Day 1: Remember

I have for some time had a red, leather bound and gold embossed copy of  A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens in my collections for decorative purposes.  I determined this year to read it, when I saw it on my shelf. I have enjoyed it immensely!  It is a wonderful story and the written word of it is much more touching than any film version I've ever seen.

Assuming that everyone knows the story I wish only to point out a singular character who has always been of interest to me.  The Ghost of Christmas Past.  Described as looking like an old man and a young child at once, and emitting a bright light, this spirit takes Ebeneezer Scrooge on a tour of his past Christmases.

  Through this journey Scrooge's heart begins to soften, he recognizes not only the major regrets of his life, but learns that the smallest things he does can affect those around him.  Because of this first step he is able to eventually gain a desire to share Christmas with others, to help others and shows deep remorse for his wrong doings.

What a fantastic example of Remembering.  We are exhorted in the scriptures many times to do the same.  To remember our God, to remember where salvation comes from, to remember our nothingness.

Even a well known mantra of historians is that he who cannot remember the past is doomed to repeat it.

Christmas Beanies 2009?

There are many things we can remember at this time of year.  I think that is what makes this a time loved by all; that we hold dear those memories of loved ones and happiness that we have had in the past.

Lund Christmas Eve, 2010

What will I remember this year?  I remember dragging my mattress upstairs every December first to sleep in a ring of beds with my siblings for a month, a special Christmas tradition.  I remember the first time I had buttermilk syrup at Grandma's house for breakfast on Christmas morning.  I remember picking angels off the tree in the mall and getting so excited to buy gifts for those in need.  I remember my Dad crying when he just talked about The Other Wise Man.  I remember my favorite Christmas  story has always been The Gift of the Magi. Sadly I have no old pictures of Christmas...

Christmas on THE Square.

Snow Fall On Christmas 2008

But the thing I mustn't forget is the reason Christmas has become such a beloved time for giving recieving and rejoicing.  We must not forget the birth of our Savior.  The Son of God.

The Twelve Ways of Christmas

I have been brainstorming new ways to keep the Christmas Spirit in our home this year and in the future when we have kids.  As I have attended church and listened to carols I am more and more concerned that as a people we are edging out the true meaning of the season.  A great example of this is Black Friday.  The very day set aside for gratitude and thanksgiving for our plenty, is now just a day of gluttony and the eve of a shopping holiday.  Before I get off my high horse, I must admit that I LOVE Thanksgiving dinner and I totally went to Wal-mart to get me some cheap blu rays.

The point is not that buying things is evil.  Just that I want to find ways to keep the holidays, especially Christmas, in my heart.

I found something wonderful that I promptly pinned, but you can see it here.  Its called  the twelve ways of Christmas.  Doesn't that just sound wonderful?  The idea on this site was actually borrowed from another blog, and you can find the original at http://12waysofchristmas.blogspot.com/.

I know I'm already behind, but bear with me while I do multiple posts here on the first few days.

So with a little bit of tweaking I knew how I would keep Christmas this year.  And you may all keep it with me, if you choose, by checking up on us here!

Something that means a lot to me.

    Last night I kept Brent up late to watch reruns of the Republican Primary Debates.  We had a great time! I really enjoy watching these potential candidates defend their views and history and I like to see the little bits of personality you can glean between the campaign rhetoric.  Most of all I want to prepare myself for fulfilling one of the most important responsibilities given us in this country, voting.  :)
   Just before bed I signed on to Facebook to catch up on friends and family.  I often see posts or pictures of a political nature there or on Google+ and it sparked a conversation with Brent that kept him up even later.
   I find myself increasingly frustrated with people who, rather than discuss real policy or affect meaningful change, simply want to mud-sling and name-call those with differing views.   Or worse, people who spend no real time studying the topic at hand and instead parrot the uninformed (or intentionally misleading) media.
    I have a few requests to make of my friends, family and society at large.

Read at least 2 articles on a subject (preferably of opposing views) before thinking you know the story.
    If you really think that the Huffington Post is going to present the same story as the Washington Post, you've got another thing coming.  Doesn't wisdom require that you hear both sides of an argument before deciding where you stand?  Even better, listen to MSNBC and Fox News back to back and see what crumbs of truth you can get from those sources.
   Think how much time you spend reading product reviews before you buy something, deciding if the price is right, or if you can trust the claims made by the company.  Don't you always price check to make sure you're getting the best deal possible?  And yet we read one snippet from the media company of our choice and swallow it like kool-aid unaware that there may be better information out there.

