Consider The Lilies

My whole life I have always had such an appreciation for beauty. I see things around me that most people pass right by. Like today, I was washing my hands in the bathroom and there was another girl in there and her hair color was BEAUTIFUL. SO BEAUTIFUL. I couldn't control myself from telling her how radiant it was... I sometimes get teary eyed just listening to the birds sing out my window...(don't judge), Or I will be sitting in school studying, and I hear someone laugh and my heart rejoices. I get lost in the rain drops that sit so perfectly on a leaf. There is so much beauty EVERYWHERE.

My soul has always yearned/crave to express the beauty I see around me. I never could figure out a way to do so. I tried singing when I was younger, but let's be honest, I can't sing a note if my life depended on it. Dancing is out of the question, I have absolutely NO rhythm. Painting/drawing? Forget it. My best drawing I have ever done is a stick figure with a dress... You get the picture.

I remember one night asking my God to provide me a way to help me express the beauty of His earth. His creations.

That prayer was offered a little over a year ago. And since that prayer I have started my photography business. My camera has turned into SO much more than a piece of equipment that makes me money...

It has become an expression of my soul.

Embarking upon my photography business has been the most rewarding experience of my life. It has brought me closer to God and the beauty of His earth. I am SO FAR from where I want my photography talent to be, but I am content with opportunities I have to express the beauty my heart sees.

I was at a devotional today and the choir sung one of my favorite songs. I think it perfectly states my desire for beauty, and my yearning to create it.


Here are some pics I took while in Washington.

My VIP treatment

This is what greeted me as I got off my plane after being away from my Robbie for 5 days. This sounds silly to some people, but I don't care. Being away from him for 5 days was one of the hardest things ever. He is my other half!

I spy with my little eye

Look at this little jewel I captured today.

YOUNG VICTORIA

I sat in the theater with Lindsey at my left and Victoria in front of me. I was lost in her eyes and her sheer determination to inherit the thrown. I was enthralled when she looks to Prince Albert and kindly, but sternly said, "You should never have to apologize for your passion...."

Passion is such an interesting thing. If you know me, you know, that down to the littlest fibre of my soul, I am engrained with passion. I either LOVE LOVE LOVE something or HATE HATE it. Lucky for me, I love most things, and people:) If I am committed (keyword) to something, my WHOLE heart is committed. I never to a half-butt job. (side-note to all teachers or anyone who has asked me to do something, and I have never delivered... its because, for some reason, I was not invested in your cause. Its not your fault. Its mine for never seeing your vision of how it would benefit me.)

Growing up my passion was completely out of control. And that last sentence is quite an understatement! I could go on for hours of humiliating stories. But for sake of time, and my dignity (some of you may be saying, "what dignity?") I will keep those stories wrapped up. I came to a point in my life where I hated myself. I hated that I felt so much for everything and everyone. I remember one night sobbing, asking God if I could just stop feeling so much. I couldn't take it anymore.

If you were to ask me today what my favorite thing about myself is, I would tell you my passion. My passion for life, my passion for love, my passion for Christ, my passion for happiness. Years since that experience I have realized, that a life without passion is no life at all.

It has been quite a journey for me turning my greatest weakness into one my greatest strengths. But this journey has been remarkable. It has fulfilled in me the the scripture found in
2 Corinthians 12:9

Autn:reference - http://scriptures.lds.org/2_cor/12/9#9

And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.

Young Victoria is filled with grace, love, drama, BEAUTIFUL clothing, and most importantly PASSION. If you are looking for a movie with great acting, beautiful cinematography and a love story that is simple and perfect, do yourself a favor and go see YOUNG VICTORIA. I promise you won't regret it.

Why can't I step on cracks?

Sometimes I wish someone else could enter my head. Someone to help me figure out why I am the way that I am. Im quite the odd duck... Speaking about ducks!, here is a picture of a duck I took during the summer.


wow...random tangent.

I try to be "cool" but let's face it...
I AM ODD.
I can't help it. Its the way God made... And God don't make no junk:)

I was walking to school today and I caught my self singing to myself, out loud.

Don't step on a crack or you'll fall and break your back.
Don't step on a crack or you'll fall and break your back.

repeated over and over

And then I realized for the last 5 minutes I had not stepped on one crack in the sidewalk... Then, for the remainder of my journey I could not bring myself to step on one measly crack. WHAT THE HECK? Who does that?

Also when cars would pass me I would glare at them and then say to myself out loud...

"What you lookin at Willis?"

Then I would giggle to myself... out loud.



