It is my belief that every individual on this earth can find commonality with one another.
What do I have in common with this Nigerian artist?
Besides that fact that we are both Mormon?
I love the rain too.
LeGrand and I love the rain.
I don’t understand how anyone can not appreciate rain. It is essential to life. It is relaxing. It is music to my ears. It’s a reminder that I am privileged to live on God’s earth.
I desire to love my fellow man.
I desire to live a long life.
I desire to spend quality time with my kids.
I desire to serve God.
I desire to share truth with my friends.
I desire to be humble.
I desire to be wise.
I desire a close relationship with my personal Savior Jesus Christ.
I desire to have a strong marriage.
I desire to teach my girls to be healthy and happy and strong.
I desire to love myself better.
I desire to help others.
I desire eternal life.
Yet, I judge others, refuse to eat right and exercise enough, tell my kids to leave me alone, pretend I don’t know that people need service, withhold my beliefs in discussions, think I am too important, refuse to implement knowledge I have gained, slack on my personal scripture study and prayer, yell at my husband, assume I always have time to teach that to my kids later, engage in unhealthy self-talk, feel I lack skills, abilities, or means to make a difference, and last but not least, I looked at that pornographic picture that came up on my screen when I google image searched desire. Gross. Why did I do it? Yuck. I should have known better than to google search “desire”. All I could say to myself is “so much for effective spyware.”
I guess I am on the phase between desire and choices.
My newest desire is to never see anything like that again. I am pretty sure I am scarred enough that I will never ever falter on that choice again.
Anyone can desire. The hard part is in the choice and the actions. But choice and action are where the rewards await us.
I so want to change, achieve, and become. And I so want to forget that nasty picture.
I may not be able to tell you what you should buy for your dad/hubby for Father’s Day, but I can tell you what NOT to buy.
My hubby, LG, was checking out Amazon’s list of Father’s Day sale items and gave me the low down.
Here was his strongest reaction.
Tupperware? Tupperware! Tupperware?! Show me one dad in the universe that would want Tupperware for Father’s Day.
Knives are just a tad bit better, but seriously? Who is running this website? Every metrosexual homosexual girly stay-home dad they could find?
Hmm. Robotic lawnmower. (said in a non-emotional voice)
Me: I thought you would love that?
LG: Oh yeah, that is cool. I would love that.
My man would also love that metal detector. It’s a gadget. Anything gadget is beyond good. We decided that Ikea is the best store ever for a date-night because it combines a man’s love for gadget with a woman’s love for decor and beauty. He would also love the flatscreen or the wireless wireless forecast station.
Looking at the list this morning, I don’t need my man to give me his two cents to instantly pick out other items that would be a bust at my house: lava lamp (he is 35 now), Jalepeno Rack (what the crap is that?), the turkey fryer (he wouldn’t even be able to try it out until November), the picture frames (he doesn’t love us that much), Desktop Humidor (I know we are kind of less than cultured but what is that? Is it just that I am a Mormon. Is a Humidor where a man keeps his cigars? I seriously don’t know), the white dinky office chair (he’s a man people, he wants a real chair), and last but certainly not least, the gnome (what kind of fathers day message does that send…you are so…um…round in the middle).
If I HAD to buy from Amazon, I would go with the hammock on the second page. Or the robotic lawn mower. I would maybe even entertain the idea of the outdoor food smoker (if the man actually EVER cooked anything in his life).
Since the lawnmower is 800 fat ones and the metal detector is 849 and the flat screen is only 42″, I guess I am going to have to go with my first and best idea: vienna sausages.
I try to buy the man some kind of sausage for every holiday and the little metal can will take him right down memory lane. He was telling the girls just yesterday about when he was a kid he loved his Saturday adventures. He would load up his backpack with everything he needed (food, water, toilet paper) and head out for an adventure on his bike. He would be gone all day looking for abandoned building out in the forest. For some reason that he can’t explain, his food always included vienna sausages. Gross.
This year, I am packing a backpack full of vienna sausages and taking the man on an adventure for Father’s Day. I might even give him the ultimate gift. I might even eat one of the sausages. Or not.
Or I may have to rethink the whole holiday by shopping at America’s true manly man store.
Walmart here I come.
I would never want to disappoint this man. Look at him. He’s the best daddy ever.
LG doesn’t understand why I think this guy is funny, but he couldn’t hide his chuckle at The Eye of the Tiger. Lots of Mormons are funny. I recently learned of this funny guy Shaycarl on youtube. He’s a Mormon. He’s kind of obnoxious. He has four kids. He lives online. Wow, it’s like we are long lost twins. Except he is famous and makes his living on youtube and I am only known by my 800 friends on facebook (and only 1/8th of them read my blog) and I don’t make any money. But, it’s all good, I blog for me. And it’s always flattering that anyone actually reads this thing.
