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Ten Weeks of Thanks: Week #10 Faith

April 18, 2012 5 Comments

So this is my final week. And it’s crazy. I remember starting this and being like “When I finish this, the semester will almost be over!” Guys, has it really already been 10 weeks? It just blows my mind. And I also can’t believe the change I’ve seen in myself. I appreciate EVERYTHING. I know there are things I overlook still- I’m not perfect when it comes to gratitude, but this has definitely made me better. At least once a day I find myself just trying to wrap my mind around how blessed I am. And even though this is the most stressful part of my semester, it’s also the happiest I’ve been this semester, because I recognize how amazing my life is.

So the topic for this last week is Faith. And I want to throw out a little bit of a disclaimer. First, these are my personal views and I do not speak for my Church. I just speak as a member of it. I also understand that there are all kinds of faith and religion and spirituality and I respect each one of them. So please respect mine. (:

Now that we have all of that out of the way, I’m excited for this. If you remember my first post, I explained that I actually got the idea for this from church. So here are a few (of the innumerable) reasons why I’m grateful for my faith, why I’m grateful I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints:

The Atonement

Every good thing in my life, everything I mention in this post boils down to one thing.  The Atonement. The ability to reach eternal life, the ability to repent for the wrong that I’ve done and move forward, there’s nothing bigger than that. There’s nothing better than that. With all of my heart I know that Christ suffered and died for us, for me. So that we could right our wrongs and return to our Father in Heaven. There’s no greater love, there is no love that is more perfect, and that knowledge saves me every day of my life.

The Book of Mormon

I’m grateful for The Book of Mormon, another testament of Jesus Christ. It works right with the Bible and it’s taught me so many things. I love that extra help, all of those extra stories and lessons. Life is hard, and I’m grateful for any extra bit of instruction and comfort I can get. It makes me a better person.

Eternal Families

We believe that through making and keeping sacred covenants we can live with our families forever. That’s amazing. I’m grateful that I have the opportunity to keep the people I love for eternity. It isn’t easy, we have to be willing to do the work each and every one of us, but the work will be so worth it and it’s such a beautiful blessing.

The Uplifting Message

I am so grateful for so many things within my faith. I’m grateful for modern day prophets, for the organization of it, for institute classes and the beautiful people it has brought into my life. I’m grateful for the happiness and joy and comfort it has given me. I am grateful for the emphasis that is put on family, and on helping and loving each other. But more than anything, my faith in, and my relationship with my Heavenly Father is the most important thing in the world to me and is the thing I am the most grateful for. Without Him I am nothing.  I know that I am a daughter of God and that I am worth more than the world tells me I am. I know that I have a purpose. I know that you have a purpose. I know that Christ died for us and that He lives today. I know that the Creator of the universe and of everything we have ever and will ever see, knows me and loves me for exactly what I am and am not. And I know that even when life isn’t all sunshine and meadows, He is still there, teaching me and pushing me forward to better things.

Here are two of my favorite videos ever. I hope you’ll watch them. (:

What Matters Most

 Good Things to Come

So that is why I’m grateful for my faith. What do you believe? Why are you grateful for YOUR faith?

Thanks for reading along. It’s been quite a journey!

Tons of love,


Filed Under: Kayli, Ten Weeks of Thanks Tagged With: ,

{FOOD} Ten Weeks of Thanks: Week 9

April 11, 2012 6 Comments

Guys! It’s almost the end of my 10 week journey!


But it’s not over yet… (: So let’s talk about one of my favorite things EVER. Food.

Ahh glorious food. Here’s the thing, I’m a food kind of gal. Whatever I’m doing, unless it’s just something super exciting- I’d probably rather be baking. That’s something I inherited from my Granny- who was really who taught me almost everything I know about cooking. She showed me how to fry chicken and taught me how to rise dinner rolls. So I’m grateful for food because of that. Because it’s close to my heart. Because cooking is what has always brought our family together at the table. I’m grateful for farmers and ranchers, who grow and raise our food. I’m grateful food supports so many people, not just by sustaining them physically but by providing them with work. I’m grateful for it because nothing says “I’m sorry I was jerk face… my bad,” quite like a dozen cookies. That’s why I love food. It makes people happy. End of story.

