On Saturday night I went with my cute mommy, to the General Relief Society Meeting. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf spoke to the women of the church. He used Forget-Me-Nots for the foundation of his talk. Just as there are five pedals on each Forget Me Not, he gave us 5 things we should never forget:
1. to be patient and compassionate with yourself
2. some sacrifices are better than others
3. to seek for happiness NOW
4. that the gospel of Jesus Christ will inspire and uplift you.
5. that your Heavenly Father knows, loves, and cherishes you.
I loved this talk! Whether you have been active in the church all your life, or never at all your Heavenly Father loves you, and He loves me. One of my favorite songs is Consider the Lilies it reminds me that no matter how small and insignificant we all may feel at times, Heavenly Father is mindful of all of his creations including me and you!
So chins up my friends, because He won't forget you, and neither will I!
Well folks we finally did it! After countless scheduling conflicts and a phobia of reptiles, Shanda and I hiked our outdoorsy butts up Ben Lomond Peak Friday afternoon.
We stopped at Maverick to snag some gas, they were cooking hot dogs up front so we grabbed a giant dog, and with all our hiking gear, took off up the mountain in Shanda's awesome Tacoma laughing at how we are,
"The girliest girls we know."
The hike was amazing! i hadn't hiked Ben Lomond in over 4 years and Shanda had never hiked it. Word to the wise go in September it is GORGEOUS! There are hints of fall everywhere and it's not crazy hot. win win.
When we reached the peak we hung out for about an hour and just enjoyed nature!
Man i love mountains. And i will tell you why:
1. They smell awesome
2. They are peaceful
3. It's one of the places i feel closest to my Heavenly Father
4. when you scale a mountain you just feel hardcore
5. Endorphins!
6. They take all your stress away
mountains are good for the soul!
If you have never hiked Ben Lomond i would suggest you get on that real quick, it's 16 miles of pure bliss!
There are days that fade in and out of memory, but today will never be one of them. Its early morning on September 11th 2011, as I went with my family to put up flags around our neighborhood I couldn't help but go back ten years ago and think of all the lives that were changed on this day, including mine. Everyone says they will never forget where they were when they heard about the attacks on 9-11-01, and I am no exception. I was ten years old. This is what I remember about the day that changed our Nation forever:
September 11, 2001
I remember waking up to get ready for another exciting day of 5th grade. I went out to eat breakfast as I always did and usually watch a little T.V. today was different. I remember my mom had the news turned on and there was smoke billowing out of the World Trade Center.
We watched for a while and then headed to school; i remember walking through the office, the library, the halls, the normal hustle of those busy places had fallen silent. No phones rang, no one spoke, and the eyes of all the teacher and adults were fixated on the television in the Green Acres library. For most students once they reached their classrooms the tragedy that was unfolding before our eyes was shielded from them and their day went on. But not for me, I remember walking into class and the same images poured out in front of me from the screen placed in my class room as the second tower was hit.
My teacher and little 5th grade class watched that terrible day unfold on live television all day. We saw every poor soul who leaped for their final deliverance from the top of the towers; we saw the fire, the smoke, the fear, the crash and collapse of both towers.
I remember when it was time for recess no one played, no one talked, and every time a plane flew over our heads we all instantly looked up expecting it to come crashing down on us.
My teacher had us draw pictures and write about what we saw. I didn't keep what i drew, but i remember being sick to my stomach as i drew little people falling out of windows and the fire consuming the upper floors of the World Trade Center.
May we never forget, not only the attacks on the The World Trade Center, The Pentagon, and those who brought down the plane in Pennsylvania, but how united we were as a nation during the time that followed. Even at 10 I had a feeling of unity and love for all Americans. I remember how we all banded together from that day forward and although the smoke has dissipated and the victims have been laid to rest, may we never forget. Never forget how precious life is, how blessed we are to live in America, and how much we owe to those serving our country. May we never ever forget.
The time has come. My little group of friends are all on their way to the big veintiuno! Alisha is one of the first, and basically one of my most favorite people on this planet! So to send her off to 21 in style we had a Margarita Night. Turns out we'd be awesome drunk people...but who needs booze when you can get drunk on life right??? haha. Our night got as wild as it could get when you are substituting Orange juice for Tequila. They still tasted awesome, and we could remember what we did the next day. win, win.
Alright so Elder Brandley has been out 9 months and at risk of looking overly excited i have been debating how to do this post....i thought i would give some statistics about how it takes 9 months to get from Earth to Jupiter...or in 9 months the average person walks 100 miles (all these statistics are being made up on the spot and are most likely completely bogus. haha. ) Anyways, i was hoping to find an awesome stat to put this 9 month chunk of time into perspective, trying to find an alternative to the obvious answer to measure a 9 month period of time...yes, a baby. But i had no such luck. So Phill has been gone a whole baby. haha. And he is doing awesome! He is heading to his 3rd Area (not sure where yet), working hard, and spreading some joy!
So...where do we stand 9 months out???
I believe Sugarland says it best.
basically i am just as crazy about him as ever! we still think freakishly alike, he still cracks me up, makes me endlessly happy, and no one else holds a candle to him....(i know mush fest, but all true. ha.)
3 more months and we'll be at 1 year. Time is flying, can life get any better? I submit that it cannot!
The most recent pictures of Phillip and I. to the left you see elated me tearing off link # 9 to my wicked sweet paper chain! and to the right you see Elder PJB as studly as ever holding some sort of stuffed animal...story of animal unknown. haha (we're still pretty cute together if i say so myself.) Happy September All!
