The Songs They Could Not Sing - Quentin L. Cook

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   Why does a just God allow bad things to happen, especially to good people?  I have to admit this lesson was somewhat of a challenge.  It’s a difficult subject to tackle because it invokes so much emotion and there are a lot of questions we just don’t have answers to.  I prayed continually for help with it.  A couple of weeks ago, I had two simple words enter my mind and I feel confident that with these two principles we can tackle anything in this life.
 

FAITH - In our Father in Heaven & our Savior Jesus Christ

      Most people believe we have a Father in Heaven.  But do we have faith that He knows us?  That He loves us person­ally and understands our suffering perfectly?  That His Son, Jesus Christ, is our Savior and Redeemer?  Though you may feel that no one can understand the depth of your despair, our Savior understands.  He suffered more than we can possibly imagine, and he did it for us; He did it for you.  

TRUST – In our Father in Heaven’s plan for us

      We all search for happiness, and we all try to find our own “happily ever after”.  The truth is, God knows how to get there!  All you have to do is trust your heavenly father:  Trust him enough to follow His plan, even if we have to endure the worst in order to get there.

      Unfortunate results in this mortal life are not evidence of lack of faith or of an imperfection in our Father in Heaven’s overall plan.  So it is extremely important that we not judge others and think they are going through trials because they lack faith.  Tragic events happen to even the most faithful people.  It is our reaction to adversity, not the adversity itself that determines how your life’s story will develop.  Our attitude is critical to our lasting happiness.

Teaching For Our Times

      Several months ago I was asked to be the teaching for our times teacher in Relief Society.  I was really excited when I was extended this assignment because I LOVE it!  All of my lessons are chosen by our Bishop and they come from the General Conference talks found in the Ensign.  I will admit that some of my topics have been more challenging than others, mostly because they are directed strictly towards the men of the church, but it just takes more creative thinking on my part to pull it off.  For some reason I always thought that teaching women more knowledgeable than I should be intimidating, but I haven't found that to be true.  Everyone has a slightly different perspective no matter what their age, or level of knowledge is, and if we are open to hearing it then we are constantly learning.  I would like to start sharing just a few highlights from my lesson after I teach, but first I'd like to share some of my favorite points from the past few months.

Love Her Mother, by Elaine S. Dalton

      Raising kids in general is scary these days and I think we all have the same concerns, will our kids be strong enough to make it in this world? This talk addressed the question; How can a father raise a happy, well-adjusted daughter in today’s increasingly toxic world? 
The answer … Love her Mother.

      A father can show his daughter by the way he loves and honors his wife that she should never settle for less. Our role as a Wife and Mother
is to encourage and support our husbands and/or our future sons in their role as a father. Husbands & wives should love each other, but are we always easy to love? Do we sometimes make it hard for our husbands to love us? Don’t let any influence come into your life or your home that would cause you to compromise your covenants or your commitment to your family.

Protecting Your Heart

      I'm the kind of person who has no qualms about being thrown into a room full of strangers and feeling comfortable.  It's really never scared me because I have come to learn that you can always find something in common with any person you meet and when you find that common ground, conversation takes off.  Yep, strangers don't usually scare me, it's the people who know me and who I trust that scare me.  I say they scare me because it's those people who can do the most damage to my heart! 
 

      I have the kind of personality that instantly connects to people and I open my heart up almost instantaneously.  I think to a wide degree that's good.  I want to be an approachable person.  I want others to feel like they are being let in.  It's the people pleaser inside of me.  I very much want everyone to get along and feel happy.  But opening your heart up so freely can be risky and scary and I honestly don't know how to protect it!?  I heard the saying, "protect your heart" from a friend of mine and it has forever been etched in my mind.  But how do you protect your heart while still allowing it to be open?  And how do you get thick skin without becoming calloused?  I honestly don't know!