Here are a couple of my favorite things to make and the links to them. (:

Next week is the FINAL week!!! The topic for next week is FAITH. What about your faith are you grateful for? Why?

Happy Wednesday friends! (: And happy eating!

 


Filed Under: Kayli, Recipes, Ten Weeks of Thanks Tagged With:

Ten Weeks of Thanks: Week 8 Inventions

April 4, 2012 5 Comments

Hello, hello, loves!

I hope you’re having a wonderful week!

Today’s topic is inventions!

The first thing I’m grateful for, ELECTRICITY. Dudes, I hate when the lights go out. I literally don’t know what to do with myself for the first hour. Don’t get me wrong, I like to be unplugged and have (believe it or not) spent days without my phone. It was awesome, but I love having lights and internet and all of that wonderful stuff.

The next thing I’m grateful for is the printing press. Ahh the printing press. The thing that produces my favorite things. BOOKS. I would talk about how awful life would be without books, but I can’t imagine it, and therefore, have no idea of where I would even begin to describe the awfulness. So I’m just going to be happy I don’t have to worry about that. (:

Next, I’m super grateful for those little socks you wear with flats. Didn’t see that one comin, did ya?! GUYS. Those things save my life! And they’ve been around for awhile but I was just kind of like “meh.” But apparently every one and their great aunt knew about the gloriousness of them and decided to not tell me! Let me illustrate my love for them to you.

Me before tiny socks: “Bah, flats aren’t even comfortable! They’re just sweaty and cut my heel!”

Me after tiny socks: “I need to buy more flats, I freakin love those things.”

See? They have a special place in my heart.

And finally, I’m grateful for snail mail. It makes my whole day. I always go out and check it in the afternoon and if nothing is there I go back in a couple of hours, because surely there’s an ad, a saver, SOMETHING. (: It’s just a fun thing. And lately I’m more grateful than ever, because it lets me send love and support to the people that are far away. And that’s awesome.

Next week’s topic is FOOD. Oh you can bet I’m gonna be all over that. (:

What deliciousnesses (is that a word?) are you grateful for, why?

 


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Places I Love: Ten Weeks of Thanks Wk #7

March 28, 2012 1 Comment

I would say I’m sorry I missed last week, but if I’m being honest, when I left for spring break I happily left my computer behind.

Not that it was super easy. I missed the full version of Pinterest and YouTube is slower on my phone. Real world problems, you know. (: BUT I learned a couple songs on piano, and I made a cake, and I slept, it was awesome. And I feel like this would be the perfect place to start the talk about places that I’m grateful for. Just three. Not that I’m only thankful for these three places, I have more than I could count. And I could talk for days about each. But these are the ones I feel like are the most important. So, three valleys. No names, no pictures. Just what I want to share. Cause that’s how this works. (:


Valley #1: The valley closest to my heart. It’s home.

Where I spent most of my break. I spent my whole life, up until college, living in one house, in that one valley. It’s quiet and beautiful. It’s deathly cold in the winter and warm and rainy in the summer. It smells like fresh cut grass and wild sunflowers. I love everything about it, which is why I don’t have tons to write about it. Because it’s too special. It’s a pretty legit place to be.

Valley #2: The valley I wanted to run off to every weekend once I could drive. (:

It was “town” and even though it’s probably the rest of the world’s idea of a small town, it was huge compared to home. We’d go and eat Chinese and go to the park. And then a lot of our youth group activities for church were there, and I made all of these amazing friends and did all of this crazy fun stuff like Dance Festivals and going to the golf course and the occasional carnival, hanging out in the parking lot and cruising around. I have nothing but happy memories there. And every time I go back to that place it just makes me smile and makes me think about strawberry blizzards and starry nights and Izze and pickups. It’s as magical as it sounds. (:

And then Valley #3: I don’t know why, but I’ve always loved it.

