BeCaUsE i HaVe AdD...

so in exciting news about our life here in Raleigh, i got my favorite calling back.  I know that never happens but it did this time and I'm super excited.  I spent the first couple years here teaching Gospel Principles which at first was very daunting but grew into a great love.  some of that love came from watching new members of our ward grow in their testimonies and be able to participate with them as they have attended the temple and even been sealed together. and some came from the learning and study that accompanies teaching.  sometimes i feel my most comfortable when i get to teach, especially the Gospel. its been a great adventure.  well at the beginning of the year i was released.  and i actually cried.  this has only happened one other time.  that time being when i was released from teaching relief society in a singles ward with no warning during sacrament meeting.  it was devastating.  well i spent part of this year not really feeling like i had a place to go during sunday school.  it felt weird to be in Gospel Doctrine and although we did attend Gospel Principles some, I didn't want to intrude on the new teacher.  Well miracle of miracles the new teacher moved away and they called and extended the calling again!  i could have jumped for joy, but i did manage to keep my voice appropriate on the phone.  so this week i'm preparing my first lesson and its on the Word of Wisdom.  great lesson, very exciting.  in my preparations i was looking up old conference talks and ensign articles to help increase my knowledge, which it did.  and helped me feel more prepared to field whatever question might come my way.  in my searching i found this article by Elder Burton from April 1976.  its a great talk about this important principle.  at the beginning of his remarks he mentions Elder Maxwell's remarks which made me miss Elder Maxwell and his unique and exquisite ways of expressing himself.  I had to look up his talk as well and indulge myself.  and  i am so glad i did.  here is the link to Elder Maxwell's talk.  You should listen and read at the same time.  it helps with comprehension.

there was so much that was great about this talk but two things touched my heart more than others.  things i'm sure i need to hear and remember more now than at other times.  first, this quote,

I testify that in eloquent example he partook voluntarily of the bitter cup in the awful, but for him avoidable, atonement; we must, therefore, drink from our tiny cups. I thank him for likewise not interceding on our behalf, even when we pray in faith and reasonable righteousness, for that which would not be right for us. Our glimpse of Gethsemane should teach us that all prayers are petitions!

this is just one of many reminders i have had lately to remember that He is in control, and that sometimes the answer i need and the answer i want are not the same.  

the second is this,

I testify that just as he has helped to carefully construct this second estate for all mankind, he also has helped to carefully construct each of our little universes of experience. I thank him for blessing me therein with a wife, children, parents, leaders, and friends to help me. I thank him now for the tender times, the jarring times, the perplexing times, and even for the times when my learning is so painfully public—lest in such moments to come I am too taxed to testify or too anguished to appreciate.


several things hit me, that this is my experience, made especially for me.  it does not need to fit a certain mold, that is culturally approved or even Cari approved, it just needs to fit the mold made for me by a loving Heavenly Father and Savior.  and that this man who is testifying stood with grace and complete devotion to our Savior and the Church through more physical trials than most of us were aware of.  in 1976 as he spoke these words i'm sure he could not comprehend what his personal universe of experience would be but his example has been a blessing in my life.   sometimes a little a.d.d. and the internet bring unexpected insight and blessings.

#1 ReAdInG tHoSe BoOkS

its been great getting caught up on some of the books i have had laying around the house lately.  I haven't finished all of the ones that are half read but i did get through a few and have done more reading in the last couple months than in the last 4 years combined which has been awesome. when i finish them all i'll give a quick review of them.

31 fOr 31

last year a little too far after my 30th birthday i ran across my friend Megan's goal list for her 30th year.  she posted it over at megsweetazlife.blogspot.com and i thought it was a fantastic idea.  in fact i was a little bummed i hadn't seen it sooner because i would have loved to start it right on my 30th birthday as well.  her list contained 30 goals she wanted to accomplish during the year, each were numbered and allowed her to then post quickly about them as they progressed or were completed.  i was super excited when i saw that she was doing it for her 31st birthday.  i was then sufficiently inspired to make a list for myself this year.  as a family our we have some goals for the next year, one of which was no gigantic projects.  i think this was the hubs referring to me starting a business or something that would become slightly overwhelming.  we just wanted to enjoy life here and focus on cutting back on self induced stress.  with this in mind i decided to make up my list of things i wanted to do this year.  i knew that i wanted some of my list to be year long goals, and some of them to be short, get it done in a day or weekend goals.  some may seem silly but writing them down as a goal will help me to not act impulsively.  so without much further ado i give you my 31 for 31....

(these are in no particular order and i will be posting about them as they are completed!)

#1 read all of my half finished books....ever start a book and life gets in the way and then you lose interest or something else becomes more interesting and then 3 years have gone by and you are only half way done...well it has happened to me a lot over the last 3-4 years and i'm determined to get these books finished!
#2 complete Couch-to-5K program!
#3 complete all out standing craft projects!  i have tons that are in various stages of completion and for my sanity they must be done!
#4  create a schedule for my crazy schedule...working nights and being married is a  little more of challenge than i imagined and my single girl schedule that i thought i could fall back into doesn't really work, so its time to find something else that works.
#5 follow a weekly cleaning schedule
#6 convert, at least for a few months, to a Paleo diet.
#7 Attend the temple every other month.
#8 DO NOT CUT OFF HAIR
#9 finish the four Gospels by Easter
#10 Reupholster our old sleeper sofa into a chesterfield style sleeper sofa.
#11 actually get Christmas cards sent on time.
#12 refashion one old outfit
#13 frame wedding and family pictures
#14 start meal planning monthly
#15 keep up a journal
#16 decorate for each holiday to keep house cheery and happy
#17 eat dinner at dinner table  2x/week
#18 establish a morning and evening yoga ritual
#19 keep up with sunday school and relief society lessons (study before)
#20 find a good eyebrow waxer
#21 read a classic
#22 learn to really embroider
#23 go camping at the beach
#24 get cupcake blog up to date
#25 finish mission scrapbook
#26 hike once a month, new trail each time
#27 make a quilt
#28 start or join a book club.
#29 complete closet and dresser redo
#30 create blog topics and schedule for cupcake blog
#31 get all of our paper work organized into the filing cabinets and binders.

as you can see there are a few that are kind a giant projects but i'm hoping that they will be fun and enjoyable.  i'm super excited to be tackling this year with all of my  goals.  can't wait to see how they turn out!