while working at Northampton House today I was helping with a ceremony and they had a piano player for their background music. I loved it more you than would even know. Therefore, I chose that today I just wanted to highlight a piano piece. well maybe a couple pieces. I love piano music.
I thought this quote was beautiful and has so much truth put into it. It comes from President Faust. I used it as my visiting teaching message for last month.
As daughter of God, you cannot imagine the divine potential within each of you. Surely the secret citadel of women’s inner strength is spirituality. In this you equal and even surpass men, as you do in faith, morality, and commitment when truly converted to the gospel. You have “More trust in the Lord [and] more hope in his word.” This inner spiritual sense seems to give you a certain resilience to cope with sorrow, trouble, and uncertainty.
You cannot imagine the gifts and talents each of you has. All women have appealing features. I do not refer to model-type appeal, but rather that which comes from your personality, your attitude, and your expressions. I urge you to enhance the natural, God-given, feminine gifts with which you have been so richly blessed. None of you should be so content that you cease to care about how you look or act. In his day, President Brigham Young encouraged women to get an education. This is still good counsel, But I hasten to add; in all you’re getting, do not lose your sweet femininity.
You sisters do not know the full extent of your influence. You sisters enrich all of humanity. All human life begins with you. Each woman brings her own separate, unique strengths to the family and the church. Being a daughter of God means that if you seek it, you can find your true identity. You will know who you are. This will make you free–not free from restraints, but free from doubts, anxieties, or peer pressure. You will not need to worry, “Do I look all right?” “Do I sound OK?” “What do people think of me?” A conviction that you are a daughter of God gives you a feeling of comfort in your self-worth. If means that you can find strength in the balm of Christ. It will help you meet the heartaches and challenges with faith and serenity.
I wonder if you sisters can fully appreciate the innate gifts, blessings, and endowments you have simply because you are daughters of God. It is a mistake for women to think that life begins only with marriage. A woman can and must have an identity and feel useful, valued, and needed whether she is single or married. She must feel that she can do something for someone else that no one else ever born can do.
So I don’t know if you have ever heard of love languages but their are 5 of them. Service, Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Physical Touch, and Gifts. If you want to take a quick and easy quiz to learn your love language go to http://www.5lovelanguages.com/
PS. if you want to know mine, it was a tie between physical touch and words of affirmation.
ok, I just picked up an internship today. I am now a wedding planner at North Hampton House in American Fork. It is a gorgeous venue and I am delighted that they will teach me a bunch of the consulting and planning side but also maybe some floral. I would suggest checking out their website. htto://www.northhamptonhouse.com
The NorthHampton house reception center was actually built as an LDS church in the early 1900’s.
The courtyard room is used more for evening receptions. It has a built in dance floor in the room and is just beautiful. We also have all of the lines on site and during planning meetings we will put everything together so you know exactly how it will look. We also offer catering and buffets (and cakes)
The Garden is used a lot during the spring and summer. It even has a sound system set up out there.
The Somerset room is very popular for ceremonies because of this stain glass window and grand staircase at the back of the room.
Today in Relief Society, Heather shared this quote with us. She was trying to help us realize our worth as daughters of God. We are never alone and we have loving Heavenly Parents that gave Christ to us to help us return to them. We can do it, but with the help of christ life can be an amazing experience where we can touch many lives.
this story is of a young piano student. His mother, wishing to encourage him, “bought tickets for a performance of the great Polish pianist, Paderewski. The night of the concert arrived and the mother and son found their seats near the front of the concert hall. While the mother visited with friends, the boy slipped quietly away.
“Suddenly, it was time for the performance to begin and a single spotlight cut through the darkness of the concert hall to illuminate the grand piano on stage. Only then did the audience notice the little boy on the bench, innocently picking out ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.’
“His mother gasped, but before she could move, Paderewski appeared on stage and quickly moved to the keyboard. He whispered to the boy, ‘Don’t quit. Keep playing.’ And then, leaning over, the master reached down with his left hand and began filling in the bass part. Soon his right arm reached around the other side, encircling the child, to add a running obbligato. Together, the old master and the young novice held the crowd mesmerized.
“In our lives, unpolished though we may be, it is the Master who surrounds us and whispers in our ear, time and time again, ‘Don’t quit. Keep playing.’ And as we do, He augments and supplements until a work of amazing beauty is created. He is right there with all of us, telling us over and over, ‘Keep playing.’
James E. Faust
I hope you all had a wonderful midnight moment. I had a nice evening.
I started off my evening by taking my brother to his church youth party at the high school. They did a little talent show, hockey, basketball, boardgames, movies, and food. I stayed for like 2 hours and spent time with my brother and talking with Chaneux (my old neighbor) and Sister Barfuss.
I then left and went to Jessica Campbell’s gravesite and talked to her for a little bit. I know its weird but it is something I do whenever I am in town. I wish I could really talk to her but I at least get to sort through my thoughts whenever I go there.