And now Kassi lives there. And I get to go all of the time. (: I think I really fell in love with the place when we went to the temple there. The town sits in the desert but it’s somehow still green. It’s bigger but it feels small and it’s comfortable. Probably because Kassi’s there, more than anything. I spent the end of my break there. (: I went and spent the weekend and we took the kiddos (not HER kiddos, by the way, but a niece and nephew) to the carnival. Which pretty much made my whole life because I LOVE carnivals. I love that valley. I love that it’s like a bajillion degrees but the mountains have snow on them, and that summer is the longest season there. I love who it keeps, and I love that it’s welcomed me, too.

So there’s that. :) I’m so blessed y’all. It’s crazy.

Next week’s topic is inventions. Think technology. What are you grateful for? Why?

I hope you’re having a beautiful Wednesday! By the way, there’s a linky below if you’d like to share the places YOU’RE thankful for. :)


 

 

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Ten Weeks of Thanks – Kassi’s Week 4

March 21, 2012 10 Comments

Hello there friends!!!
So Miss Kayli is off enjoying her Spring Break… And as such is taking a break from the computer! Can you blame her… she’s still in her first year of college… I got tired of the computer when I was in college too! haha.


SO, I’m going to use her break to catch up on MY Ten Weeks of Thanks! She’ll be back next week with her week 7… which will give YOU plenty of time to get YOUR post(s) ready if you’d like to link up with us. :) Week 7’s topic is Places, so next Wednesday, if you want to share what PLACES, anywhere in the world, that YOU’RE thankful for… we’d love to have you!

Until then, here’s my week 4 – People who have passed on that I am thankful for… And as always, this is only a select few… The list of people I am thankful for could go on and on… You’ll notice my list is . Over the last two, almost three now years we lost three people very close to us. So it’s them that I’ll be sharing today.

Granny. One of my most favorite people in the entire world! I remember once when I was just a tyke, and it only happened that ONE time… I was being naughty and got a spat on the bum from my Granny. I’m not sure who was more shocked, me, her or the people who saw it happen… She and I were tight. She never really got mad at me.
I was born just over a year after she lost my grandpa (). My mom always said I came at a time when she needed someone to love more than anything. And she loved me like crazy. And I her. When I graduated from college I moved home to care for her. She lived with my parents then. That is a time in my life that I will truly cherish forever.

My mother in law. Oh this lady… She could crack you up like none other! And she always had my back. Which was awesome being that I married her son… She would say, “If you guys ever break up, we’re keeping you.” :) She said that about all of her daughters in law. There’s three of us and a daughter and every one of us has a house full of trinkets and treasures thanks to her. She loved to yard sale and would always bring everyone a little something home…. You know… like a set of couches. 😉

We lost her in a car accident in 2009. That was and still is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to go through in my entire life.

Grandpa S. My husband’s grandfather. My mother in law’s dad. We lost him just a year shy of my mother in law. A spunkier cowboy you have never seen! He made it as a team tier in the National Finals Rodeo several times. As far as I know his love of roping and riding is where my husband got his love from. We are lucky to have a few photos of them roping together. When I met him he was one of the first people to include me. The hubs and I dated for over five years before we got married. But being married didn’t matter to him… I was already a part of his family.

**************

Tell us lovelies… WHO are YOU thankful for?

If you have sometime today or in the next few days, here are the linkups (and their topics) in Kayli’s Ten Weeks of Thanks Series thus far. We would absolutely LOVE to hear what/who you are thankful for. :) By the way, some of the links had closed… But I’ve re-opened all of them until April 1st if you’d like to join in anytime before then… :)






And don’t forget, next week’s topic is PLACES.

Be thankful friends!


 

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Today is a Blessing: Ten Weeks of Thanks Wk #6

March 14, 2012 3 Comments

So this post is later than normal, but it’s because this post is about TODAY. I think today is a blessing.
 And here’s some evidence of that:

First of all, today is our Papa’s birthday! And I’m absolutely thankful for him and everything he’s done for me. He’s an amazing man and fantastic grandfather. Happy Birthday Papa!!! (: As far as random little things about today go, I’ll start here!