I seriously could entertain myself for hours.


happy thursday!

loves. hugs.

jess

BLING BLING

When I was a little girl, I used to sit in church and pry her ring off her finger. I would play with it pretending that it was MINE. That my dreamy prince had just put it on my tiny little girly fingers. With my baby eyes the diamond was SO big and sparkly. I thought it was the BEST wedding ring in the whole entire world.

Years and years have past since those early church days of fantasizing that such a sparkly ring would grace my fingers. I now sit in church and play with that SAME ring. And my prince?... He sits right next to me during church.

Three years ago today, Robbie proposed to me and placed her ring on my finger. It's been the happiest three years of my ring finger's life!

FOR SALE

Call me CRAZY, but I don't feel there is a need for this sign.....






Talk about a hunk of junk!

CHILE EARTHQUAKE

This is some what lengthy, but TOTALLY worth every second of your day.
SERIOUSLY!

This is a letter a good family friend sent after the Chile Earthquake. Her and her husband are serving as Mission President and wife over the Santiago East Chile Mission. This letter was published by Meridian Magazine. If you want to read the whole article click HERE.

Here some highlights from the letter....

When we were set apart for this calling, Elder Scott of the Council of the Twelve Apostles taught us many important lessons. He spoke from personal experience when he was a mission president in Argentina. One message that he shared with us is this: "At times, during your mission, you will be awakened in the middle of the night or the early morning hours with thoughts of specific things you should do for certain missionaries. Do not ignore these thoughts. They are promptings from the Holy Ghost who will communicate with you in the stillness of the night or the peace of the early morning hours. He will speak to you then because that is when you are still enough to hear."

Elder Scott further instructed us to keep a notebook beside our bed so that we could record these precious promptings. He said that by the next morning, we would be likely to forget the promptings if we didn't write them down.

We have been astonished at the fulfillment of Elder Scott's prophetic words. We have received many promptings in the exact manner that Elder Scott described. We are so thankful that Elder Scott taught us how to recognize and act upon these precious promptings. Had he not taught us, we may not have given these promptings the attention they require.

Nearly two-and-one-half weeks ago, I was awakened at around 4:00 AM by just such a prompting. I did not hear a voice, but the thought was as clear as if it had been in the form of spoken words: "There is going to be an earthquake. Prepare your missionaries." I sat up in bed and immediately remembered Elder Scott's counsel. That morning I told Larry what had happened. He immediately set to work organizing our missionaries to prepare for an earthquake........


We set a goal and arranged our schedule so that we could visit every apartment in the mission to check for safety and to review with our missionaries what to do in case of an earth quake. "...if ye are prepared, ye shall not fear" (D&C 38:30).

We instructed every missionary to have a "go-bag" (36 hour kit). We reviewed our emergency action plan with them of where to go and what to do if they had phone service and in case they did not. We gave everyone a paper with all instructions in English and Spanish, and we reminded them that "this life is the time to prepare to meet God" (Alma 34:32-34). We shared with them our thoughts and feelings about the need for spiritual and physical safety.
Some of them became frightened and asked us if we knew something they didn't know. We smiled and repeated "...if ye are prepared, ye shall not fear." We didn't want to unduly alarm them, but we did want to impress upon them the need to be prepared. We reissued our challenge to "be prepared" in every way. Then we knelt with them in their apartment and dedicated each apartment, asking for a blessing of safety and security to be upon every apartment.....

As the earthquake became more violent, the mission home groaned and wailed. The power died, so the whole city was black. The windows made a hideous screeching sound, and flying objects banged against swaying walls. The printer/fax machine, books, book ends, and fifty-pound television burst from the entertainment center and crashed to the floor, cabinets emptied, drawers flew open, the refrigerator moved, water sloshed out of the toilets, the floor jolted up and down as we ran across it trying to hold onto the walls to keep from falling down, and the piano toppled over like a small toy. As we made our way to the back yard, I remember thinking, "God is all-powerful. He is our only refuge from this horrible mess." I prayed and prayed for Him to still the earth.

When we reached the back yard, we watched in terror. By the light of the moon we could see the swimming pool water form giant waves and crash out onto the rocks. House and car alarms screamed into the night...some from being crushed by falling debris and others, I guess, from the bizarre movement of the earth. I am not sure if the intense rumbling sounds came from the earth itself or from everything else that was shaking so violently. Finally, it stopped.

When the calm came, we had to sit down because our legs were weak and unstable. My legs stayed wobbly all day and night yesterday. Today the muscles in my legs hurt like I ran a marathon. The aftershocks have been extremely unsettling. Each one begins like the one last night started. We just close our eyes and wait to see if it escalates or dies down. I have never experienced anything like this!...

Thankfully, the Lord is in charge. He is the one to whom we must turn for refuge from every storm. He has the power to save us.