Good Friday

Easter is such a special time. Although we were in Jerusalem in the summer time, every group has a Seder meal led by our Judaism teacher, Ophir. I loved learning about Passover from him. Our BYU professors also taught us about the significance Passover has in Mormon history in this dispensation as well. Everything we learned that summer taught me how eternal the Gospel of Jesus Christ truly is. 

There are competing sites in the Holy Land for just about every scriptural event. Below are pictures of a probable location of Christ's tomb. There is a special spirit there, whether it's the actual site of Christ's resurrection or not. Christians from all over the world walk through the gardens here, sing, study, and worship the God they know. They feel His spirit together, no matter their differences of specific beliefs.

Mathew 28:6 - "He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay."

You don't have to come and see the tomb to know that this is true. The Spirit you feel there is so special and unique, but if you pray to know that Christ lives, you will feel that same Spirit wherever you are.

This Holy Week is full of significance that needs to be remembered, and studied. My Jerusalem professor, Chad Emmett, has posted scriptural accounts of each day with pictures of Holy Land sites where sacred events happened: Monday. Tuesday. Wednesday. Thursday. "Awesome" Friday.

I know that Christ lives. He died for us, and now He lives again. It's because of this sacred act of the greatest love that I can live with Him again, and with my Heavenly Father, and with my family - for eternity. His Gospel has since been restored to the earth, and it teaches me how to follow Him. Living like Christ did on this earth is the best chance at happiness we have. That is exactly what He wants for us all, happiness. And through prayer, we can feel His love and guidance that helps us to achieve exactly that.

This talk by Jeffrey R. Holland, and this video below, intensely remind me what Easter truly is. They remind me how much I have to be grateful for, and how much I love, and am indebted to, my Savior Jesus Christ.

Madness in March

How's your bracket doing? 

I don't know why I LOVE March Madness, but oh I really do. It might be because I'm a gambler at heart, but religion and good sense keeps me from going down that path. Don't go assuming the worst there - gambler at heart meaning I love love the feeling of competitive chance. Like, arcades. And games. And...well, March Madness. Innocent stuff like that. You'll remember that I've only actually really gambled $2 in my life (and lost it). So, don't worry. I'm in a good place.

My bracket, on the other hand... not so much. It started out with so much potential! I guess they all do. But still, I called all three of the 12 seed upsets. Holla! But it has only been downhill from there. I have a group competition with my coworkers, our friends in our townhome complex, our Jerusalem crew, and a family group. More groups, better odds at not coming in last across the board. Right?

So, I'm rooting hard for the 3 teams my Final Four has held onto. And I can't wait for the games tonight. Thank you, March Madness, for distracting me from the Jazz right now...

Sigh.

Go Indiana!

Tiny Guest

This was our little visitor this week. So.tiny.small. His name is Chase, and he's a teacup poodle with an out of town owner. He's a cutie, but I mean....so tiny small? He did a lot of sitting and shaking at our house, because I think he's basically scared of, well, life. Poor thing.

Maybe that's because he and Kitty met for a brief second and it was no bueno, at all. Kitty turned into a fierce hissing monster, and Chase ran circles around me so fast that I just feared for his tiny heart. But, I grabbed Chase, Michael herded Kitty out the door, and all is well. 

But due to our Spring Break Snowstorm, we felt bad leaving Kitty out all day...so we put them in different rooms and prayed we'd come home to two animals alive and well.

We did. Hallelujah. I mean, if sitting and shaking is well? 

Poor little guy. I didn't know we were so scary...? He's coming to visit again soon, so maybe with less cats and more time alone he won't be as bothered. Come visit us. Maybe you're less scary than we are.

And I find it funny that in an apartment that is technically not allowed to have animals, we are slowly developing a children's petting zoo. It goes well with our bedroom greenhouse.

Your Story

I opened a new book yesterday that I honestly know nothing about. Sometimes I like knowing nothing before getting into a story... and it came highly recommended from a girl with great taste, so I just up and started it.

This is what I found when I opened the first page:

Don't you love that? It's the truth. No one remembers when they were born, but we all remember the story of the day. We mythologize it based on what we hear from the people who love us, based on what we love the most about those details we know only from the tellers. Let's be real, even knowing our birthday is just a trust thing.