I’m grateful for fresh laundry, it smells so good!

I’m grateful for long lasting birthday flowers that are keeping the dining room table pretty, 9 days and counting!

I’m grateful for my Shine Necklace.

I’m grateful for my pretty smelling perfume.

I’m grateful for awesome weather, perfect for the upcoming Spring Break!

I’m grateful I got out of class early today. I’m grateful I don’t have much homework. I’m grateful that the newest episode of Khloe and Lamar replayed this afternoon! (: I’m grateful I wasn’t late to class this morning. I’m grateful for snail mail and smart phone drawing games. I’m grateful for good friends, good food, and you. I hope we can all learn not to take our small blessings for granted. (:

Happy Wednesday!

Next week’s topic is: PLACES. What geographical places are you grateful for? Why?

 


 

Filed Under: Kayli, Ten Weeks of Thanks Tagged With: ,

Fancy This Fridays 66 and Kassi’s Week 3!

March 9, 2012 8 Comments
WHOOT it’s Friday! 
Now THAT is something to be thankful for!! :)
So… have you been keeping track? 
Kayli is on . 
SO far I’ve linked up to and … 
So here’s my Week Three!!! 

PEOPLE, alive today, that I am thankful for… 
{Mind you, these aren’t ALL the people I’m thankful for… That list could go on for years… :)}

Wedding photo taken by Treehouse Photography
My Dad. It’s only fitting… His birthday is tomorrow, you know. :) 
Happy Birthday Dad!!! 
The man who loved ME first. MY first love. 
The man who taught me to ride a horse, throw a ball, drive a stick shift. 
Sat me down and gave me a pep talk when I was being a pansy on the basketball court. Sat me down and gave me a pep talk when I was wavering on what major to choose in college. Sat the hubs down and told him what for when he asked to marry his daughter. Yep, he’s pretty good at speeches. Thing is, he won’t do it unless whatever he has to say is important. SO it’s probably a good idea to listen. :) 

Engagement photo taken by Treehouse Photography
Then of course, my husband.
The man who approached my dad, who pretty much scared away any boy that looked in my direction… And asked him to marry me. The one person I want to tell any and everything to… The one person that could talk me and my sister into ! 
My best friend. My one and only. 

Wedding photo taken by a friend
My Mom. She can hold her own in a room full of giggling girls toasting with cold Coors Light! She can make you feel better when you’re feeling absolutely miserable and you can’t see the good…. Mom will point it out. She will send you emails of things she saw online that might be fun to make and share on your blog… Then she’ll come up with because she’s actually where a good portion of your craftiness comes from… :)

Wedding photo taken by Treehouse Photography. 
Tracey, Megan, Kayli, The Hubs, Meghan, Charli, Kayce
My bridesmaids. I am blessed with the most AMAZING group of best friends. 
Each one of those ladies has played an important role at some specific point in my life, then stuck out the rest just for fun. You all know Kayli… :) What I would do without that girl… Well, nothing probably. . :) 
I grew up down the road from Tracey. Learning to drive, basketball, we lived high school together. Megan has always been the hubs’ and my sidekick. There are no third wheels with us. Where we went, she went. Meghan Jo… She grew up with the hubs. If he hadn’t introduced us we would’ve found each other eventually. We’re too much alike. Miss Charli was my roommate my last semester of college. Girls nights. Shopping. Now she’s Kayli’s roommate. Kayce, also a college friend. Introduced her to hub’s best friend. Now they live a few streets over from us. Team ropings and nights out most weekends. 
Women that make my life better and will always be important to me. 

So… there you have it. My list of people, alive today, that I am thankful for. 
WHO are you thankful for? 
We have . :)

Until then, how about a little Fancy This Fridays. 
You know the rules. *wink*



Linking this here and here and .
AND to here for the first time! :)

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Filed Under: Fancy This Fridays, Kassi, Ten Weeks of Thanks

A Few Reasons Why I Love The World Around Me: 10 Wks of Thanks Week #5

March 7, 2012 3 Comments

First of all, I’m grateful for all of YOU!!! Your birthday wishes have made this such an awesome celebration! 

