Tuesday, April 26, 2011

No more pink!!!

One more coat of paint on the upper half of these walls, and the family room will no longer be a bubblegum pink color!

I love the feeling of looking back on something you did with huge satisfaction.  I've spent the past 2 days working on this room, and all I want to do is stop and keep staring at it.  Hard work is such a valuable principle, yet it's a dieing one.  I am SO grateful that my parents taught me the importance of work!

Sunday, April 24, 2011

My fingers smell like rosemary...

One of the best feelings is walking out to your yard or patio and harvesting produce that you grew.  Not only does it taste better than what you would get in the grocery store, but you experience a feeling of satisfaction and pride in knowing that YOU grew that!  I just put sprigs of fresh rosemary in between slices of a pork roast and rubbed minced rosemary all over it.  Even after washing my hands, they still smelled like rosemary.  The smell was wonderful, and I can't wait to taste it in a few hours.


Call me granola, but I have grown to develop a deep and lasting love for nature, the grand teacher of simplicity.  I find joy in harvesting produce, satisfaction in spending hours working in the yard, and peace amidst the quiet, often sacred surroundings of nature.  As the world becomes more complicated, nature remains constant.  You can always rely on nature to bring you lasting happiness and peace of mind, and this is a huge testimony to me of the love that God has for us.  He didn't just put us on this earth without putting a great deal of thought into the design.  Not only has it been created with aesthetics in mind, but we can learn many lessons from nature as well. There is powerful symbolism everywhere in nature, and many notable spiritual experiences happened in nature because of its ability to create a sacred environment.  And on that note, I feel empowered...


Dieter F. Uchtdorf said: "The bounds of creativity extend far beyond the limits of a canvas or a sheet of paper and do not require a brush, a pen, or the keys of a piano. Creation means bringing into existence something that did not exist before—colorful gardens, harmonious homes, family memories, flowing laughter."


Creating gardens and maintaining them is somewhat spiritual!  I can create sacred environments where people can feel the spirit and have incredible experiences.  That's awesome.  :)