I was born early, early on a September morning. The last Miner baby. My dad always tells me about the first time he held me, next to my exhausted mom after a long labor. He said he held his new daughter, and I immediately calmed down and stared right into his eyes. I looked at him and just jabbered, intensely, for 20 minutes straight. My mom and the doctor just watched, and my dad let me "talk and talk and talk". He says I jabbered with all the intensity my awkward new body could manage, even trying to lift my head up a little and just drive whatever point I had home. He kept looking at his watch, amazed at those 20 minutes and wondering what it was I wanted him to know. I held his eyes until I finally finished whatever it was I had to say.

Then, I sighed. Big. Fell asleep. And that was that.

That was how I entered the world. I don't remember it, but sometimes it's like I almost do. Stories get told and told until sometimes they're almost memories, almost real to your mind's eye. Do you have those stories you're sure you remember, but you were so young it's almost impossible? Maybe we do remember. Maybe the stories ignite something in us that our body knows is true, and we listen because we remember. Maybe we don't. Maybe we just hold onto the stories because that's innate in all of us, loving words and loving the heart, mind and soul of the teller.

The best part is we all have a story to tell. And we're all still writing it.

Happy...Spring?

I've been known to say that Easter Candy alone almost qualifies March & April as the real "Most Wonderful Time of the Year." I'm confident Andy Williams would feel the same if he ate two whole bags of Reeses Eggs before the last week of March like me ... this friend I have.

New sunshine, blue skies, fresh flowers - it all just adds to the glory of Easter candy and sometimes it almost almost trumps December.

This is Indianapolis right now. And it's still coming down...

Do you think December heard me?

Maybe it serves me right. Oh well. Reeses Eggs taste JUST as good inside.

Books, lately

I love to read. But I also love to sleep. AND, I love to read right before I go to bed. See the problem? It is not the most successful way to get through a book. 

There is a little window every day, though, where I find myself sitting outside the dental school after work, waiting for Michael and our friend Brian to be done with school. That's where my most alert reading happens. Here are the books we've read over the last six months in our book club:

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. This is my favorite book that we've read as a group so far. It's written with Death as the narrator, and the perspective is so interesting. The writer also has the best imagery I think I've ever read. I don't know why I was so late in the game reading this - everyone loves it. But better late than never because it is amazing. I loved reading about WWII from the perspective of Germans who weren't down with what was happening. I think that group gets overlooked in a lot of WWII literature, but I like to think that group is bigger than we seem to assume.

Next we read Heaven Is Here by Stephanie Nielson. It's an inspiring story of a young mother's recovery after surviving a plane crash with her husband. I was surprised at how dark parts of her story are, and how brutally honest she was about it. I also didn't know that her blog was becoming increasingly famous even before her crash - it must have been so strange for her readers to "experience" that tragedy through her blog and to know Stephanie Nielson before and after that awful day. I loved the book a lot more than her blog, and I was so excited to get it for Christmas from my mother-in-law. It's a good book to have in my home, and good for my future daughters to read. Since reading it, I've started following Stephanie's sister's blog, C. Jane Kendrick. She's an incredible writer.

Oh, The Secret. This book walks you through the way that your thoughts determine everything. It frequently refers to The Universe and Energy and...sometimes it was just a little too cosmic for my taste. But in the end, it definitely has some solid true principles that are good to remember. For example, if you're only dwelling on negative thoughts of what you don't want to happen, those things probably end up happening. And if you just focus on what you want, thinking that those things are reality, life seems to steer that way. It was a fun discussion and an interesting concept...but, I kind of twitch when I hear The Universe now.

We read How Do You Kill 11 Million People in December because it was a 20-minute read for a busy month. Not exactly holiday material, but we just wanted quick. It got mixed reviews in our group... The title refers to questioning how the Holocaust even happened, but the book is not about WWII. It's basically intended to be a "wake up call" trying to show that when society accepts lies from leaders, large scale tragedies can happen. He refuses to use the words Republican or Democrat in the book, but I don't know if that alone automatically gives Andy Andrews the Most Objective picture in the yearbook. Some girls in our group said this book has made them listen to leaders with more critical thinking and less upfront acceptance, so maybe it'll do that for you. Or it might just really bug you, which is how other girls felt. It'll only take about 20 minutes of your day if you want to read it and find out for yourself.

