The Day's Highlights

NIGHT TIME EXTENSION

I think we all come upon those days when our eyes are opened to a new day in the morning and we just don't want to keep them open, but sleep the day away for whatever depressing reason we don't want to face another day. That was my morning today. I awoke and an immediate feeling of despair come over me and I didn't want to face another day. So, what did I do? I rolled over and went back to sleep and didn't get out of bed til 11ish. Haven't done that since high school! I dragged my feet getting ready for the day, but finding my itching to get out of the hour increased with each passing minute.

LOOKIN' UP...AGAIN!

I left this early afternoon to hit up a few clothing store here in town in order to finish my shopping spree that I started yesterday. While I was on my way over to the stores I habitually looked up into the sky. Hearing the wind whizzing by my window all night last night and waking up to a grey filled sky, when I looked up this afternoon I expected to see the same dreary sky that perfectly represented how I was feeling. But when I looked up I was surprised to see big billowy clouds against a bright blue sky. They were amazing!

I keep my camera on my at all times now for occassions such as this. From where I was on my drive to the store I would have had the tops of buildings and power lines tainting the picture and so I drove to an area where I could get a clear shot of the beautiful clouds. The pictures turned out better than I had expected they would!

As I had lifted my head to see the sky, my spirit was likewise lifted too. I pondered upon this concept and drew some metaphors from it. Often times when we are down in the dumps we hang our head and walk around with our shoulders slumped. We are solely focused on our thoughts and feelings. But if we look up and if we look around we will find that the things we are surrounded by can bless our life if we allow it in. I felt pretty crappy when I woke up this morning. But when I took the time to look up and allow what was surrounding me and what the world around me was offering to me, my spirits were lifted. The Lord is always blessing our lives in little ways like this. Are we looking up? Are we looking around us? Are we searching for these things so we can allows His blessings to come into our lives? I know I need to lift my head a little more.

SHOPPING SPREE SUCCESS
When you can put on and take off your pants without having to unbutton them, you know it's time to go shopping! My slightly unsuccessful and disappointing attempt to find what I was looking for in yesterday's shopping venture was made up to me today as I again set forth to find new clothing. It is a rare occassion that I have had to go clothes shopping alone and each time I go alone I find an even more dislike to it. It helps to have a good friend who has an outside perspective and who will be honest in their opinion to the clothes you try on. Although I was successful in today's shopping outting, I missed having my side-kick there a whole lot!

My Bottom Successes!
[no pun intented].
(A pair of khakis, two pairs of jeans, and a casual skirt)

Top Successes!
(Red & Teal tank top, White, Teal, & Black t-shirt, and a Red criss-crossity shirt).

Shopping Surprises
- I am one pants size smaller! This came to me as a big surprise because I don't look like I have lost weight, but according to the scale I have dropped a few pounds - enough to go down a whole pants size. I have kept my weight at a pretty consistant 135 for many years now, but am now averaging between a 128-130 depending on the day and how much water I've downed ;o). I am hoping to stay at this weight or gain a few muscle pounds as my marathon/triathlon training begin to become more intense.
- I love pants that fit! I think I have been living in a world of oversized pants for too long that I forgot how good it feels to wear pants that actually fit! The pair of jeans on the far right are my current favorite. They are probably 3 inches too long (they only had 6L), but every other part of them fit perfect on my body. And they were only $15 bucks too!
- The red criss-crossity shirt on the far right of the picture is an XS. The shirt was way cute and so I tried it on anyway just for the fun of it. When it fit with a regular t-shirt on underneath I was shocked! I think it helped that it was a criss-cross shirt........(gives Lewis & Clark breathing room).
-I'm excited to finally have some variety of clothing and clothes that I can play mix-match with to come up with several different outfits. No more rotation of the same shirts and outfits twice in one week!