Be skeptical of EVERY political statement made.  Both sides have agendas, can you see it?
    It is so frustrating when I hear people talk about the government being in the pocket of the big businesses on the right while conveniently leaving out mention of the big unions on the left.  I'm not saying I support either but I'm not under some delusion that all the people of my party are working for the good of humanity, and neither are all of yours.
    When I listen to proponents of conservatism rail on someone at Occupy Wall Street for being uneducated after playing a 10 second sound byte, I am fully aware that they picked the dumbest sounding 10 seconds and probably took it out of context to make their point.  Liberals play the same game!  Don't believe everything you hear.  Better yet, believe nothing without proof.  Search your heart, do your research and be just as skeptical of people who agree with you as those who do not.

Stop  all the name calling, class and party warfare and finger pointing.  That is just promoting ignorance.
     When I was young, my father taught me to refer to people not by their political parties(democrat or republican) but by their ideas and views (conservative or liberal).  All Republicans are not always and only conservative and all Democrats are not always and only liberal.  The point of this was to avoid creating a us/them feeling and to allow people to support what they believe in not just a party line.  So if I call you a liberal or even a socialist please don't take it as an insult, I don't mean it as one.
      Today, however I often feel so frustrated by people who take no time in listening to people and immediately group them into us's and them's. We are told that we should be divided according to beliefs, income, race or what party we are registered for. That all conservatives must be rich or that all blacks must be liberals. Why are we allowing this?  I find this most frustrating!  Are we really back in a school yard where people we are different from are subject to name calling?  I thought we were trying to stop bullying?  All this does is discourage people from making their own decisions because they are too afraid to be judged.  What we need is an environment where discussion is encouraged without insults being flung from both sides.
       Both of these pictures were posted in the last 24 hours by different friends of mine.  They are both mindless caricatures of something that is so much bigger and more complicated than either can hope to convey.
                                              I find this:

just as ignorant and irritating as this:

            Which brings me to my next point:

Try to see people as people, not entities.
        I may believe Obama is not making good choices for our country, I also believe he has done some skeevy things to push through legislation.  I do not, however believe he is trying to topple the country.  I bet he probably doing his best to do what he thinks is right.  He is a person with emotion and feeling and experience that has led him to make those choices.  I hope those choices are more about conscience than about money.
       Please give conservatives the same benefit of the doubt.  Yes, I know there are jerks out there on both sides of the spectrum who care more about their own gain than the harm they are doing to others, but they are not the rule they are the exception!  Of all my friends and family from various political parties  if find them to be educated, thinking and to really care about what they believe in.  To conservatives:  Liberals are not all uneducated hippies who want a socialist state.  To Liberals:  Conservatives are not all uneducated, gun happy cowboys who want to crush the little guy in their quest for riches.  We are all people who are doing our best for what we believe is right.  We need to humanize the discussion.

       
Don't assume that someone who disagrees with you is either evil or stupid.
      I hope I don't need to expound.  Enough said.  This should apply to all parts of life, not just politics.



I am not pretending that I wake up every morning and read 4 different papers and listen to NPR all the time. But I do try.  And I don't go around commenting on something I don't understand.  It's actually really scary for me to make political comments sometimes because even after reading about something I'm afraid I may not have all the information and a rarely trust any single source on anything.
  The point I am trying to make is simply that the truly educated listen before they think, and then they speak.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!!

Nope, not Christmas, Autumn!  And beautiful fall weather really put me in the mood! So I've decorated, plugged in my wallflower, and I even sent out invites for our annual carving party.  They are so cute and I really wanted to show them off! So if you want to come, consider this your invite!

Dont you love it?  Brent pointed out how creepy the cat is so, sorry about that...

Still to come: Pictures of our Halloween decor, which I am really excited about this year!

Tiffany

Why You (I) Need Cords this fall...

One of my favorite trends for the season is the return of corduroy. Comfortable, warm and earthy, it is the perfect pant for fall. We are heading back towards what I call a "Dawson's Creek" era. Low maintenance hair, light make up and cozy clothes.

And there couldn't be a better time. I love that I can just color my hair every few months now, because hombre is in, I love that I don't have to look like a clown with yellow eyeshadow, and I mostly love that I can wear sweaters and cords all day every day (as soon as this weather acts like fall).

So if you're adding a pair of cords to your wishlist this fall, I've compiled some pictures and prices of all styles of corduroy. Shop on!

Clockwise from top left: anthropologie pilcro superscript cord in rust 118.00; asos see by chloe corded fitted button pants in green 190.27; asos vera moda skinny cord pants in red mahogany 73.18; h&m ladies 5 pocked straight leg cords in green 34.95; forever21 women's classic corduroy shirt in brown 19.80

Faith and Infertility

Some of the people who read this already know that Brent and I have been trying to get pregnant for over 10 months now and have been unsuccessful. I realize ten months isn't all that long but it feels like it's been forever.

