SuNdAy InSpIrAtIon

back in march i wrote a sunday inspiration post about how we "look beyond the mark". i talked about how i need to relearn this every so often. and recently i was able to do just that. this sunday at church i was given insight into how that was possible. i had spent months stressing over something i wanted very much to have happen that just wasn't working out. i had cried to my very patient husband and to the Lord about it many times. i prayed for understanding and for direction. my husband told me to let it go and it would work out when it should but how do you do that? how do you not worry about something you want so badly? one day i was looking through the free books on my kindle fire and saw a book called pearl in the sand. it was based on the story of rahab in the old testament. rahab was a harlot in the city of jericho who risked her life to save the spies from israel and they in turn brought her and her family to live with the israelites. rahab eventually married and had a son boaz who married ruth. in the new testament when it recounts the genealogy of the Savior, ruth and boaz are in that direct line. the author of this book did a fantastic job writing a story of how a harlot could have become the mother of a great man and an ancestor of the Savior. while i read this book several truths were whispered to my heart, 1. the Lord knows our hearts and our desires, and he will answer them in the way best for us. 2. forgiveness is necessary even when we feel we have done nothing wrong or that the other person may not feel they have done something wrong. This was very humbling to me. i realized immediately that I had some forgiving i needed to do. That there was one relationship in particular that i had more to do to fix. And that even if i never heard an I'm sorry or had everything back to normal i had to once and for all let it go. so i did. i decided that i was doing it and i let all the anger and hurt go. i stopped letting it eat me up inside. and it feels great. right after that i was confronted with some situations that brought painful realizations connected to what i had been praying would happen. but i found that i was able to overcome them very easily. answers came more quickly and their peace stayed. and keeps staying now. this sunday i was able to realize why this had been able to happen. in relief society we had a lesson based on jeffrey r. holland's conference talk entitled "the laborers in the vineyard". he talks about the parable of laborers in the vineyard and it is truly eye opening. he says " we consume such precious emotional and spiritual capital clinging tenaciously to the memory of a discordant note we struck in a childhood piano recital, or something a spouse said or did 20 years ago that we are determined to hold over his or her head for another 20, or an incident in church history that proved no more or less than that mortals will always struggle to measure up to the immortal hopes placed before them". This is what I learned from that. i had spent so much time and energy both spiritually and physically being hurt by someone else that it was blocking my ability to feel the spirit the way I needed to. as soon as i could let that go the Lord had so much goodness to put in it's place. the last couple of months have been very sweet not carrying that burden around with me. it has been wonderful to feel the spirit so much closer and i realized how much i had been missing. the gospel is true, the Lord loves you and when we can get out of our own way and feel it there is nothing we can't do.

ThE cUpCaKe BlOg

so i've got my cupcake blog up and running...i figured my first wedding was a great place to start.  hope you all enjoy and the recipes will be coming soon!
                                                   sweetescapescupcakes.blogspot.com

ThE wEdDiNg Of ThE yEaR

well it wasn't exactly a royal wedding but these two are pretty much royalty back home with all of their friends and family!  and it was absolutely the wedding of the year!

i love how my mom is looking at charlie!  they are so cute!

we are so excited to have Juliann in our family and now the family that started with just 4 is a family of 6!  

A fIrSt BiRtHdAy!

remember the smash cake from a little bit ago?  well here is the 1st
 birthday party that goes with that cake.  it was so much fun doing
 the circus animal cupcakesand from the pictures below i think Hudson enjoyed eating them too!

abby (H's mom) put together some adorable decorations!

and H learned how to party like a rock star!

SmAsH cAkE!

Here are some pictures from my very first smash cake! I was a little nervous about my cupcake being part of someone's pictures for a major event like a first birthday but it turned out great even with the long drive on the heat and sun! Way to go Hudson! You were the perfect cake smasher!

ExTrEmEs....

This post was started a while ago but it wasn't quite ready to post. But here we go.

life is full of experiences that take us from one extreme to the next of the human existence. this week saw both in one day, in fact, i participated in them in one hour. in my career as a nurse i have helped bring babies into the world and i have helped old people leave the world. but for the first time i personally helped a very sick little one return home to our heavenly father. i can't say much but what i can say is that the Spirit of the Lord was there in abundance for this family. another reminder that Heavenly Father loves all of his children and is mindful of us. every time i have a patient who is dying i wish i could reach out to the family and tell them about the plan of salvation. i want them to know that their loved one's spirit will live on and that they can be together forever. i can't just share that but i can feel the Spirit surround and comfort them. reassuring them that they have made the right choice and that death is not the end. in the middle of this sad day i got to go visit some friends who had just had their baby the day before. a beautiful, healthy baby girl who is perfect and wonderful and adorable. i'm grateful for that visit and the lift it gave me to carry on with the work that was ahead.

i'm grateful to my Heavenly Father for the gift i have to be a nurse and to touch others' lives. i know to some it may seem like too much to be involved in such private parts of peoples lives, and sometimes i can feel my heart breaking but what a gift to know that what i do everyday effects others.

