... yesterday, while i was cleaning moms house [and let's be honest, what else do i really do anymore? lol....] there was a knock on the front door. i had no idea who it could be [and i was still in my pajama's... after spending the afternoon dealing with the turtle sitch] and i opened the door to find a very excited little brother of mine toting our new recycle bin. our old one really was all types of beat up and cracking so apparently the parents called the waste management people and they traded out our old bin for this new mini trashcan looking thing... its terribly cute, and tino really was all types of excited! it was funny to see him so happy about a new recycle container. hahaha...

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the newest addition to our trash receptacle family...

im not quite sure why this picture makes me laugh so hard.... maybe because it looks so dorky shoved in between our two giant trash cans- but regardless... its so stinking funny! :)

[oh.... and just in case you were confused, our trash cans are tied up so that the javelinas cant knock them over and get into our trash. lol...]

{the great escape}

so remember those turtles that nicole and i rescued? the ones that we put in austins room? [these ones... click here] well... yesterday, austin was cleaning the tank and had put the two turtles [who by the way... have seriously doubled in size in the last 3 months] in this little ziploc container thing. anyway... he forgot to finish and left the turtles in this little container thing with a washcloth over the top on his dresser while he was at school todayy. i came home from house sitting this morning to finish cleaning the tank for him. i went into his room and there were no turtles. i asked my mom if she for some unbeknownst reason had moved the turtles... she said she hadnt, and i mighta started freaking out a little. i was really worried that they had fallen off the back of the dresser and got stuck and died. so me and mom started tearing tino's room apart looking for these crazy houdini turtles. we moved the dresser, the nightstand, the bookshelf... and we finally found one behind his chair, under all these blankets... and it wasnt dead. thank goodness!! we put it back in the water... all his appendages were working... and there were no cracks in his shell. i was really hoping that the turtles had stuck together... but they hadnt. so i start looking for the other one. i cleaned out under the bed, checked under the tv stand, looked in the closet... i even started looking in the rest of the house... like in the hall closet and kelsey's room and the food room. i was certain i would find a poor little shriveled up turtle somewhere. but alas, i did not. i seriously thought i had looked everywhere. about at this time i had spent an hour and a half looking for the these stupid little turtles. i had mom call austin home [he was just getting to seminary]... i figured he might have a good idea as to where it could be, and maybe he would think of something i had missed. so mom called brother brown and told him austin needed to come home... and that it was a matter of life and death [and explained that austins pets had gotten out and he needed to come home and find it. haha] so i went and picked up austin... im sure brother brown thinks im even weirder and more spastic that i used to be in high school. hahahah... so austin came in and looked under the chair [again] and under the bed [again] and in the closet [again] and that was when he found turtle numero two.... and this one was alive too. PHEW!

so both these turtles fell off the dresser... landed and crawled away in opposite directions. both are happy and healthy... and swimming like crazy in the newly cleaned tank. lucky little turtles...

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{no more girly-ness}

so my little sister is officially all settled in at byu, adrian is lo-ooo-ng gone, and im trying my hardest to find a job so i can move in with nicole.... that leaves austin all alone with mom and dad. a couple weeks ago, austin requested that we change the bathroom from the girly all purple and flowery bathroom to something more masculine. poor kid grew up with all sisters, and has been stuck with girly everything for his whole life. mom jumped right on it, we ordered a new counter and picked new paint and everything... and this is the story in pictures. be excited.

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[before]

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[during]

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[after]

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and voila! a non-girly (but still cute) bathroom! and austin likes it! :)

{new hair... again}

so... my cute highlighted hair was all types of grown out, so earlier this week nicole dyed it for me... a "deep golden brown" - its kinda reddish though. i like it, but its still taking some getting used to! :)