thought for a thursday evening

“A person cannot give a crust to the Lord without receiving a loaf in return.”

Melvin J. Ballard

I found a few 'loaves' of my own this week and wanted to share...

photos taken on my bday. delightful evening.

adieu to you twenty two

my heart is swollen and my eyes are spilling over as one year of my life closes and the dawn  of a new one opens.

honestly, this past has been the hardest year of my life.

yet, God has blessed me in so many ways.

things like feeling love from loved ones whether near or far.

a bath that is getting warmed for me as a i type,

and having good health.

things like a job where i can wear skirts everyday, 

reaching for new goals,

and branching out past my normal comfort zone.

things like shoulders being made stronger to bear more,

tastebuds made sensitive to appreciate more,

and eyes made wet to feel more.

things like another culture to appreciate,

a family to re-adore,

and one more person coming home to stretch my heart to its limits and find new room to love immensely.

i think the stretching of the past year has made me a little more ready and able to be the person i know i can be.

“I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much.” -Mother Teresa.

sionara twenty two. i shall not miss you.

bring on what lies ahead.

the festivities at the killpacks with fellow bday celebrators

house candy

i wish i could give you some easter sweet to celebrate good friday, but here are a few little pictures from the summer of -oh nine- that make me swoon almost as much as the cadbury eggs. 

i adore the stripes and minimalistic art.

our hotel in paris.

i tried to buy lamps from anthro to remind me of these, they couldn't compare.

portobello road in england.

if my house looks half this pretty someday, i'll be pleased as a peach.

a shop in interloken.

happy easter all!

don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone...

silly as the song is... tis true.

sometimes i yearn to remember what it feels like to be confident in a face without much makeup. i love you little tyke, but the 'pregnancy glow' has not been my fortune to experience. just the opposite in fact. i've never felt so self-conscious of my blemished skin as right now. of course my complexion does not take precedence over this little fella on the way, and i dare not complain. i simply find it unfortunate that it requires taking things away for me to realize what i had.

positively, it has forced me to try harder than ever to have a radiant spirit. i remember sister tanner's sharing a quote from her mother about beauty. she shared this when i was in high school, 

"You must do everything you can to make your appearance pleasing, but the minute you walk out the door, forget yourself and start concentrating on others."

amen sista.

a shiny, but clear, face from our first married summer together. sigh. it will come back wont it?

update:

less than 3 months left!

in the spirit

i have really been getting into easter this season. that being said, i have only had one bag of mini eggs so maybe i'm not quite there yet. 


but-i'm talking about the spirit of easter. for some unknown reason i catch my self belting out the hymn, "he is risen" while stirring the saucepan full of something for supper. i usually let my excitement for general conference crowd out the joy of easter, so this year i'm grateful they are separate.


i recently read our prophets words in the latest ensign that say, "No words in Christendom mean more to me than those spoken by the angel to the weeping Mary Magdalene and the other Mary as they approached the tomb to care for the body of their Lord: “Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen” (Luke 24:5–6)." 

of all the words that could mean something to our prophet-these meant the most! that was surprising to me. i have questioned myself since reading those words-do i feel that way too? i'm no where close to the prophet, but this bold statement of his has helped me try to do those things that will put my heart in the right place this easter season, and for me that includes singing over the stovetop and eating cadbury eggs:)

weekend funnies

-it was noon on friday before i realized that i had forgotten to put on mascara that morning.

-i got a leg cramp in the middle of the night that forced me to writhe around the bed in pain unaware of anything else. i am now known as the steamroller.

-saturday i let my hair air dry, something that was my daily ritual in europe but i haven't done in a while.

-when younger, devin once shook the ranch dressing so hard is spewed all over the kitchen and he's never lived it down. he did a reenactment yesterday and i was the lucky witness and recipient. 

-after lunch on sunday i couldn't button up my yellow skirt. i wore it to a meeting unbuttoned, with a shirt to cover it of course.

Someone shared Marjorie Pay Hinckley's quote with me this weekend, and i've loved it. "How did a nice girl like me get into a mess like this?" Sometimes I take life too seriously. Life is funny, and, at times, it deserves to be laughed about.

vistas of the early hours

today i woke up at 5:40 without an alarm. i haven't been much of a morning person, until lately. i started a full time job that requires i wake up at 6 everyday. i love knowing that my dad is sitting at the kitchen table reading scriptures when i wake up. i love that finally i am among many other wise men and women of the world that are already up and at 'em. i love knowing that i beat devin to the shower, which means he gets to make the bed. i love the curious moment of peeking out the blinds each morning, never knowing what weather you are gonna get. i love how morning sounds. i love all the beautiful vistas on the drive to salt lake that are unique to the east bench of davis county. i love feeling so exhausted in the evening that i can't keep my eyes open past a decent hour. mostly, i love that God is helping me change a habit that i was not proud of.

i don't love eating breakfast while driving-who has the discipline to get ready early enough to sit down and eat breakfast? i don't love 8 story parking garages. i don't like not having dinner ready for devin when i'd like. but mostly, i love that God takes care of us, whenever we do our very best and trust in him for the rest.

brianhead, ut 10.07

just as majestic...

we knew it would happen. we moved home from belgium and have taken about 30 pictures in three months. woops. there are things that occur day in and out that are just as majestic, things just as worthy of forever etching in my mind, things equally historic or monumental happening in utah as there were in belgium.

the beautiful thing is that it is all so familiar to me-the sad thing is that i don't think to pull out a camera for the familiar.  here are a few rare occasions where i did.

we threw a baby shower for a neighbor. yes devin did as much work as i did, and so i say we:) 

we have taken every opportunity to be with family after the six month drought. mom and i frequenting the glorious in and out for pop's bday lunch. i'm sorry europe-but you do not know how to do hamburgers.

we had the glazier gang over to our house for grandma and pop's combined bday dinner. i had so missed the fulfillment of being a host in my own home.

and a silly tummy picture that is five weeks out of date now... dumb.

there are maybe five other pictures besides this. hopefully my camera will be put to better use soon.

flood the earth

i recently went to a meeting where the stupendous sister dalton encouraged us to "Flood the earth with VIRTUE." she encouraged us to use the internet to do that. so here i am-trying to do my part.

here is the first picture devin and i have together. devin looks exactly the same. i have chubby cheeks, and hair that is 12 inches shorter. i am hiding my right eye because this was the first day out of the hospital after i had my first reconstructive surgery years ago. oh how time has flown. oh how we've grown.

at that time, nothing i had previously experienced was so stretching and testing as a kick in the eye with a rollerblade. of course in retrospect, like all trials, i now can see how it helped refine my course and prepare for other little tests ahead. they are all little tests compared to those others face, but big ones for me. things that i didn't think i could muddle through, but was miraculously enabled to do so. God is so good. i am happy for the small but 'mighty changes' he has allowed to take place in my heart, most often as a result of trying times.