Frost Feathers

 Last October(2010) when we moved here I saw some of the most beautiful weather I have ever seen.  I thought then that it was normal and that once we settled or even the next season I'd photograph it.  But it seems that no two seasons are exactly alike here and I missed it.  So this week when everything got layered with frost for several days in a row I decided not to miss it and to take my camera out there.

So today I hopped in the car and headed up to the top of the hill I live on to capture how magical the frost is...

 And here is a look at where I get to go running.  The hill I live on is a beast(for me) and even though I live over half way up it, it takes another 3/4 of a mile to get to the top.  But the top is mostly flat and surrounds me with rolling fields of green in spring, gold and yellow in the summer, and blankets of white though the fall and winter.  All while giving me views of Mount Spokane and the surrounding mountains

With a little help from our friends...

This isn't an easy post for me to write.

We made the decision long ago to adopt. It was always something on the horizon for us but since we knew it was an expensive process we didn't consider doing it any time soon. And then slightly out of the blue, in early October we felt this urgency to start the process. We figured it would be a process we would start and that in the spring(with some savings under our belt) we would find a child and move forward. But the Lord didn't see it that way. A week after we fasted and prayed about where to look we found our little girl, Pearl.

And what a joy and blessing that is. How grateful we are that we have been entrusted with the job of bringing her home. What a blessing it is to sacrifice and fast and plead on her behalf. We know that she is as much a member of our eternal family as any of the boys are.

But that doesn't make it any less expensive. So, we've begun to work harder than we ever have before, sell everything we can, eat beans and rice, and to literally save EVERY penny that we find or earn. But most importantly we are relying on the Lord to multiply our efforts because we KNOW that without his help we would never make it.

And now, in our desire to bring her home as soon as possible, we are asking for your help. And it's hard to ask for help but I am willing to do it to bring her home even one day sooner. So, if you'd like to help us bring Pearl home you can click on the link on the right hand side of this blog.

And I know you will be blessed as we have already been. Since I have begun this process I have seen how much the Lord loves and cares about his orphaned children because he has given me VERY clear direction and answers to my prayers. He has said:

Pure religion... is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction... -James 1:27


And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. -Matthew 18:5


Then thou shalt say before the Lord thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them. -Deuteronomy 26:13

So, thank you in advance to those of you who are in a position to help us financially. And to those who aren't - we ask for your prayers. Someday we will happily tell Pearl all about how many of our friends and family worked to bring her home. For a little girl who was abandoned in the beginning, what a gift to know that there were many others who saw her worth and value in this world and who were waiting with open arms to love and cherish her.

Essential Oils - My Gateway Drug To All Things Healthy

In October of last year I became a huge fan of essential oils. I had tried them here and there over the years but it wasn't until last fall when a friend gave me some Doterra oils that I started replacing medicines in our cabinet with them. And now it's gotten to the point where nearly everything, if not everything, has been replaced with an essential oil. And not just because it's cool - but because they work BETTER.  It's pretty radical, actually. And so, I am in love.

And this love has brought with it some unexpected travelers. Not only am I in love with the oils so much that I actually became a rep, but it has opened me up to a whole new level of understanding of my body and my spirit and how the two work together to keep me healthy. The first change I noticed was that I started decreasing the toxic load I place on my body. I started looking around my home - at my toiletries, my cleaners, my food, and asking myself if it was a product that was aiding in the health of my whole self. And so I threw a bunch of stuff out, which I think is pretty cool. And the oils have made me look internally to see if my stress levels and moods are ones that are aiding not only in my health but in the health of my family. And I've started to make changes in the ways I deal with my loved ones as well as myself. And if you'd believe it, the oils have even helped me strengthen myself spiritually. They have increased my faith in the Lord because I've seen how well they work and it reminds me that He has provided for our needs. It has made me want to rely less in the "arm of flesh" in other ways and more on Him. It has helped me to see that "all things denote that there is a God"* and that many of those things will actually help us draw closer to him as well. And in that new found searching I have found beautiful quotes like this one from Parley P. Pratt on the effect of the Holy Spirit:

"It quickens all the intellectual faculties, increases, enlarges, expands and purifies all the natural passions and affections, and adapts them, by the gift of wisdom to their lawful use. It inspires, develops, cultivates and matures all the fine toned sympathies, joys, tastes, kindred feelings and affections of our nature. It inspires virtue, kindness, goodness, tenderness, gentleness and charity. It develops beauty of person, form and features. It tends to health, vigor, animation and social feeling. It develops and invigorates all the faculties of the physical and intellectual man. It strengthens, invigorates and gives tone to the nerves. In short, it is, as it were marrow to the bone, joy to the heart, light to the eyes, music to the ears, and life to the whole being."

Isn't that beautiful?  I especially like the part where he says it invigorates ALL of the faculties and how he said it actually makes thing become more beautiful.  I believe that.  I really believe that as we have the spirit of God striving in our hearts it is working in each individual molecule in us.  Filling it with light and helping it to heal and work better.

In the end, I am so grateful that my journey into the world of essential oils has just begun and yet it has already opened my eyes and my heart to a whole new wellness - a truly holistic view of how to care for myself and my family.

And P.S.  Doterra oils are THE best.  The End.  

P.P.S.  Call me or email and I'll talk your ear off all about why.

*Alma 30:44