I can’t say thank you enough for being so awesome!!

That being said, this week is going to be one of my favorites easily! (: The topic is Things in Nature. I love nature. I love being outside. I LOVE the world around me. SO, let’s get this party started!! 

First on my list, I love a good patch of thick green grass. 

I’m a mountain girl, so pretty green grass is an absolute favorite thing of mine! I’m just so thankful for it. For everything it is. I love the way it smells when it’s just been cut. I love cutting it. I love sitting in it. I love laying in it. I love the way it looks and feels. I love how it pops up in the spring after all the snow and cold is gone. And I love kicking off my shoes and walking in it. I’m grateful it keeps me from getting stickers when I go barefoot, I’m grateful for it because its so pretty!

 

 

Next up, cotton fields. So random considering I didn’t really know I loved them until this year, because I’d never really seen enough of them until this year. Up in the hometown it’s too cold to grow cotton, but Kassi and I both live far enough south now that they’re EVERYWHERE. And I love them. They’re just so stinking pretty. And they’re so productive, think of all the things we make with cotton. I’m wearing cotton right now, and I bet you are too. I can’t tell you how much I adore those millions of little white clouds right at ground level. There’s just something about a field of cotton. 

 

 

Next are trees. Oh trees. My favorite trees EVER are aspens. Every fall they turn the most beautiful colors and in the summer they’re green and the leaves shake and they’re SO pretty. BUT I also love Weeping Willows. I always have, even though I’ve never really been around them. And I love pine trees and the way they smell. I love juniper trees and cottonwoods and oaks. All of them. I’m thankful that you can build things with them. I’m grateful we can make paper and furniture and houses and all of those wonderful things with them. I love that they’re planted on my college campus, and because I live in the desert, a lot of trees on campus already have blossoms. I’m grateful for that extra bit of pretty in my day.


I’m thankful for mountains. Clearly. Since I’ve brought them up in like every addition to this list. (: But I really am. Mountains are something to look at. And they always have the deepest colors and so much life. In the summer they have wildflowers and fishing holes and in the winter they have snow and frosted trees. They’re so big and there’s so much to them. They hold memories and secrets and the scary unknown and adventures. They’re my home. I just have a thing for mountains. Mountains and clouds. :) 
And finally, flowers. I’m pretty sure flowers have ALWAYS been my favorite thing. Oooo I love them!! I used to pick them all the time and drive my Granny crazy. And then she embraced it and would buy them potted for me and let me pick what I wanted. I love growing them. I love cutting them and putting them in a vase on the table. They smell so sweet and are gorgeous and happy. I’m thankful they add so much beauty to the world. I love how delicate they are. I think about how hard and cold and mean the world can be and is really built to be, and how fragile flowers are in comparison- but they live on anyways. Spreading beauty and happiness and carrying on. Flowers are the best. 

And that’s my list!!!

Thanks for reading!

Next week’s topic  is What About Today (3/14/12) Are You Thankful For?

Take a little time to appreciate the small blessings you receive through the day. 

(Hopefully everyday.)
 

Happy Wednesday!

 

 

 

Filed Under: Kayli, Ten Weeks of Thanks Tagged With: ,

Ten Weeks of Thanks Week #4

February 29, 2012 5 Comments
Week number four is here, sort of a sad week, but it’s happy too. The topic is People Who Have Passed On. 
This week I’m only doing three. 

The first is Kassi’s mother in law. I love her and I miss her all the time. I didn’t get a chance to know her very well, but I still felt super close to her. And sometimes I think about her and know she’s watching out. She always made me laugh, and she could tell a mean ghost story. She makes me want to love life, she makes me want to laugh harder and take risks, because you only get so many chances while you’re here, and you never know when they’ll run out. But more than anything, she raised my sister’s husband. A pretty cool dude who takes amazing care of Kassi and gets great joy out of teasing me. I’m crazy thankful for that.