Shopping Disappointments
- I tried on a way cute jean skirt in a size 8 (not knowing that I was a size 6 yet). I loved it! But when I went to exchange it for a size 6 there weren't any! I didn't think too much about it because I knew they sell the same skirt on the internet and I could order it online. BUT when I came home and went to order it all they add available was XXL! Poop! So, I think I'm going to return to the store and get the size 8 and just tuck an undershirt or two (or three) in so it stays on (hopefully!) until I can somebody adjust it.
- I ran into the same problem as above with a tank top. They didn't have my size so I went to order it online and they had the size but the color I wanted wasn't available. Double poop!
- I missed my BBP!

I will be posting a "Catwalk" post so you can see these clothes in action! Yes, it will be an exclusive, one-time modeling post. Don't miss this once-in-a-lifetime chance! (I know, so exciting....).

Lessons of Fasting & Prayer

For the last 24 hours my body has been heavy with emotion and my mind has been deep in thought on serious and spiritual matters. Although I seem to think deeply often it seems as though the last 24 hours I have been taken to a new level deep thinking. My deeper level of thinking, I believe, is due to fasting and praying.

Over the years, since the days I began fasting on a monthly basis, I have progressed as I have applied the principles of proper fasting in my life. In the last 24 hours I have learned more about fasting and praying than I have in a long while. Not too long ago, while fasting, I made a side comment to a friend of how hungry I was and how long it was til I would be able to eat again. She then suggested to me that everytime I feel the hunger or think about food that I say a prayer reiterating what it is that I am fasting for in order to realign my focus. I thought this was a very good suggestion and attempted to apply it into my life as I fasted and prayed. I wasn't perfect at it and sometimes would even forget about the suggestion and let the thoughts of food consume my mind as my stomach was crying out for any kind of substance.

Earlier on in the week I felt inspired to fast this weekend for somebody very specific and for something of a serious nature. When I was given the impression to fast I spent the following days pondering upon the person and the reason for the fast, trying to prepare myself as completely as I could. And because of the person and the seriousness of what I was impressed to fast and pray about I wanted to do it the best I knew how. I am grateful that the Lord presented this to me earlier in the week so I could prepare through His guiding spirit.

I opened my fast with a prayer, marking the time I began in my mind so I could do a complete 24 hour fast. I asked to be sustained during my fast and that my focus would be on the person and reason for this fast and not on food or any other distracting thoughts. The Lord is so amazing and blessed me in my fast. He taught me some great principles.

When I was a teenager I, more than not, fasted and prayed for other people. But once I hit the college years my fasting and prayers turned to fasts for myself, combined with other things/people on occassion. Looking back on it now I can understand why that happened; college is a really self-focused period of our life as we are determining our future with almost every decision. Who doesn't need the guidance from above in these decisions? (Note: That last statement was not a justifying statement). As I wholly focused this most recent fast on somebody other than me I could see how my thoughts were also changed. I realized that when I have fasted for myself in times prior my thoughts were about me, obviously. But not only were they on the matters of myself that I was fasting and praying for, but they were also about my own carnal feelings/desires, like starvation and dehydration. As I fasted and prayed for this individual my thoughts were focused on this person and my carnal ailments became a sacrifice for the desire I was fasting and praying for. My hunger and thirst were no longer annoyances, pain, or any other inconvience my body was going through in order to fast. But it was a sacrifice, an offering to put on the alter, for the person and reason I was fasting and praying for. My heart was fully in it completely and wholly. My reasons for fasting and praying for this individual meant more to me than food or water did.

More thoughts to come.....not done yet.

Fantasy Suite: The Great Outdoors

This posting will be a work in progress. For now I am just posting pictures and hopefully before the weekend is over I will come back and insert captions and text about how my room came to be. But for now, enjoy the pictures!

These pictures show the progress from the beginning to where it is now; it's still not finished. Ok, ok, I decided to do quick captions so you know what's going on. But I'll still come back and add more soon.

My bedroom before the project started. It was always clean, but here I am packing up and moving my things out so we can start painting.


