most anticipated...

i've been gearing up for one of my most anticipated weekends of the year. i've let go of blogging(except updates on here) and facebook this week to re-tune in. i've tried reading some better literature. i haven't given up on myself as an early bird or a healthy being. we've invested in deep conversations as a couple, and even reupholstered the cushions on our dining chairs. now we just gotta re-stock our snacks, and get some questions down on paper. general conference here we come.

quotes from my readings accompanied by waterloo pics.

"As a new school year begins, I know that some of the pressures of study, finances, employment, and dating weigh heavily upon you. Take your fears to the Lord. Talk to him and listen to him. Then, if you feel a spiritual motion as tiny as the touch that a butterfly's wing might make, acknowledge it, heed it, and let his influence work upon you. The Lord wants you to succeed even more than you want to yourself. Have faith in a perfect Father's love, fearing nothing. Remember that love is promised not just to those who have never made a mistake, but that love is promised to every one of us--who have all made mistakes.

I think I have a glimpse of that kind of love because of my own experience of giving birth to three beautiful children. I have discovered that the child who is at the moment content and happy often has little need of me. That gladsome child usually runs away to play. But the child who has made a mistake, has faltered, or is wounded or frightened turns quickly to come back home for reassurance. As that child draws near unto me, nothing--I repeat, nothing--can stop the opening of my heart or the reaching out of my arms to enfold him or her into my protection." -Pat Holland

There is nothing more vital to our success and our happiness here than learning to hear the voice of the Spirit. It is the Spirit who reveals to us our identity-which isn't just who we are but who we have always been. And that when we know, our lives take on a sense of purpose so stunning that we can never be the same again. Sheri Dew

"We will never be happy or feel peace; we will never deal well with life's ambiguities; we will never live up to who we are as women of God until we overcome our mortal identity crisis by understanding who we are, who we have always been, and who we may become." Sheri Dew

"More than twenty years ago President Kimball prophesied: "The female exemplars of the Church will be a significant force in both the numerical and the spiritual growth of the Church in the last days." He was talking about us." Sheri Dew

Lastly, a snippet from President Monson's new biography entitled, "To the Rescue." Tell me you are not dying to get your hands on it, because I am. Before this new book, Elder Packer’s biography was the only published biography for our living 15 apostles, so this is big! For me, and just because you can, drive around the corner this weekend and pick one up at Deseret Book:)

"President Monson's life is a witness of the importance of following personal inspiration: “When you honor a prompting and then stand back a pace, you realize that the Lord gave you the prompting. It makes me feel good that the Lord even knows who I am and knows me well enough to know that if He has an errand to be run and prompts me to run the errand, the errand will get done.” Put simply, he does not gauge where or what or how. “I’ll go where you want me to go, dear Lord” is what President Monson is always about. He always has been. When he is asked how he finds time to do such things, given the burdens of his ministry, he responds, “I am a very simple man. I just do what the Lord tells me to do.”"

Enjoy Conference!

this is food production at it's finest

you could imagine my on-the-clock-life being something similar the following video. because i did that today. for about thirty seconds, i imagined i was lucille ball from the following clip.

oatmeal weather

i could eat oatmeal everyday of the year, weather permitting. i never tire of it. i love the way it sticks to your tummy for what seems like hours, meaning less calories and longer lasting fill. but i do have a hard time eating hot breakfasts on hot days. it's been cloudy days and chilly nights lately. i realized today i am in the middle of my third consecutive box, yes my third(devin eats sophisticated yogurt and mueslix stuff for breakfast), so i guess you could say oatmeal season is here to stay. you can be assured of what i will be eating the next one-hundred-something frosty days. woo. i love having something to look forward to when i get hungry at night. i love less decisions at hours when my decision making skills are still in bed, or i'm simply too rushed. mostly, i love the freedom of rhythyms. now if only they sold freshly ground peanut butter i'd be in morning heaven.

i tried looking for pb at the local market. nothing. i followed a tip from a ward member and even went to the the carrefour in waterloo. it is massive enough to hold six different aisles for different countries. this was a USA section of the 'euro walmart,' look for the flag on the back. they had the strangest items, but no adam's pb. nuts.

1 cake mix: 4.95 euro cents = 6.67 american dollars

1 mustard: 3.85 euro cents = 5.19 american dollars

we didn't buy anything, from this aisle at least.

but we did walk away with the longest french bread loaf you've ever seen. i wanted to have a sword fight with them. kinda hard to sword fight with just one loaf though.

and look at this couch on the aisle next to the shampoo. could've fooled me as an anthro chair. i'm loving this euro walmart.

guess how many...

in a span of about three hours at church, i think i hear the kissing noise about 129 times.

you know what kissing noise i'm talking about-the one your little niece or nephew makes when they blow a kiss to you. yup that's the noise. the belgiums greet everyone with an air kiss on the cheek. i can't recall my first occurance of such a greeting, but i do remember being a bit apprehensive about letting all ages of aquaintences, male or female, touch cheeks with me. i still am apprhensive about it, which cheek comes first, what if i just shake hands, and i hate the stressul decisionary period-is it coming or not?

all that aside, there are some benefits of this ritual. less body contact than a hug, just a quick touch of faces. watching strangers at the airport pick up loved ones can't help but bring you to a smile. plus what's better than hearing kisses all the time?

devin and i have had some pretty laughable experiences: turning toward the same side as the greeter, a teenager girl giving devin two kisses, and not so nice breath. gotta love it.

green gate plate

i found my danish plate, in beligum. sorta cheating, i know, but when i saw "greengate danmark" on the underside of our friend's china, i had to ask if they found the china in denmark. we went to denmark last year, but i was too cheap to buy a plate that entire trip. now i'm chasing down the plates from last year's trip-better a late plate than no plate, right?

luckily the danish china was bought just down the road in our favorite waterloo. so we found the teeny store flowerpot and 6 euros later we had our danish plate.

now i'm just wondering if i want to walk away without the grey lovelies below.

full greengate collection here. beware it may get you thoroughly anxious for christmas.

images here.