 Next is our grandpa, Granny’s husband. I never got to meet him, but I got to know him anyway. Through my Granny’s stories, through the look in her eyes when she talked about him. The love they have for each other is something that you could feel and see, without ever actually feeling or seeing it. My mom’s stories help too, she talks about all the fun stuff they used to do and things they used to talk about. I’m thankful that he helped give me the amazing life I have. That he gave to my mom the values and stories she would give to me. I painted a picture of him and my Granny a few years ago, and while I got to know his face, his thin brown hair, the light in his eyes, I got to know his heart, and I know he’s up there watching too.

Next is Granny. For those of you that don’t know- Granny really is the inspiration for this blog. She taught us to cook and bake and get crafty. When I was little, Granny would buy me coloring books and sketch pads, she’d save tissue boxes and paper towel rolls for me and would let me play with her scrap fabric. My Granny tapped into my creativity before I even knew that I had any. She was always encouraging me and teaching me new things. She wanted me to sing. She wanted me to paint, and try making dinner rolls on my own. She’s the lady I want to become. The one with a stash of cookies and dollar bills for any kids that might come along. Sewing and writing and loving everyone but always SO tough and so funny. I’m grateful she gave me her example. I’m grateful that she taught Kassi and I both how to be, and then gave us each other, so that when she couldn’t physically be there anymore, we could look to one another. I’m grateful that even though she knows we’re okay together, she still shows up in conversation, in a funny story, in the mixing bowl while we whip up something sweet, that’s her. That’s her showing us what to do, and loving us up close, even when heaven seems far away. 

Next week’s topic is Things in Nature. 
What about the world around you are you thankful for? Why?

Join , and . 


Happy Wednesday :)

 


Filed Under: Kayli, Ten Weeks of Thanks

Ten Weeks of Thanks – Kassi’s Week 1

February 22, 2012 2 Comments
Ok… So I’m a little behind… 
But you didn’t think for one minute I wasn’t going to join in on my sister’s linky party, did you?!? 
So here I am! Finally. Sorry bout that… heehee. 
 I’m going to follow Kayli’s lead and choose five things I’m thankful for to go along with each topic. 
So this week, I’m thankful for these physical abilities…

Sight. I’ve worn glasses since I was in about 5th grade I think it was… Contacts since about 6th… Without one or the other I am a complete wreck! Like I can BARELY see anything… So near sighted it’s ridiculous!
My give me sight. Sight to see my sexy hubs. Sight to read the Hunger Games books (which I LOVED!!). Sight to see what I’m typing as I go along writing this blog post… You know, all the good things in life. 
Typing. Yep, that’s totally a physical ability. All day long I sit at a computer for my 8-5 job. I type emails, blog posts, tweets, etc. I’m pretty proficient at it thanks to my mom who realized what an important skill it was going to become and taught me at an early age… Typing is a key essential to being able to do my job. Typing is also essential to Truly Lovely… another thing I don’t know what I’d do without! 

Dancing. I’m with . Dancing is one of the funnest past times I can think of! Turns out I got lucky… Hubs is a great dancer! I wouldn’t say it’s his favorite thing, but he doesn’t mind taking me anytime I want to go… and we have a lot of fun together doing so. 

Dancing with our wedding party. 
Running. I hate it. Absolutely. I ran track in high school and hated every stinking step I had to take to get around that track. But let’s be honest… it keeps you healthy. It keeps you looking good. AND it can save your life as you run away from something scary… SO I am thankful I can run. 

Riding. I grew up learning to ride a horse with my Papa and my dad. Riding horses is a huge part of my family’s history, past and present. It’s what we do. Then I found and married the hubs. Riding horses to rope is his thing. If I couldn’t ride I’d be very left out, now wouldn’t I… 
Click here for the links ups for ,  and .  
We’d love for you to join us! :)
Be thankful lovelies! 

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