The last of my things the night before the project began. I just have my essentials here: bed, bike, and scriptures!


We taped the room and began primeing the walls before painting them. My mom is 'cutting in' (painting around object, in corners, and along edges). I come behind her and paint what's left - the big areas of the walls and ceiling.


Here's my mom cutting in again, but with color! We started painting the ceiling and then worked our way to the walls. The ceiling was a neck cranking task as you can see.

The walls and the ceiling are finished! The ceiling is a slightly darker blue than the walls. If you've ever studied the sky you know that the sky above you is always a darker blue than the color of sky you see on the horizon. We went for that effect.


Jessica, my roommate, and my mom finishing up the last touches of the wallpaper felt we put on the wall that the photo wall mural was going up on. This wallpaper felt creates a smooth wall, which allows the photo wall mural to adhere to the wall better as well as not having the texture of the wall show through the photo wall mural.


While we waiting for the wallpaper felt to dry my mom tried her hand at creating a sunset that fades into a sky of clouds. The sunset ended up being painted over. It didn't turn out like either of us had wanted or expected; plus it conflicted with the daytime clouds on the wall. (It can't be daytime and sunset at the same time).


Painting the clouds on the ceiling. Another neck cranking job, but fun! The clouds on the ceiling didn't turn out quite how I had envisioned. They soon will be touched up to get the effect I'm looking for.


The first panel of the photo wall mural to go up! This was the part we had waited for most about this project. We were excited to finally get the photo wall mural up!


The first four center panels of the photo wall mural. They went on better than expected. Phew.


The left two panals of the photo wall murals. These were a bit trickier to put up because we now had a ceiling and the adjacent wall to work with when cutting off the excess mural.


The second to last panel of mural! This is as far as we got. There is a hole in the adjacent wall due to water damage that has yet to be fixed. In order to preserve the photo mural from getting damaged when the wall gets fixed we opted to not put it up.


The finished product! Well, almost. But you get the big picture (no pun intended). It's this gorgeous! I am very pleased with this photo mural. I LOVE waking up to this scenery each morning. It's like waking up to heaven.


More clouds! Although, we painted over these because we found there was just too many clouds and it competed with the wall mural. We left the clouds on the opposite wall of the photo mural and on the ceiling. It balanced the room out quite well. But these clouds are pretty anyway!


My bed platform. I randomly came up with the idea of having a hanging bed. Once we figured out how to do it, we went to work. This is the platform that hangs from the ceiling; the mattress rests on top. (And I do too).


I loved this part! How often does somebody get the opportunity to drill big holes into their ceiling? I was very surprised my roommate allowed me to do this and was even really excited about it too!


This picture shows how the hanging bed is supported from above the ceiling. The chain is just wrapped around a 2x4 that is screwed into a ceiling joist. Not too shabby! The two farthest 2x4's I had to screw in were extremely difficult to manage. There were two vent hoses in the way and I had about a 10'' square area to work in to screw the 2x4 to the ceiling joist. And I had to do all of that while balancing on the 2x4 ceiling joists so not to fall through the ceiling board. Yikes! Hard work.


I spent quite a bit of time in the attic drilling in the 2x4's and hanging the chains. Had to get a picture of my lovely face mask and bright orange gloves I wore!


This is me after coming down from the attic. As much as I tried to avoid the insulation it ended up getting all over me and my clothes. It felt like a thousand tiny needles poking me everywhere!


Here are the four chains hanging from the ceiling. We were just about ready to hang the bed.


We glued a piece of PVC pipe into each hole so the chain wouldn't damage the ceiling board when the bed rocked or swayed.


My hanging bed! It was so neat to finally see it up and hanging. This was another long awaited and anticipated part of the project. Very cool!


This is me sitting on my bed for the first time to make sure it wouldn't come crashing down. It took me a few days to begin to trust that it won't crash down in the middle of the night.


My 5' Moster Sak (aka: luv sak) was the next newest addition to my room. I have wanted one of these for several years and was finally excited for its arrival. It is very comfortable to relax on!

