Feb 12, 2012

Days of Love

I love February for one reason,
Valentines Day!
In my opinion this is the cutest holiday of them all.
everything...
Pink
Hearts
&
Cinnamon Lips?
Any other girly-girl would have to agree with me.



And like i've said before... I love any excuse to make 'cutesy' things.
Who doesn't love a holiday forcing people to LOVE?
Love is the best! haha

so as I was looking for ideas on pinterest to do for my 'sweetheart'... there were way too many to choose just one.
Instead of '12 days of christmas'
here you have,

"7 days of Valentines"
These were SO simple, but super fun to do :)
and most of them turned out pretty cute.

Day 1:
thought i'd 'pop' a 'corny' question,
be my valentine?

Day 2:
I 'chews' you because we are 'mint' to be!
(you are 'EXTRA' special)

Day 3:
I love you 'BERRY' much!

Day 4:
Our 'lips' should 'stick' together this Valentines!
(my little sister Alivia was pretty concerned about this one,
I had to explain it was just for the rhyme! haha)


Day 5:
You are the icing to my oreo and the milk to my cookies!
or...
(It's plain as 'black' and 'white' we are meant to be!)




Day 6:
You add the 'sparkle' to my eye and make me feel 'bubbly'

Day 7 (Valentines Day):
One hundred hearts would be too few to show the love I have for you!

This requires a HEART ATTACK! obviously.

Isn't Valentines Day fun?
And I just have to say, i'm crossing my fingers that 'The Vow' will fit somewhere into my schedule on valentines day :) ahh i'm so excited, the couple's story in that movie KILLS me! I cry just watching the trailer... which i've watched countless times. And how great that Rachel McAdams AND Channing Tatum are in it?? ooh it's gonna be a favorite I can already tell :)

Well...

Feb 9, 2012

called to serve

I think that one of the coolest programs my church has is it's missionary program. To those not familiar with it, i admit it sounds kind of absurd...what? just drop everything for two years right at your prime-time, leave your friends and family, with only very little communication, and go to some foreign place?? okay, even to someone very familiar with it, it still seems like that's asking a lot. and it is! But that just shows how strong, and faithful our missionary boys and girls are, and have to be! I admire and look up to them with all my heart. I haven't experienced first-hand exactly what a missionary goes through, but I promise I have seen the blessings and miracles that come from the work they do. I have such a strong testimony that what they are doing is so right. When I went to the Philippines a couple years ago to visit my grandparents who were serving as mission presidents (San Pablo, Philippines Mission) I had the opportunity to witness, and live 'a week in the life of a missionary.'  The biggest thing that stuck out to me was love. With the right spirit the missionaries truly LOVED what they were doing, because no matter how hard it was they knew it was so good! They LOVED the people they were serving, and trust me the Philippine people LOVED them and were SO grateful to them! I believe the feeling of love came from service, learning, the gospel, and the constant presence of the spirit, what a wonderful environment to be in! One of my favorite things to read are letters from my cousins, I'm sure every letter from a missionary is equally uplifting and adds an instant smile to whoever is reading it. When James came home, I kid you not he was truly glowing. It's true, what they say about how you can physically see if someone has the spirit with them! Judd's letters are just as fun and uplifting to read, there is not a more pure testimony than found in his writing.
so, I've always had a thing for missionaries... I get excited to see them walking down the street, I love hearing stories about missions, love reading letters... but why the sudden outburst??
You guessed it.
Jordan Carver got his mission call!
I just have to say, the moment they open and read their call for the first time is SO cool/spiritual/exciting/nerve-racking/AMAZING, and I am SOOO happy he let me be there for it! If you've never seen someone read their call for the first time, i advise you to either plan on opening your own or find someone to watch! Cause your missing out. It's been the same for all I've watched, there's nothing cuter then shaky hands, and the first expression on their face after finding out where a prophet of God determined where they are going to spend one of the biggest moments in their life at! And it's true! I know that my dads mission is STILL blessing his life, and the lives of those he taught. Same with all of my uncles, and grandparents. They tell stories like it was yesterday, teach from their experiences, and are still best friends with some of the companions they had.
I'm so excited for Jordan to get to experience all this in
 Hermosillo, Mexico!
Sure, I'm gonna miss him like crazy but I'm so proud of him for making the decision to go serve, and I can't wait to hear all about it in all his letters! I'm a supporter. 100%. To him, and all of the Sisters and Elders in the field.
How lucky is it that he will have this beautiful temple in his mission!