After the holidays we read Bringing Up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman. This is an American mother's story of raising her children in France. I loved it. The author started researching the difference between French and American parenting after she noticed that when her French friends visited, she had a great time and great conversations, but when American friends visited, they spent the time refereeing their children. I thought the author was hilarious, and I loved that she was always quick to acknowledge the other side of whatever opinion she was forming because she's a journalist by trade. I read this story as a comparison of cultures though, not as a parenting manual...because, well, I'm not a parent. Some girls in our group who have children didn't like the book as much. One of the author's overall sentiments was that American mothers need to relax more, and fit their children into the framework of their life and family rather than completely restructure that framework around a new baby. I thought her comparisons of cultural differences were so interesting.

The Alchemist was a little like The Secret but in novel form. I still kind of twitched when it referred to the Universe...I bet if I read it at a different time, I would have liked it a lot more. But at this point I was just craving a story with characters and a plot and just no....lifestyle coaching. I need to read it again in a few years. Maybe.

This last month we read Matched, by Ally Condie. This was just...not enjoyable at all. My friend Becca described it as Twilight meets Hunger Games meets The Giver. Exactly right. It might sound like a recipe for a good book (except the Twilight part), but it just wasn't. There were too many similarities to the Hunger Games to take it as its own novel, but Condie's world and characters were in no way as thought out as what Suzanne Collins created in Catniss and District 12. I haven't rolled my eyes so much at a book in a long time. It is meant for teenagers though, so maybe that was an age appropriate response. I always have to finish a book I start, and usually even a series that I start (I read all four Twilight books as fast as possible to get the pain over with, because I HAD to know how they ended), but in this case, I have absolutely no desire to read book 2 or 3. So, feel free to tell me how they end if you managed that.

---

Our book club is meeting soon to get our next list together. Any good reading suggestions?

Food, lately

One of the benefits of having almost no go-to recipes before getting married is getting to try lots of new things! At BYU I lived on lemon garlic pasta, spinach, and soups. I don't think I'm supposed to force that anyone else, though... so, we've enjoyed lots of yummy new finds lately. Especially these guys:

They were delicious! Due to some unfortunate scheduling conflicts, I ended up baking these at 1:00 in the morning though...whoops! But they were so yummy, I ate two that night. They were good enough to throw all good judgment out the door. I adapted the recipe from here. They're headed to a church activity tonight, so we'll see if they are actually only delicious when you're sleep-deprived, or if they're the real deal.

I've started this Pinterest board with only recipes that I have personally tried and liked, apart from my Foodie board where I keep future adventures. I write a little note about things to change or do differently next time. It's sort of a food journal so we can start repeating recipes someday. I'll leave you with a few of my favorites from there:

Recipe here

Recipe here and here

Recipe here and here 

Recipe here, loved the pizza crust!

From my BYU Cooking Class, recipe blog here

Recipe adapted from here

And one of our VERY favorites was so good, we ate the entire pan before I remembered to take a picture. And it was supposed to last us for two days...Whoops again! It was THIS lighter version of P.F. Chang's Lettuce Wraps. Mmm.

What are your favorite places to find recipes online?

The Everything Sale

Saturday was a GREAT day. I've never been part of an event that went so well - everything went better than planned, and we exceeded our goal of what we wanted to raise for the Farar family. I'm so grateful for our community here. We saw amazing generosity all day long, and I'll never forget that feeling.

People are so good.

The whole weekend was a blur. On Friday night we loaded a 20-foot U-Haul with all the donations. Furniture, clothes, a piano, a sewing machine, home items, toys, shoes...we had everything (at the Everything Sale!). We loaded the truck in categories to try and help the morning go a little smoother - we had a lot to get done before 8am the next day. After that, Michael helped me bake for the bake sale and punch holes in all the balloon messages. Then we took a three hour nap before go time at 5am on Saturday! 

We had lots of help there to get everything set up. It was amazing how fast a huge truck full of stuff suddenly became neat, organized sections of items. Everything looked great! Especially the bake sale...pretty sure all of us working the sale all day played a big part in supporting that :) Another LDS ward in Indianapolis baked items for their Young Women's activity that week, and they had everything packaged and decorated. It looked so good. Michael set up our old kitchen table - we were a little sad to say goodbye to it! Ok, just me. He seems to do a good job putting logic before sentimentality. Gender is on his side.

It was freeeezing that morning, but we had so much to do that it wasn't that bad. Summer left to boil some water and bring us all some hot chocolate. I've never liked a cup of hot chocolate more than that one! The sun finally started to come out, and customers started showing up. We were immediately overwhelmed by how generous every single person was that shopped at the sale. When they found out where the proceeds were going, people shopped more or refused their change, or just sincerely showed sympathy. 