The next newest additions to my bedroom was this small table, a fish aquarium, and a large mirror. The white section of the wall that you see will soon be covered by wild flower wall paper so it will give the feel of walking or lying in the middle of a wild flower field.


One may think that fish will go into this fish aquarium. Not so. I will be growing my own butterflies in this aquarium. They are on their way in the mail right now. Hopefully they'll make it. I will be putting soil and planting flowers in this aquarium to make a nice little habitate for my butterflies to live in. Who ever thought you could grow your own butterflies?


I just received these foam pads that create my bed. Before I was using a futon mattress pad. The bottom piece of foam is 5'' thick and the top piece is 3'' thick. The top piece is also softer than the bottom, hence the two different pieces.

And this is my bed all made! As you have probably noticed my bed is hanging right next to my window. I purposely planned it this way so every night I could fall asleep looking up at the stars and every morning I would wake up to the morning sun and sky. This is one of my favorite parts about the bed because no matter what time of day it is I am looking out into the sky and am surrounded by nature - my one true love! Another feature that I love about my bed is that is sways and rocks. It is very relaxing to fall asleep to the gentle sway of the bed.

I still have a bit of work left to do on the room; touch up the clouds, start growing my butterflies, hanging pictures and shelves, as well as getting and putting up the wild flower wall paper. So keep checking back every now and then for fantasy suite updates. And again, I will be adding more about how this all came about soon.

I am so grateful for my best friend Angie for increasing my love of nature in so many different ways. Many of the elements and inspirations for my bedroom came from her influence on me of her passion for the outdoors, especially the clouds. She's taught me to always look up in more ways than one. BFF & BBP F&FA!

I am very grateful for my mom, for without her this wouldn't have become what it is. Thank you for sharing your talents and your time with me to create a fantasy dream room! Thanks for teaching me some of what you know. I absolutely loved spending that time with you! Cows!

Grounded and Secure with a Clear Vision

During my visit to California to see my Grandparents I had a flood of insights come to me during church. These insights have been lingering on my mind for the last few days and I felt a desire to share them.

As church members we have most likely heard the song "Anchor of my Soul" and have been taught the metaphor and relation between the anchor and Jesus Christ. The purpose of an anchor is to secure a ship from moving or drifting wherever it is ported no matter what kind of weather. This anchor will secure the ship against the heavy storms, crashing waves, and thrashing winds of the sea.

The Anchor is strong, reliable, and constant. The Anchor is always there to keep the ship from drifting out to a dangerous and threatening sea. The Anchor will always be there. But how secure are we to the Anchor? How strong are the links in the chain that connect the Anchor to the ship? The chain is only as strong as the weakest link. Each link needs to be strong enough to weather the storms in order to stay secured to the Anchor or it will break and will drift away to sea.

What links are connecting me to the Savior, my Anchor? Which links are strong? Which links are weak? What do I need to do to stengthen each link so I can be assurred that I won't break and float away from the Anchor of my soul?

"And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is [to] the [anchor] of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must [secure your chain to]; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the [anchor which ye are secured to], which is a sure [anchor], a[n] [anchor] whereon if men [secure to] they cannot [drift]" (Helaman 5:12).

We are also taught that Christ is our only hope in this life. As I thought about this I questioned it, seeking to find if there was any other hope than Christ that we could rely upon. Is Christ our ONLY hope? It was quickly testified to me through the Spirit that our Savior and Redeemer is our only hope. It is in Him that we must rely upon for our salvation and exaltation. We only have One person to answer to at the end of each day and at the end of our mortal life. What comfort that brings because the One we must answer to is the One who has atoned for all; He knows us and He knows our hearts, which enables Him to judge righteously. It is not some strange, unknown Being who is mysterious and who doesn't know us; He is our Elder Brother. He knows us better than we know ourself. And each day we are given the blessing and opportunity to get to know Him better and come closer to being perfected in Him.