Well, you know how I love my church signs. You also know how I love a good laugh. And you know how I get giddy when we combine the two. If you are with me, you must check the link below. It is a great church sign war. And I believe the funny Catholics won.
I think that I agree with the Catholics, and not only because they are funny. Rocks will be in heaven because heaven will be here on earth. Why would the rocks have any need to go anywhere else?
Check out the dad who dressed up every day of school last year to wave his son off.
He has entertained his son, all the kids on the bus, his neighbors, and a whole lot more via the world wide web.
I am so grateful his wife recorded every single outfit.
This is my kind of guy. Thanks to whoever you are that turned me on to the local Utah County phenomenon by sharing this news article on their facebook.
I looked and laughed at every single picture.
I wish I had ideas as good.
I wish more people in this world could turn away from the wicked stuff and just go back to having a good old time.
My Tennessee influence has to claim this get up the winner of all.
Pretty bliss.When people search the lyrics to the song I’m So Pretty on google, they must be surprised when they are brought to this old post which was titled with the words to a great Broadway song I Feel Pretty. It’s one of my favorite songs of all time.
I thought that the words said “I’m so pretty and witty and wise”, but after listening to the above mash up, I realize that I was mistaken, it’s really “I’m so pretty and witty and bright.” I like wise better, but really isn’t it the same thing?
This song has a great message and I wish to share it. Everyone should feel pretty. They should always feel pretty. Even without make-up or the latest fashions or any admirers to tell them so. I think although sometimes I feel fat, I have always felt pretty. I am not saying this to brag, but it’s true, I’m pretty. I am not drop dead gorgeous, but I don’t think I am hard on the eyes. Do other people even think about stuff like this? Am I just sounding like a total freak right now?
My sister came to visit this past weekend and she complained that I have such great skin while she still struggles with acne. She also told me that I better hurry and dye my grey hair. To try and counteract the hair comment, she said, “Alice, I wish I had as pretty of a face that you do.” Funny, I just want her marathon running body to go with my already gorgeous face. I guess this stems from so many people telling me that it was o.k. that I was fat because I have such a beautiful face. Hate on me haters. Seriously, they started telling me that at a young age. I guess I am a living testament to the power of complimentary behavior. I have always felt beautiful. (I have also always felt fat)
When LG and I were engaged, we were encouraged to take the this compatibility test at BYU before getting married the ten days later that we did. It was the worst thing we ever did for our marriage. We were told that we were compatible. (Hello, we already knew that) But, one of the questions of the test has been detrimental to LG and I both for years. It was:
Rate your potential partner’s looks.
a)ugly
b)below average
c)average
d)above average
e)beautiful
I chose C. LG chose D. When going over our results, I was heartbroken. I wanted to be E beautiful and I let him have it. Every girl should feel that their spouse thinks they are E beautiful. It still comes up from time to time. LG always defends himself that D (pretty) is perfectly great and that I said he was only C (average) and no one ever hears him complain.
There is no moral to this post. It’s more of the rambling type. I do think that there is power in the mind and that we should all be kind to ourselves. I am glad that I feel pretty. Now I am just going to work on feeling happy with the body that I have or do something to change it. I think I never really worry about it because even though I feel fat, I think that fat can still be pretty. In fact, fat can be E beautiful. Just look at the link below.
Even though this blogger has never acknowledged my existence, I am still going to send you to yet another one of her posts. It’s about body image. It’s awesome. And the women of Ghana would probably never call themselves fat. Maybe I should start there.
And if the post above doesn’t make you ready for bathing suit season, try this old post of mine.
Sometimes I forget that we all wear the same jersey.
I get lifted up in pride.
And I get overzealous about sharing what I know to be true.
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I am ashamed if I use my knowledge to feel better than others.
I repent.
And I pray for forgiveness.
And I hope that I will find the right balance between
sharing what I know to be true
and loving and respecting others for their beliefs.
I have said it before and I will say it again.
I believe the most important thing that I can do in this life
is to love all people.
I will someday have to report to my God
about how I treated all of his children
while here on earth.
But, I will also have to report on how I shared the knowledge He has given me.
And for both tasks, I don’t want to be left short.
Pride and the Priesthood
My dear brethren of the priesthood, my beloved fellow disciples of the gentle Christ, should we not hold ourselves to a higher standard? As priesthood bearers, we must realize that all of God’s children wear the same jersey. Our team is the brotherhood of man. This mortal life is our playing field. Our goal is to learn to love God and to extend that same love toward our fellowman. We are here to live according to His law and establish the kingdom of God. We are here to build, uplift, treat fairly, and encourage all of Heavenly Father’s children. ~ Deiter F Uchtdorf
Pretty deep if you ask me.
alice w. gold 