The Last 3% Effort

      I think we all have people who come into our lives who we would like to emulate.  They are the kind of people who inspire you to want to be better, and you want to learn all that you can from them.  I could rattle off names of several women who inspire me, but one woman in particular really touched my heart and made me stop and think.  This woman is Teresa Andersen, and the best part is , I am sure she doesn't even have a clue how much her words and actions have sparked something inside of me.  

      Last month I had an A-HA moment.  This moment was ignited by talk of an entry that Teresa had written on her blog about giving an extra 3% effort to every thing you do.  These words went right to my heart.  Honestly, sometimes I feel like I am only operating on 60% effort.  I do enough to just barely get by.  And just barely getting by can work out fine for the most part, but I have come to realize how special you can make a person feel when you give just a little bit more effort.  I can be the most thoughtful person sometimes but I rarely put those thoughts into action.  I don’t like that about myself, but rather then beat myself up over what I could have or should have done, I have been inspired to give that extra 3%. 

 

"Frequently our ability to rejoice,

to use our creativity, to feel our own abilities,

uniqueness, and effectiveness- our opportunity

to celebrate- is contained in those last precious

moments of effort and thought"

Coincidence??

      For a while now I have been pondering the thought of how personal I should get on my blog?  I've wondered this because I have found myself at times wishing I would have shared something that was near and dear to my heart, but questioning, is that appropriate to share on a public forum?  Granted, I don't even know if anyone even reads the stuff I write, but I know someday that my grand-kids will and so I want them to feel like they truly get me.  But again, how personal do you get?

      Here's where some irony comes in;  Last Saturday I brought home a book from my friends garage sale.  It's a biography on the life of Glenn Beck called "The 7 Wonders That Will Change Your Life".  I find this book ironic because the common theme I keep running into over and over is how we need to be authentic.  He says, "Ultimately, what people hunger for is authenticity - from others and from themselves.  Give it a try.  Start revealing the truth about yourself and watch whether your ostracized or embraced".

      One of the "7 Wonders" that Glenn talks about is Courage and I think it takes Courage to put your thoughts out there for others to see.  So in-addition to all of the normal day-to-day stuff I put on my blog, I want to share some of the lessons I have learned and open up my authentic side.  So, stumbling upon this book at the time that I did, coincidence?  I really don't think so.  I think it's interesting how we sometimes find answers to the questions we have at the right time.  Had I come across this book a few months ago I probably wouldn't have given much thought about it.  I feel like at times we are guided on a certain path to find the answers we seek.           

The Spring Event

I have so many wonderful pictures from the Garden Party that it's hard to pick and choose which ones to share so here are some of my favorites.   The grounds around Teresa's house were gorgeous!  Everything was decorated with such style and class.  No matter where you went on the property you would find great photo props: old vintage suitcases and a vintage telephone; vintage quilts, kites, and a bicycle; and banners everywhere.  Yep, we took pictures all day long!

For lunch all of these chairs were placed down both sides of the long table.

Fresh strawberries with a marshmallow/cream cheese dip and brown sugar.

Nicole, Teresa, Paige, Jenn, Sheila & Shannon

The Sorbet! Oh my goodness the Sorbet!! There were so many

delicious flavors to choose from. The Sorbet station was self-serve

and I think I made at least 4 trips to it :-)

A Water/Candy Station. Crystal lite packets, vintage straws and snow cone cups for the candy.

The beautiful women who put this all together!

Teresa, Ruth & Sandy

Lunch almost looked too pretty to eat!

The best class, appetizers by Sam.

And the highlight of the afternoon, Mindy Gledhill performing!  I think she is one person who sounds better live then on CD.  She is amazing!  I love all of the stories she shares about her music.

After the party ended we all started to get a little goofy and we laughed until we cried!  Mindy & her Guitarist, Spencer Harrison, were a ton of fun to hang with.

Shannon's Dad took care of dinner Saturday night and asked a woman from his Spanish branch at church to bring in Mexican food for everyone.  And it was so good!  This weekend was so awesome in more ways than one: 

• It was awesome to get away and spend time with such wonderful friends. 
• It was awesome to have been behind the scenes on such a fabulous event.
• It was awesome to have met new people and get to know them.
• It was awesome to have been so spoiled every minute of each day.
• And it was truly awesome to have been so welcomed into the Anderson family and home! 

