A Mother's Heart

"As a covenant-keeping daughter of God, she had prepared all her life for motherhood…
A woman with a mother heart has a testimony of the restored gospel, and she teaches the principles of the gospel without equivocation. She is keeping sacred covenants made in holy temples. Her talents and skills are shared unselfishly. She gains as much education as her circumstances will allow, improving her mind and spirit with the desire to teach what she learns to the generations who follow her…

Oh, that every girl and woman would have a testimony of her potential for eternal motherhood as she keeps her earthly covenants…

She knows that the influence of righteous, conscientious, persistent, daily mothering is far more lasting, far more powerful, far more influential than any earthly position or institution invented by man. She has the vision that, if worthy, she has the potential to be blessed as Rebekah of old to be “the mother of thousands of millions” (Gen. 24:60)

Every girl and woman who makes and keeps sacred covenants can have a mother heart. There is no limit to what a woman with a mother heart can accomplish. Righteous women have changed the course of history and will continue to do so, and their influence will spread and grow exponentially throughout the eternities. How grateful I am to the Lord for trusting women with the divine mission of motherhood. Like Mother Eve I am “glad” (see Moses 5:11) to know these things. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

Julie B. Beck, ‘Mother Heart’,” Liahona, May 2004, 75–77

This is one of my favorite talks. It is so important to have a testimony and understand the role of motherhood. To all who have mother hearts- happy mothers day!

I read this article while I was waiting...

“The scene for this nonstop creativity is a towering, light-filled loft in midtown Manhattan, which, semantically, is neither home nor office but a cozy place in between. On the seventh and tenth floors of the building, Isabel designs and produces her niche fashion label, Isabel Toledo, while the 11th-floor penthouse doubles as their living space and Ruben's painting and drawing studio…

Their apartment is a creator's paradise, where the smallest bit of inspiration (a bicycle wheel, a sketch, a portrait of Isabel) is hoisted up into Calderesque mobiles, while walls double as canvases. "Ruben will draw on anything that's in front of him," sighs Isabel, citing the telephone numbers climbing up the wall…

Hostess gifts are never store-bought but always a Ruben art special. "I look around Ruben's studio, and I pick something that reminds me of the person," says Isabel, who also uses her husband's discarded sketches as her personal stationery. Clearly, intimacy trumps social and fashion conventions…

‘Everything is somehow connected to us," continues Isabel…"We experience art. We're makers.’”

(Wendy Goodman of New York Home Design)
for the full article:
http://nymag.com/homedesign/greatrooms/15915/

(I realize that the excerpt above might not completely make sense because I just put in the parts that I liked.) I LOVE their home. I love that it is a loft and has high ceilings with sky lights so that there is a lot of natural light. I love that it is a studio/home. I love how there is art everywhere. This(with a more international/traveled feel) is my dream home.

i think people should talk to people

In order to get from my job every morning and to go home every night I ride the DC metro. After living in quaint Rexburg for three years, I've noticed that the way I see things is different then when I was growing up in some of the biggest cities in the world. The metro is a prime example. The first day of work I was a little anxious riding the metro because I didn't know where I was going. By the time I came home my mind remembered the routine and was falling asleep between stops, not holding on to handrails, looking bored, staring at no one- all the thing the expert routine metro riders do. Yesterday on the metro after trying not to make eye contact with anyone I finally gave up and decided to actually look at the people in the car. Looking around at them the Beatles came to mind: (sing it, don't read it)
All the lonely people,
where do they all come from,
all the lonely people
where do they all belong
They looked like mannequins holding one position, separate from everything around them- inanimate objects. All I could hear was the sound of the metro rushing by the traffic. No one spoke; we all just gently swayed with the car. I looked at these people with little feeling on their faces and wondered if they were happy. They looked tired. It's probably because they were. I wonder why no one speaks.

Yesterday on the bus (after the metro) I didn't have enough change for the fare and so asked the other passengers for change. The Hispanic family with cute kids asked around themselves, the Asian man talked to me and offered to pay, and a black lady gave me some change. While it was embarrassing it brought camaraderie to those on the bus. Everyone was trying to help this naive girl or busy talking about how ridiculous I was. At least they were talking.

As Said by Lorna

Every day is a great day to wear a dress! I love how EXCITED she gets over a pretty dress that she gets to wear and how she has to wear cute shoes that match and assessorize with bracelets, hair bands and over course- her dora glasses. I don't think any of us could forget her cinderella dress, her red christmas dress, or her many pink dresses that are all so pretty. Some of the choice memories I've had with Lorna this visit:

"Don't do that Sam, you're the best friend I've got"

Singing "Some Day My Prince Will Come" while taking a bath

Whenever we've been more than 10 minutes apart: "Oh Karen, I missed you!"

"Can I have the purple? Purple pees!" (purple ice cream.)

Telling mom that I'm really her sister, not aunt.

Running out on the deck naked... ha ha

When she wakes up and wants to snuggle with you, with her head in your neck.

"Silly Karen!"

Admiring the pretty maniquins at Maceys

The many many many kisses and hugs

A Couple of Good Farm Hands

After Austin's birthday party these two cousins were just playing around on the four wheelers and barn. It was such a good photo opportunity! My favorite was when Spencer stopped walking to remove a large rock from the ground. After pulling it out he started to dig in the dirt where it had been. I asked him what he was doing and he said, "working!"



If you're going to visit Vale(and I only do because my amazing sister lives there,) you need to visit during the spring. This visit I was there to witness the first signs of spring and it was beautiful. The temperatures reached 70 degrees and the cool wind was blowing strong. Trees started to show buds of green instead of the dry brown that characterized them all winter long. The farms started to turn a lime color reminding me of the neon green rice fields in Vietnam. Upclose they're a wet mess but from the road the fields look like you could lay in them. It really is beautiful around this time of year when the sun comes out and everything starts to grow! It makes me just want to write all the time!

A Visit in Vale

Vale is to desolate as pumkin is to dead.
Austin is to reading as Rachel is to clogging.
Emma is to princesses as Karen is to facebook.
Ruth is to sleeping as the Romans are to car trips.
Rachel is to scrapbooking as Karen is to boys.
Spencer is to pot belly as Karen is to weak arms.
Emma's hair is to static as Karen's clothes are to pajamas.
Rachel is to amazing mom as Karen is to aunt-who-lets-them-get-away-with-too-much. ha ha
Karen is to journal writing as Rachel is to laundry.
Rachel is to popcorn as Spencer, Emma and Austy are to popcorn too.

Fiji Water and French Bread

Before the semester ended Jen called me one night and asked if she could come over. Of course the answer was an emphatic YES! And in true Jen fashion she came with a thoughtful gift and creative scrap booked card. Last summer, 2006, I had the happy opportunity to be her roommate in Carriage House #305. From the very beginning I was impressed with her discipline. Going to bed at 10:30pm so that she could get up early and run impressed me. I soon learned that her discipline carried over to every area of her life. As I got to know her another quality impressed me: her thoughtfulness. Jen takes the time to remember people and visit them. She is always giving people gifts and when talking to her she is always interested in you. As I’ve continued to get to know her there have been so many things that I love about her. I love Jen and the testimony she has that is seen because she applies what she knows to her life. I love the way we talk to each other and how easy it is, how ridiculous we get and how understanding she is. I love how comfortable and happy I am around her. I love how excited she gets. I love her for the true friends she is as she is honest and always encourages me to be my best self. I love her down to earth personality and her beautiful eyes. I know it’s cliché but, she is so beautiful inside and out. I love Jen Shiess! This girl is fabulous.