The Lord will compensate for our lack, for what we can't do ourselves because He will never give us anything that we cannot handle. When we aren't strong enough (which we never are because He sustains us in every moment) He is strong enough and will build us up. Everytime we feel weak, everytime when we want to give up or give in all we have to do is turn to Him for strength because He is the source of all our strength and can give or make up for what we are lacking. This is comforting because I often feel I am too weak or that I can't do it or I just want to give up, but when I allow myself to believe that I can't do it I have become faithless and am mocking the strength and atonement of Jesus Christ that He constantly offers me if I will but ask and apply to my life. By giving up I am saying that He couldn't give me the strength or in other words, He failed me. But in reality it is I who has failed Him.

"And moreover, I say unto you, that there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent" (Mosiah 3:17).

Have you ever been walking down the street on a hot summer day or driving down the freeway and off in the far distance you can see what looks like a little pool of water? But what you are seeing is in fact just a mirage; something that appears to be there when in actuality it isn't. Satan uses this tool in our lives all the times. He put mirages or illusions in our vision in order to deceive us or skew our sight in an attempt to get us to sin. Some of these illusions may include: pride, secret combinations, justification, jealousy/covetedness, judgements, etc. The illusion that I think is most prominent is 'wickedness is happiness'. That is a very skewed line of thinking, but is very often fallen into by good, righteous people. But this line of thinking brings only selfish instant gratification that can result in spiritual death and darkness. It doesn't bring happiness at all!

Satan is very talented with his flaxen cord; slowly and gradually wrapping it around and around and around until it's wrapped so many times it's impossible to break through by ourself. When we reach that point it is then we know that we must seek other's help to break free from the bounds of Satan's grasp. One hopes they will never reach that point, but one must also never underestimate the power of Satan. One must never underestimate the saving and protecting power of Christ either. Satan starts with a small illusion far off in the distance and when we're not paying that much attention you may just find yourself right in the middle of that illusion.

And we often, if not careful, tend to accept something just a tad shade more wrong than what we are already accepting in our lives through the illusions of pride, justification, rationalization, etc., which all root from Satan himself. He is vicious in the most appealing ways and he's good at it!

So, how do we keep from finding ourself stepping into or in the middle of an illusion? There are several answers, but one that has been tried, tested, and taught to me by my best friend was that of memorizing scriptures. This keeps your mind occupied in lull moments as well as thwarting any kind of illusion, temptation, or evil thing that may creep into your mind.

"Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven" (D&C 121:45).

I guess my overall central message is that whether we have weak or strong links in our chain or whether we are in the middle of one of Satan's illusions or not, we must fully rely upon our only hope, Jesus Christ - the Redeemer and Savior of our souls. It is only through Him that we can stay grounded and secure with a clear vision of the path that leads us back into His loving arms.

Gliding Above the Ground

It was almost love at first sight. As I waited inside of the Rexburg ACE Hardware store for my best friend to clock out for her lunch break I slowly browsed the line up of bikes they had. I stopped dead in my tracks when my eye caught a hold of one particular road bike. Before drool started dripping from the side of my mouth my best friend walked up to me and introduced me to the 2006 Jamis Xenith Team road bike. She also told me that it was a really nice ride for she was able to take it for a spin one day in the ACE Hardware parking lot. I was almost hesitant to even touch the bike for fear of tainting in somehow, but was grateful to have been introduced to such a beauty. I took a quick look at the price tag before walking away and determined that the relationship between me and the bike was going to have to be mere aquaintances, anything more would result in unwise rationalized financial debt.

I kept the relationship on the cool for about a year. Everytime I went into ACE Hardware I'd keep our visits short, as sincere as they could be, and of course, as superficial as any kind of relationship one has with material objects. It was always a surprise and a relief to me when I'd walk into ACE and still see her sitting there. My best friend would tell me about who would come in to look or ask questions about her. She was my unspoken spy and guard during her shifts at ACE Hardware. She was a protector of my heart, not wanting it to be crushed by somebody snatching her away without warning.