Thank you so much Shannon and Teresa!  Memories were made to last a lifetime!!

Dinner and Activity at the Lake

      Just a few blocks from Teresa's home is a beautiful lake inside their gated community and if we weren't spoiled enough, Teresa had a special evening planned for us.  All extended family members and close friends were invited to attend.  Dinner was simple, hot dogs over the fire, watermelon, salad and danishes for dessert.  And we even had time to take a spin on the paddle boat around the lake and chill by the fire.

       But the real treat of the night was the fun activity she had planned.  Right at dusk Teresa explained to us that she has always wanted to light lanterns like on Tangled and send them off with a wish.  Well, unfortunately, it's illegal to do that in California so she came up with the next best thing;  Floating Locus flowers.  Everyone got to choose 3 different colors of flowers, open the petals and place a tea light candle inside.  Then at dusk we lit the candles and sent them floating off into the lake with our 3 wishes.  It was so beautiful!

Spring Event Prep-Day

      These three ladies were the masterminds behind the Spring Event and they all possess such talent and vision. On the left is Teresa, Shannon's Mom. Sandy is in the middle and then Ruth. They are such lovely women and seeing them interact together made me giddy with hope that my friendships will stand the test of time too. These wonderful women are worker bees! But better than that, they did it with such an amazing attitude. Throwing an event like this I would find stressful, but not them, they were fun, happy, and so kind.

      The Friday before the party was supposed to be a work day, but I really can't say that what we did was work.  The duties we had assigned to us was to make 200 snickerdoodle cookies and assemble 180 center pieces.  Piece of cake.    

After we accomplished the tasks assigned to us, let the fun begin ...

Road Trippin' with Girlfriends

      I love road trips!  I love road trips because they allow you the time to have deep, meaningful conversations!  I love road trips because it's a good excuse to graze all day long!  I love road trips because I think it's so much fun to stop in Podunk towns, sometimes in the middle of nowhere, for gas or a bite to eat!  And now I can say that I LOVE road trips with girlfriends!!! 

      Last month I went on a road trip to California with 3 wonderful friends.  The destination:  Cathy's Valley, CA., so we could attend a Vintage Spring Sorbet Garden Party.  This event is a party that Shannon's Mom, Teresa, and her 2 girlfriends have been putting together for years, but this was the first year they made it such a large event.  Lunch was to be catered and Mindy Gledhill was performing.  It felt like I had been anticipating this event for so long and now it was finally here!  The party was to be held Saturday, April 28th and so our plan was to leave Thursday morning at 6:30 a.m.  A day or two before we actually left I started to have anxiety about being in a car for 15 hours with girlfriends.  Would we get annoyed with each other?  Would it be awkward?  Well I can honestly say NO, it was the best!  The best part of our trip down was seeing Shannon waiting outside of her mom's house with a flashlight in hand when we pulled in.   We were all so excited to be together and looking forward to the fun we were about to have.            

Anniversary Dinner Date

      For our anniversary, Spencer took me to a very nice restaurant in Portland called Morton's Steakhouse.  This restaurant is the perfect place to celebrate any occasion because they know how to make you feel special.  When we arrived we were given our own personal menu with "Happy Anniversary, Nicole & Spencer" printed across the top.  Chef Shayne, our friend who happened to be working that night, spoiled us rotten!  In addition to going above-and-beyond with the main course, he brought out 2 strawberries that were sliced and peeled back into the shape of a rose.  They were SO cool!  And just when I thought I didn't have any more room left for anything else, he brought out a very delicious Souffle with fresh berries and whipped cream.  We were definitely spoiled!  And to my wonderful husband, Spencer, thank you for always making me feel special by treating me with such love.  I love you with all of my heart!!   XOXOXOX