YaY fOr NeW bEgInNiNgS

this week i got to go back to my favorite place to work as a nurse, the nicu.  those of you who think its scary have yet to see the strength that these little creatures display as they fight to live.  last sunday i was teaching a lesson in sunday school about our life in heaven, and we talked about how each of us had chosen to follow our Heavenly Father's plan and come to earth to receive our bodies and to be tested here.   and today i was reminded of how much these little people want to be here.  they come into the world against all odds and they fight to stay here, they fight to breath and to eat and to grow and make their way home with mom and dad.  they amaze me.  and i feel humbled that my Heavenly Father gave me the skills to participate in helping them do the best they can.  i've enjoyed a lot of the things i've done as a nurse but none as much as i love playing a role in the development of these special spirits.  happy friday to me!

a GoOd MaN

i have been feeling very blessed lately for the good man i married.  i guess it all started with a few interactions with men who don't really measure up and my disappointment in them.  and hearing women talk about their ex-husbands and boyfriends and being reminded of a not so great person i had in my life for a while and i realized again that my husband is wonderful. he is my best friend, he is the love of my life, i know that our goals are the same and that together we will reach them.  i love that he supports me and encourages me.  he has faith when mine is weak and he will one day in the future, hopefully not too far away, be an amazing father.  he respects not only me but all women and is a wonderful example of a righteous priesthood holder.  i don't mean to gush too much about him but i have felt so overwhelmed by how blessed i have been to have him in my life that i had to share.
i remember being a young teenage girl having a dream where i was with my future husband and i was with this tall, handsome man with dark brown hair.  and luckily for me that's exactly what i got. the few people who actually read this probably know how we met, but in case someone doesn't i think i'll share.

i had just broken up with the before mentioned not so great guy and i was uninterested in seriously dating anyone.  in fact i had given myself a break for weeks to just relax and not worry about boys and dating and all that stuff.  just a few weeks to put the loser behind me and get myself back in the game.  one of my good friends met me for lunch and of course wanted to hear all about the break up.  she followed that up with an email later telling me she had a guy she wanted me to talk to, (insert eye roll here) "for reals!"  is all i could think.  "i'm totally uninterested in boys right now"   but i knew i should at least humor her.  plus he lived in florida and how would that work anyways.  it would be a great distraction until i was ready to face the boys in my local singles scene.  i told her sure i would talk to him but he had to friend me on facebook because i was WAY to busy with work to have time.  he did and we started sending innocent emails everyday.  and then a week later it stopped.  oh well, that was fun, was all i could think.  time to move forward.  then to my surprise he messaged me on facebook a week later and we haven't stopped talking since.  emails and messaging turned to texting and then our first phone call that lasted 3 hours.  after several weeks of talking everyday we knew we had to meet.  and he got a plane ticket out to salt lake.  i was so nervous about meeting this new friend.  what if he didn't like me?  what if he thought i was cute in my pictures but in person not so much?  what if there was no spark?  what if the last 6 weeks were kind of a waste of time?  he promised that we would be friends even if we weren't really interested anymore in each other but i was so scared.  the day finally arrived and i found myself waiting by baggage claim for him to arrive.  and when i saw him it was the best feeling in the world.  he was everything he was on the phone and more.  and there was definitely a spark there.  it was amazing to finally have this person in my life.  to have him hold my hand and kiss me and hug me.  to get to just be together was amazing.  we spent a great weekend camping with friends, and visiting.  and then we said goodbye.  by the time our next visit could be arranged we were in love.  so i guess my friend knew what she was doing.  and i guess Heavenly Father has a plan for us that we could never imagine.  i never could have imagined how much i could love someone.  i never could have imagined how that love grows deeper every day.  i thought i loved him as much as anyone could the day we got married but now 2 years later i feel like i was barely scratching the surface of those feelings.  the longer he is in my life the more i realize what a good man he is.  compared to men of the world he is so sweet and so strong and so loving.  i could never ask for anyone better.  i meant to post on our anniversary on monday but i didn't get around to it.  so i'm finishing now and hoping the man i love so much can forgive me being late just one more time.