After about a year of saving my pennies and creating a strategic financial plan I walked into ACE on March 26, 2008 and became the proud owner of the Jamis Xenith Team road bike I had had my eye on for so long.

Shortly after purchasing Jamis I was informed that a customer had been coming in for a couple days in a row to look at the bike and had asked many questions and even called the morning I purchased the bike to see if it was still there. Everything fell into place on that particular day for me to purchase Jamis and at the predetermined time a dream of mine came true.

The day after purchasing Jamis I double checked my bank accounts to make sure everything was in order. When I discovered that my bank accounts were not in order I quickly called Angie to explain what had happened and to try to get it figured out. While on the phone with Angie her boss (and owner of ACE) beeped in asked Angie what was going on because the account at ACE was messed up too. Fear was instilled in my heart when the thought of having to return Jamis to ACE came into my mind, but Angie reassured me that wasn't necessary or even an option. But the fear still lingered.

Angie, being a manager of ACE, had the responsibility of helping this situation get straightened out. So, the following day Angie and I spent several hours trying to reverse what had happened and get it straightened out. Option after option after option failed. It felt like we hit brick wall after brick wall after brick wall. But we were determined to resolve it. When we finally did reach a solution, the only solution, that would work I was hesitant to proceed because of its costs. The solution meant Angie paying for half of the bike on her credit card. And under the circumstances that was a huge sacrifice on Angie's part. Placing myself in her shoes I know I would have done the same thing for her in a heartbeat. And having the deep trust and abiding friendship that we do I accepted her sacrifice for me with the understanding that I would repay her. What she did meant the world to me and she became even more a hero to me that day than she already was. Realistically, without Angie I don't think this could have been resolved so all parties were happy. She was a hero to me and a hero to ACE for her skills, knowledge, and determination.

Jamis, being a specialized bike, didn't come with pedals but my sheer joy of finally having my dream in my hands was worth the wait of getting pedals. After researching and looking at several different types of pedals I finally made my decision and made the trip to Idaho Falls to purchase them. Never having any experience with clip pedals I was a bit hesitant and had some fear of purchasing them. I heard and read of the difficulty and injuries that come from getting used to clip pedals. I decided to get a versitile pedal; one side of the pedal had a clip and the other side was a normal flat pedal. I was very happy with this decision for it allowed me to have the option of which way I wanted to ride depending on the ride. With the flat pedal I could just jump on anytime without having to gear up. And with the clip pedal I could take my time to learn how to ride with them without it holding me back from riding freely.

With the pedals finally purchased I was anxious to put them on and take my girl for a ride. But at the same time as the purchase of my pedals my mom came into town to help me create my room into a fantasy suite and that took first priority.

Finally, after more than three weeks from the purchase of Jamis was I finally able to take her out for our first ride together. I must admit two things though. First, I almost didn't want to take Jamis outside of my house because she is too beautiful to get dirty, but on the other hand wasn't going to let that pretty penny go to waste by having it become a decorative feature. And second, I had a little bit of fear inside of me to ride Jamis because I had never really ridden a road bike before. I was very comfortable on my mountain bike, but when it came to riding my road bike I was a little bit scared.

I spent all morning Friday morning preparing for my bike ride. I pumped up the tires, put on the pedals, installed an odometer, filled up my new North Face 100 oz. camelback, packed my tools and emergency supplies in my camelback, and dressed in my new biking gear. I was ready to go! I carried my bike outside and began my ride as my roommate wished me good luck (after making a sly comment about my spandex pants)!

I slowly rode out of Parkside Townhomes as I got a feel for the bike. I crossed the street onto a residential road and picked up speed. I had an immediate connection to Jamis at that point and my biking addiction quickly came flooding back to me! The ride was so smooth and so light. I felt like I was gliding above the ground. Excitement filled my heart with each rotation of the pedals. I couldn't stop smiling. It was a new experience and a new feeling. I loved it! Angie was right on when she said it is a really nice ride.