Businesses donated gift cards that we could sell that day, medical students stopped by with a car full of donations, a man handed Alanna $400 and said he just wanted to pay it forward to this family, another man bought all the remaining pairs of shoes in one purchase to donate to another cause... we just saw so much generosity. I heard multiple people "haggle" as usual at garage sales, but they would up their total price instead of shooting lower. I worked out how to accept credit cards on my iPhone that day, and some people found me just so I could charge a donation to their card without any purchase. 

We had a picture of the Farars framed on the front table, and it kept my mind on them all day. This was all for them, and it was amazing to see how many people that family has touched.

As the day went on, we were amazed at how much sold. Things would sell, and more donations would come. It just never ended! There was never a time in that 10-hour period that customers weren't there. 

Our little table, though, never sold... so sad! It stood alone in the furniture section at the end of the day, just cute and lonely. We were personally offended for a second, but we're over it. All the donations that didn't sell went to a local Women's shelter, so our table went to a good place. 

I love all these girls so much. They are my friends and my family out here. Adriana is part of our family, and we love her. We were smiling all day together, and we just kept sharing stories about the generosity we were witnessing. Each of us had stories of little miracles that pulled the day together, and little moments where we really truly felt how much the Lord loves the Farar family. 

At the end of the day, we had a balloon launch in memory of Damond. We tied a message to each balloon and had a moment of silence to remember him, and remember what the day was all about. Then we counted down together, and let them fly.

We love and miss the Farar family here in Indiana, and so many people love and miss Damond. Saturday was more than just coming together to help the Farars financially. It was coming together to remember how Damond lived his life, to show gratitude to Adriana for how she lives hers, and to try to give back to them. 

I don't understand why Damond was taken away from his family. No one does, right now. But I am grateful for the example he was. I am grateful that his family will be together again. And we will always be remembering him.

Halfway

You know that feeling when you're doing so many things, so all of them are being done halfway? I think I'm halfway through the days that are destined to feel like that. We have been scrambling around here, all for good things. But, definitely scrambling. 

Here's Michael, halfway through studying for his big test Friday. And please note the halfway finished wall behind him - I'm pushing to be done with it by Sunday night. And then it will qualify for a post dedicated solely to it, based on man hours invested in the dang thing. (Also note the cat, who is frequently found climbing halfway up Michael's arm in full attack mode. Michael enjoys this for some reason...) 

And those Joe Joe's? 

Not halfway gone. All the way gone. Some things we don't even consider doing halfway around here, so, credit for that?

Laundry - perpetually halfway done. Once I put it in the washer, I feel accomplished. The thing is, actual accomplishment requires a few more steps, including actually putting it in the dryer. When I remember to do that step, I'm feeling even better about myself. But then comes the three other times I start the dryer because I forgot to fold the clothes before they were stuck in their wrinkly state. Because when life is in halfway mode, the iron is not coming out. 

(Let's be real, that's just a general rule in our house, no matter what mode life is in at the time.)

If I do remember to take it out of the dryer, it then lives on our bed. In a pile. Which actually also makes the clothes wrinkly ... sigh. But we're ok with it.

The true source for my current halfway lifestyle is the highly anticipated EVERYTHING sale. Saturday, people! We have so much to do...but, we're halfway there :)

We are more than that, actually. Gabby's house is currently serving as the Everything Sale warehouse, and bless her little family for that. Look at all this stuff! Her garage is full as well. They are amazing for putting up with all these awesome donations in their home. 

Last night we worked hard to sort it all into categories and start pricing. Friday night, we are packing it all up and getting ready for the big day. So many people have been dedicating hours and hours to this sale, and I admire them so much. We are all working hard on this because of how much we completely love the Farar family. And in this work, I have had multiple experiences that have shown me how much the Lord loves the Farar family, too. 

People are so generous, good, loving, and kind. Sometimes that's not the way I feel when I get done with my daily news intake. But being involved with this sale has reminded me of how good real people really are.

So, come. I think you'll enjoy feeling that reminder too :)

Here's a reminder of how you can be involved, even if you're halfway across the country.

And to all my Utah friends and family: you can do some shopping at Alta High School all day Saturday. That's where all Utah donations to The Everything Sale are being sold that day. 

Aren't you proud I didn't leave this post halfway finished?

Ok, I did. But only for a little while :)