I love this song. That's all.

“The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before.” -Dieter F. Uchtdorf

One of my courses this semester was a creative nonfiction class. Because it was our final class today, we had a read around and our teacher read a piece that she had written. The words were so beautiful. They were almost tangible. Today I am grateful for the arts, for creativity, and for people who work hard to develop and perfect their talents in order to bless the lives of those around them.

“The bounds of creativity extend far beyond the limits of a canvas or a sheet of paper and do not require a brush, a pen, or the keys of a piano. Creation means bringing into existence something that did not exist before—colorful gardens, harmonious homes, family memories, flowing laughter.”-Dieter F. Uchtdorf

So once upon a time I had the best of intentions for this blog. Then I got super caught up with life and completely neglected it! Really This blog is more for my own benefit. I don't expect people to read it. :) I am gonna re-commit myself to it... hopefully.

I am definitely blessed. The school semester is coming to an end and even though I still have a few big projects before I am out of the woods, I have zero tests for finals week. I have one big essay and one smaller assignment to be submitted on-line at the beginning of finals week-- that is it. I call that a blessing! and really that is just one of the many blessings I have in my life right now. Others might include:

the beautiful Christmas tree in our cozy apartment

perfect packing snow for snowmen

Psych live stream on netflix

my health

a car with an amazing heater

and a husband who cleans up the apartment when I am gone.

Confession: I don't feel deserving of all of my blessings. I let the hectic parts of life rule my day and sometimes leave out important things like... scripture study, or writing down my blessings :) I think this is just further proof that God loves us whether we feel we deserve his love or not.

I'm a lucky girl!

Why is it so easy to mistreat the ones we are closest to; namely our families? I mean, I can patiently and even kindly deal with a complete stranger at a grocery store check stand, who is slowly counting out all the change in their wallet, but one slightly irritating question or comment from my sister and I snap back with a raised voice and snippy tone. I am working on being more loving and patient these days, and I never really thought I was doing that bad until I watched the loving and patient behavior of my best friend… who also just so happens to be my fiancée.

He was trying to walk his mother through opening his e-mail account over the telephone. You know as much as I know, that the older generation and computers do not always agree with one another and so after repeating the same explanation for the 7th time I looked at this boy with awe realizing that I would have already lost it had it been me explaining the same thing to my mother over the phone, and yet this boy continued with out the slightest change in his loving tone of voice. That really bothered me about myself. My mother doesn’t deserve to be snapped at just because she does not understand something the way I do.

At the end of the 20 minute phone call, my fiancée felt badly because he thought maybe he hadn’t been patient enough, “I just don’t want my mom to ever feel bad,” were his words. I looked at him disbelievingly and assured him he was the most patient person I had ever seen, and then I couldn’t help but smile because everyone always says the best indication of how a boy will treat you is reflected in how he treats his mother. How did I get so lucky? I have no idea! But I do know that this favorite moment of the day is a memory forever imprinted on my brain, and that I am trying just a little bit harder to be the same way.

God’s Canvas

One thing I am absolutely sure of is that God loves us all so much. How do I know that? I know it because my eyes tell me so. I look around me and I see that this world is so beautiful and I know that He took the time to make it that way, just for us. One of my most favorite parts about this beautiful word is something I like to refer to as "God’s canvas". Everyday no matter the weather I look up at the sky and see the most beautiful colors. Sometimes the clouds are thin and wispy other times they are full and fluffy, maybe the sky is bright blue, maybe it is pinkish red, or maybe it is dark purple and black. No matter the color, if I stop to admire the strokes of the Master's hand, it almost always takes my breath away and I can hardly wait to see the new masterpiece He is saving for tomorrow.

Explanation

Ok so I decided that the first post I put on this blog will be an explanation for why this blog even exists. When I was a missionary for my church I got into a really good habit of writing down my favorite parts of the day every evening before bed. It was amazing to me to see how good my Heavenly Father was to me everyday, and the more I began to count my blessings the more I found I had to count. It has been a few months since I returned from my year and 1/2 mission to Italy and I have missed my nightly routine and so I decided to create a place where I could start up, once again, recognizing the hand of the Lord in my life and counting my many blessings.

oh and just in case you were wondering, the title of the blog comes from one of my favorite verses of scripture in the Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi chapter 1 verse 15: But behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love.