In addition to that I currently have 8 friends/family members that are pregnant along with a handful who just had cute little babies. I am so happy for these lucky women and their families. But I won't lie and say it isn't hard to watch sometimes.

One of the blessings I have enjoyed most of my life is that as I have gone through trials I have maintained a very close relationship to the Spirit and to my Heavenly Father. I have enjoyed open communication with Him and He with me. It has carried me through tough times and encouraged me when making tough decisions.

So when I tell you that this has been a hard 10 months, a big part of that is that I have felt distanced and alone and sometimes bitter. I'm honest. Don't judge.

Why? I think it has a lot to do with the fact that eventually "please bless that we can get pregnant" Didn't seem to feel right (and wasn't cutting it obviously). So it changed to "Help us to be able to start our family." But soon I just felt like He knew my heart, he knew what I wanted and I had already asked a lot. It didn't feel like something I should be asking for anymore.

Well then I didn't know what to say. I realize that I am the one that created that distance but just believe me that for a while I just didn't know how to talk to my Heavenly Father and I didn't feel like I could bridge that gap.

Last weekend I loved conference! because of my job at Gadabout and Brent's at CVS, we were only able to watch Sunday sessions. But we had some good friends over for breakfast and that helped me stay awake! One of the things I really took away with me was that the Lord knows best and that He wants us to be happy. I heard this message over and over. I'm not sure if it was really repeated that often but I know that the spirit was helping me to remember things I have known for years.

So on Tuesday afternoon I picked up the April copy of the Ensign magazine for some light reading and opened randomly to an article called: I Need the Every Hour By Elder Brent Nielson. The talk was on prayer and Elder Nielsen went through all the reasons we need to pray always and the blessings we receive by doing so. I read it thinking "wow, this is exactly what I needed to read today." I was touched by the Lord speaking to me through the words of his witnesses on Earth.

The next article I read, was about dating people with our standards but really about obedience to the Spirit. At the end of this article I started tearing up when i read the verse quoted from Isaiah


“For as the heavens are higher than
the earth, so are my ways higher than
your ways, and my thoughts than
your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8–9).


I knew that the Lord was reminding me that even through my struggles of wanting to be a parent and wondering why we haven't received that blessing, He really does know best. He wants me to be happy and his ways are higher than my ways of achieving that. I was being humbled and entreated to be submissive.

I really felt that this was written for me and I was so grateful to really hear the spirits voice again, and to deeply feel God's love for me. So as I turned the page and saw the next article:
Faith and Infertility, My whole body started shaking. I know that the Lord was speaking to me at that moment. I saw that He was reaching out to me through His word and telling me that He does know my heart. He cares for me.

Let me explain that as far as we know neither Brent or I are infertile. Its just been a long time that we've been trying. Most of my friends and family are the type who think about being pregnant and about 2 minutes later they are, so for me 10 months was unimaginable at first.

I also want to acknowledge the strong women I know who have tried for years unsuccessfully and are still left wanting. My heart is with these women daily and I know that my trial is small in comparison. Along with all the other difficulties that come with the desire and the struggle of having a healthy baby.

One of the things I loved about reading the last article I mentioned was that For once I heard other people, many other people sharing their feelings that were so close to mine. In the Society of the "mormon" Church its hard to escape feelings of inadequacy or unfulfillment if as a woman, your motherhood is challenged. It is important that we realize that not all families start of easily, healthily or happily. Sensitivity is key!

I will not go over the whole article here, but if you'd like to read it you can follow this link

I will share my favorite quote.
“When someone has an
ailment or an illness and they are healed as the result of a
blessing, their faith is being strengthened. But for those who
aren’t healed but continue faithful, their faith is being perfected.
The first is a faith-promoting experience. The second
is faith-perfecting.”

My testimony has been strengthened of the Lord's love and awareness of me. I believe that my faith has been tested and I hope I can come out stronger!

lets be real people.

My lovely new job at Gadabout has been great in a lot of ways. Its so much fun to be back in a Salon environment where people are happy and friendly and loving. It is great to better myself as a stylist. I have already had some encouraging complements given by the educators there. And of course it is always good to be making money.

However my house is suffering! It is constantly a mess with no hot dinners and lots of dirty laundry! Hopefully I can change that soon. Today I washed two loads of laundry so far and am hoping to have time to finish one more and fold all of it. We'll see. First Im starting with some realistically small goals to make our life at home better:

1. Pray with Brent EVERY day. Even when Im really really tired and I have to wake up early the next morning.

2. through the course of the week get all the laundry done. and folded. and PUT AWAY

3. make dinner for Brent and I once a week.

4. Be on time and ready for work every morning.

Ok I realize these are basic. But thats all I can handle for the moment. Check in later for and update!