SuNdAy InSpIrAtIoN

i love sundays and i love the truths we can learn from each other and from our church leaders.  next week is general conference for us and it gives us the opportunity to listen to the words of a living prophet.  i feel so blessed to know that we have living prophet on the earth today and to know that our Heavenly Father speakes through him to us.  i look forward every april and october to spending 2 days listening to the words of our leaders and basking in the Spirit of the Lord.  today our home teacher came to visit with us and shared with us the first presidency message for march entitled "Why Do We Need Prophets".  we had a lovely discussion about the importants of prophets but the truth that especially stood out to me was the idea that even when we feel like the prophet is asking us to change it is not because the church or the gospel are changing.  it is because we have moved to far away from the standards the Lord has given us.  we are being reminded of how to get back to where the gospel would have us.  we are the ones who must change.  change is hard and sometimes it takes us sometime to decide to follow, but i know that following the prophet always brings us joy and happiness.  i know that he is the only man on the earth who has the authority to speak to all of us from God.  he is the only one who has been given authority to lead this church and its people in these days.  i'm so grateful for my testimony of the prophet and to have been so blessed to hear them speak both in person and on broadcasts through out my life.  we don't need to meet the prophet to know that he is a true prophet of God we can all know it through reading his words and praying and asking our Heavenly Father if modern day prophets are real and true.  He will always answer us.

NeW cUpCaKeS

I worked out a new cupcake this week for our weekly Bachelor viewing party! KeyLime with coconut cream. They were pretty awesome and I learned to candy citrus fruit. All it needs is a little more attention to the frosting. It could have been lighter and with more coconut but we'll get there! Enjoy the picture!

SuNdAy InSpIrAtIoN

i'm hoping to make this a weekly feature.  i find that as i look for things as a goal i'm more likely to be aware of the wondrous inspiration that comes from our Heavenly Father.  this week i was teaching about the gathering of the lost tribes of israel.  but we got a little distracted by the story of jacob and esau.  its an interesting story of following the will of the Lord even when it is hard.  one class member was having a hard time reconciling how jacob could use deception to fulfill the will of the Lord and claim the birthright.  and after lots of discussion another class member said something very interesting...he said "sometimes the Lord doesn't always give us the route to get from point A to point B.  sometimes He just gives us point A and point B and tells us to figure it out."  although this is not permission to do whatever you want there is much truth.  i find myself getting caught up in how i SHOULD do something and worrying if i'll do it right or if my choice will negatively effect the outcome.  but in reality we usually don't have a step by step map to get from point A to point B.  we have a map with point A and point B marked on it but no line connecting them.  its up to us to figure it out.  the Lord gave us agency and working through problems using our agency is how we grow and develop.  the point is we do our best and we work to get from A to B trusting that the Lord will help as He sees fit.  So thank you sunday school class for teaching me something i forget all to often.

WeLcOmE 2012!

well friends we are happy to welcome in the new year.  as a wrap up to the last couple of months i'll let you know that we had a nice relaxing holiday season here with each other.  we missed our families but we enjoyed just being us.  we are still enjoying our kindle fires and we had a few lovely gifts for each other as well.  as the new year has begun Mr. Wonderful is starting a new exciting job in IT.  we feel very blessed for him to have this opportunity.  all in all things are looking to an exciting 2012 for us here. 

as the new year begins i like to set up goals for myself.  resolutions if you will.  i feel like sometimes my resolutions are too big or too out of my reach.  so this year in an attempt to do what will really help me and bring peace and happiness to our lives i decided on a goal to "take care of myself".  i don't want to sound selfish, i'm no leaving Mr. Wonderful out this.  my plan is for this to help him as well.  first off, if i'm making healthier choices for myself he will be eating healthier as well.  also a  happy wife = a happy life, right?  i think so.  this last year has been stressful and challenging.  it has taught us much but one thing that has suffered in all of this is even a small amount of taking care of me.  i find the simple things like plucking my eyebrows have seemed to go by the wayside.  i have felt "blah"  about a lot of things and its time to get out of that feeling.  lately i've started working on my favorite hobbies like making cupcakes and crocheting and sewing.  these have brought me a lot of enjoyment recently.   i feel like i am starting to find myself again.  

as part of this new year's resolution i have really been considering a new job that will help me find more fulfillment in my work.  i started thinking about what i really don't like about what i do now and i realized that although we do great work and help a lot of people i miss interacting with patients and seeing the results of my work.  from there i narrowed my search for something new to things that would work best with our family and our plans and goals for the future.  so when the right thing is all worked out i'll let you all know.  

part of taking care of myself also involves overcoming my crippling lack of organization.  so step by step i'll be reorganizing this apartment.  i plan on learning a lot and hope to be able to make our lives simpler for it.  i'll post as each project is finished.  

so welcome 2012.  you promise to be the best year yet!