I kept to the side and residential roads on my bike ride. My first destination was the Nature Park. The weather was moderate for riding, cool and a bit windy, but the smell of rain was in the air and was so refreshing to breath in! It even sprinkled a little bit on me while on my ride which was a tender mercy as it brought back a memory of a previous bike ride in the rain.

Since the wind was blowing a bit, about 14 mph, I had planned on wearing my sunglasses so my eyes wouldn't water excessively, but shortly after I started riding I realized I had forgotten them. Not wanting to turn around and get them I continued onto the Nature Park. After riding around on the trails at the Nature Park I took a picture of myself with my bike with the duck pond in the background. It was when I looked at this picture that I discovered that I hadn't forgotten my sunglasses after all. They were on my head!

Yep! There they are - right on top of my head! Along with my sunglasses I am wearing my new spandex biking pants and blue biking shirt, both gifts to me by Angie. You can't see but I bought yellow butterfly biking socks that I wore too. And to top the outfit out I am wearing my light weight Chaco shoes (which make the world go 'round). With my biking gloves, mp3 player, and my North Face camelback I am set to go! (Well, almost. A helmet might be a good addition. But no worries, it's coming).

After riding around the Nature Park for awhile I aimlessly rode around the side streets of Rexburg before heading home making my ride a total of 7.2 miles. There were no close calls or near death experiences like I seem to have occassionally on my bike. Everything was great about the ride, except I longed to have my riding buddy right next to me. But other than that I loved every minute of it and soaked in the memories, tender mercies, and new experience this ride provided me with. It was almost love at first sight and it keeps getting better and better.

Little Green World

Several weeks ago I was asked out to go on a double date with a member of my branch and friend of mine, Nate. He graduated from BYU-Idaho in horticulture. (You will understand why that is important here in a minute). The date activity was very purculiar, yet impressively creative. Had been on two dates with Nate previous and was impressed each time with their date ideas, but this one topped them all!

Our date began with a homemade four course meal. We started off with a delicious fresh fruit salad that had an interesting twist to it, cubed cheese. I had never had cheese with my fruit salad before. Definitely new for me. Next was an array of different items including Couscous, Macaroni salad, and seasoned boiled chicken. Our third course reminded me of my mom's traditional Halloween dinner. Carrot soup. But this carrot soup had a zing to it that left a slight burning in your throat. And for another interesting twist to the meal they added a few slices of avacado in with the soup to 'cleanse the pallet.' Not being a huge fan of avacado, but not wanting to be rude or make a scene, I somehow talently downed the slimy slices without triggering my gag reflexes. Now that takes talent!

With our stomaches full we decided to hold off on course four - dessert - until after the main activity of the date. (This is where Nate's horticulture degree comes into play). For our activity we planted a garden! Nate and Destin bought garden kits that allows you to plant up to 25 different things. We had a hay day with this and enjoyed creating our own gardens!

Nate and Destin gave us the choice to plant flowers or herbs, or both! All of us planted a little of each. The flowers that I planted included: Lupine, Sweet Williams, and one other that I can't remember. For herbs I planted: Chives, Cilantro, Rosemary, and Parsley. It has been really exciting for me to take care of these little guys and watch them grow. It's so fun!

This is when the plants first started to peak through the dirt. It took just one week for them to start showing.

This was take just a few days ago; lots more growth! And there is even more since this picture was taken. They are fast little growers. It's always fun to see what changes have occurred even at an overnight rate.

Once they grow a little bit bigger and establish stronger, longer roots I will transplant them into their own little pots. With the flowers I am planning on transplanting them into an aquarium I just purchased where I will be growing/hatching my own butterflies. These flowers will create a beautiful little home for my butterflies.

I'll post an update every so often as my little green world expands! I never thought a garden would be so fun! What a great and creative idea!