Then I met up with Travis and Ronny and played Ticket to Ride at Denny’s. I think we played for 3 1/2 hours. Well Travis and I did. ronny ditched out pretty early. It is totally normal for us to play boardgames at Denny’s and another group of kids about our age came in and they really liked our idea so one of them went to Walmart to buy a game to play for themselves. Aren’t you proud of our trendsetting. really though, that is a fun activity, unlimited hot chocolate, food, friends, games, and no one getting into trouble.
ok, #1, I HATE snow. We got a couple inches of snow and it isn’t fun. I even had a dentist appointment planned for this afternoon and I guess everyone else had canceled their appointments and so they asked me to go at 9:30 in the morning. So I got the fun of walking in the snow down there because their wasn’t a car I could use to get there safely. Even tonight this one kid got stuck in a ditch while I was hanging out with daniel. We were called to help and I notice the guy has a girl with him and she has caused a good amount of drama for me so I chose to stay in the car. It was probably a better idea because I know she does not like me all that much.
Now for New Year plans. First I was gonna do a game night with some friends but Zeth has to work so that isn’t really happening anymore. Sam invited me to go with her to her aunt’s so I may do that. I don’t know yet though.
New Years resolutions include…
1. make a to-do list each week (it worked really well during finals)
2. lose 20 pounds throughout the year
3. figure out future more and work towards getting experience to reach goals
4. Have fun
This is one of my favorite Christmas stories…
THE CHRISTMAS ORANGE
I’d like to tell you a story my grandmother told me when I was six or seven years old. We had gone to her home for Thanksgiving dinner and the drive was rather a long one. I had filled the time with making a list of all the things that I wanted for Christmas that year.
Later that evening after I was ready for bed, I showed the list to my grandmother. After she read it, she said, “My goodness, that really is a long list!” Then she picked me up and set me on her lap in the big rocking chair and told me this story:
“Once there was a little girl who came to live in an orphanage in Denmark” (Now my grandmother was from Denmark, so this story might even be true.) “As Christmas time grew near, all of the other children began telling the little girl about the beautiful Christmas tree that would appear in the huge downstairs hall on Christmas morning. After their usual, very plain breakfast, each child would be given their one and only Christmas gift; small, single orange.”
At this point I looked up at my grandmother in disbelief, but she assured me that was all each child would receive for Christmas.
“Now the headmaster of the orphanage was very stern and he thought Christmas to be a bother. So on Christmas Eve, when he caught the little girl creeping down the stairs to catch a peek at the much-heard-of Christmas tree, he sharply declared that the little girl would not receive her Christmas orange because she had been so curious as to disobey the rules. The little girl ran back to her room broken-hearted and crying at her terrible fate.”
“The next morning as the other children were going down to breakfast, the little girl stayed in her bed. She couldn’t stand the thought of seeing the others receive their gift when there would be none for her.”
“Later, as the children came back upstairs, the little girl was surprised to be handed a napkin. As she carefully opened it, there to her disbelief was an orange all peeled and sectioned.”
“How could this be?” she asked.
“It was then that she found how each child had taken one section from their orange and given it to her so that she, too, would have a Christmas orange.”
How I loved this story! I would ask my grandmother to tell it to me over and over as I grew up. Every Christmas, as I pull a big, juicy orange from my stocking, I think of this story. What an example of the true meaning of Christmas those orphan children displayed that Christmas morning. How I wish the world, as a whole would display that same kind of Christ-like concern for others, not just at Christmas, but throughout the year.
So I don’t do well with anonymous notes. I like knowing things so I constantly want to know who they are from or what is going on in their head to see why they thought they need to send the note or why they don’t put a name on it.
About 2 weeks ago I got a love note (my apartment complex offers ppl to write little notes to other people once a week.) So this love note says “The sun never shines as bright as my face when I see you smile!” Pretty much, I have no idea who it from and I wish I did.
Today As I was leaving the apartment for Sarah’s Bridal Shower I find a new note stuck on my door. This note had Riesen chocolate attached to it and it said…
Robin, here are two riesens we love you!
1. We love your example of courage and trust.
3. We see your love for God and others through your bright countenance
Oops, I don’t know how to count.
With that one Lexie and I brainstormed who it could be from. We know it is somebody who knows me pretty well in order to know the courage and trust part. But also, it had to be someone with a sense of humor for the 3 part.
I remember last year getting some stuff but I figured it out after some time. I received a flower one day with a note that said “I thought a gorgeous girl needed a gorgeous flower, have a great week!” then 2 weeks later I received a baggy of cookies with a note that said the person was grateful to know me. I decided this was all Jim because he loved baking and he knew what my favorite flower was. It took me forever to figure it out but I did.
So tip of advice. If you decide to send me a little something, put your name on it if you don’t want me to die of craziness.
I am moving at the end of the semester. I just don’t feel like I am supposed to stay in this apartment. This was all decided in my head Sunday night and I kept quiet til now. I talked with Shelby, the apartment manager, and she was super helpful. I know the girl I am replacing because I used to live with her myself. She is getting married the same morning I am leaving so we are sure I can move my stuff there before then cuz she will be moved out before the wedding.
So yes, I will be moving to apartment 5 in two weeks. Here we are with a new adventure.
