Pinterest Inspirations

Here are a few of the inspirations I found on Pinterest yesterday.
I may not run out and do everything I find on Pinterest
but I love the inspiration I find there.

Cover letters with pages from a book.

Stencil a pattern on a piece of furniture with the same color
only in an opposite finish/ high gloss or matte.

Now this I really might do. Love it.
I think I'll be on the hunt for a JoAnn's coupon to get a discount on a green wreath.

Bike rim/wheel for climbing veggies or flowers.

THANKS MOM!!! And probably Cindy too.

I can't remember a time when I didn't know how to set a table properly and how to eat at a table properly. It was just part of my upbringing and good manners. I never gave it any thought, it was just the way it was is our home. I passed it along to my darling 6 and again, it was no biggie, just part of the routine...like teaching please and thank you. I may not have had china, chrystal, and silver but I/we always used our best and made it as nice as possible.

I've actually had this idea but it just stayed in my head.
Enough said!

Wishing you a day of inspiration and accomplishment.
Sorry that this ended with the above picture ;)

Inspiring

I've been reading Stephanie Nielsons blog for years...way before her tragic plane accident. She's written a book and here is a little video promoting it. I wouldn't be surprised if you have already been to her site and seen it but just in case . . . what an inspiration.

Laura Inspires Me

This inspired me enormously. Laura (on the right) is an AZ blogger. We've not met in person but through our blogs. I admire her but had NO IDEA her life journey. It won't take you long to read and you'll feel it was time well spent...really...please. Let me know if she inspired you too.

Well done Laura and congratulations on your determination/education/graduation.

from Marjorie P. Hinckley

Not much to "report" today. I am grateful to clean house, grocery shop and prepared for darling daughters who are driving home from Utah for a weekend stay. I cannot get too much of FAMILY.

Here's a little something that inspired me and I'm passing it along for you to hopefully enjoy also. Happy day wishes.

"Think about your particular assignment at this time in your life.

It may be to get an education,

it may be to rear children,

it may be to be a grandparent,

it may be to care for and relieve the suffering of someone you love,

it may be to do a job in the most excellent way possible,

it may be to support someone who has a difficult assignment of their own.

Our assignments are varied and they change from time to time.

Don't take them lightly.

Give them your full heart and energy.

Do them with enthusiasm.

Do whatever you have to do this week with your whole heart and soul.

To do less than this will leave you with an empty feeling."

— Marjorie Pay Hinckley

Inspired

"I am Stephanie Neilson and I am not my body".

I bet soooo many are sharing this video on blogs or Facebook. Does not matter, I will too. I have to share this message with even just the few that view here (thank you).

I have been "following" NieNie since 2007-much before her near fatal plane crash.

I hope you will take the few minutes to listen to her story, her attitude, her faith and hope.

She inspires me.

Clever, Very Clever.

My goodness!!! I wish this cell phone photo were more clear but you will get the idea. Here's the story:

Last week Skippie and I enjoyed a casual shopping trip. Cousin Skippie found this steal - a very tarnished, silver plated buffet/chafing dish, no lid. I call it a steal at only $19.50. Much silver polish and elbow grease later plus orchard plants and moss and look at this breath-taking center piece. Well done Girl. You inspire me. Anyone else inspired??

Here's someone else that inspires me...and I don't even know her. She is an awesome cake decorator. Check her out here - The Good Apple blog. Look at the cake she made for her Cub Scout son's Blue and Gold dinner. Can you imagine how happy that boy was. I'm hoping to be inspired and inspiring. So many avenues of inspiration to travel. Happy day.

President Monson Dedicates Church’s 130th Temple

But first a poem to share that I found on my friend Ganel-Lyn's blog.

I pray you enough sun to keep your attitude bright

no matter how gray the day may appear.
I pray you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more.
I pray you enough happiness

to keep your spirit alive and everlasting.
I pray you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life

may appear bigger.
I pray you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I pray you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I pray you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.

To learn more about this temple and it's dedication, just click here. Wishing you a good sabbath.

HOW MUCH MUSIC CAN YOU MAKE?

When I was a young boy many, many years ago, my Dad took me to see every big name violinist who came to town. I remember seeing one concert violinist who was performing a difficult piece in front of a very large audience.
Suddenly there was a loud snap that reverberated throughout the auditorium. We, the audience, immediately knew that a string has broken and fully expected the concert to be suspended until another string, or instrument, was brought to the musician.
But instead, the violinist composed himself, closed his eyes and then signaled the conductor to begin again. The orchestra resumed where they had left off and now the violinist played the music on three strings. In his mind, he worked out new fingering to compensate for the missing string.
A work that few people can play well on four strings, the violinist with the broken string played on three. When he finished, an awesome silence hung in the auditorium. And then as one, all of us rose to our feet and cheered wildly.
The violinist smiled and wiped perspiration from his brow. When silence returned to the great room, he explained why he continued to play in spite of a broken string. "You know," he said, still breathless, "sometimes it is the artist's task to find out how much music you can still make with what you have left."
This was an experience I’ve never forgotten. We know what he meant, don't we? Maybe we've lived most of our lives and we have only a little time left. Can we still make music?
Maybe disease has robbed us of our capacity to work. Can we still make music?
Perhaps a financial loss has left us impoverished. Can we still make music?
Or maybe a meaningful relationship has ended and we feel alone in the world. Can we still make music?
There will come a time when we all experience loss. Like the violinist, will we find the courage to discover just how much music we can still make with what we have left? How much good we can still do? How much joy we can still share?
For I'm convinced that the world, more than ever, needs the music only you can make. And if it takes extra courage to make the music, many will applaud your effort.
For some people have lost more than others, and these brave souls inspire the rest of us to greater heights. Just how much music can you make with what you have left?

My New Building Project

Thank you Jody for sending me this condensed version of President Monson's address yesterday. I loved reading this and felt like I need to print it and reread it daily. I think I'll carry a copy of this address in my scriptures.

I know we don't always spend a lot of time reading blogs, maybe we revert to our childhood and just want to look at the pictures. Well, I feel like putting "weighty" and "worthwhile" readings here and not just at Butte-iful Sister's and hope you find when you take the time that you have been inspired. Loves.

President Thomas S. Monson asked Latter-day Saints to love their neighbors and to put their homes in order during a regional meeting Sunday in the Conference Center.
The president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spoke to thousands at the gathering and thousands more tuned in via satellite feed to 77 other locations, with translation into more than a dozen languages. The multi-stake conference included LDS congregations in the Salt Lake City North Area.

"Let there be no anger among us," he said, quoting 3rd Nephi in the Book of Mormon. "Let their be no disputations among you. ... he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me.

"He encouraged Latter-day Saints to set their homes in order, according to a scriptural admonition in the Doctrine and Covenants, to include prayer and instruction for young children in how to pray. He recalled a time he and his wife were kneeling with their 3-year-old son, who was learning to pray and was asking God to bless a member of their congregation who was ill.

"Bless Sister Lister, Henny Penny, Chicken Licken and Turkey Lurkey," the boy prayed, as his parents smiled quietly. "Never dismiss the prayer of a child," he urged, noting the family was "later humbled as Sister Lister sustained a full recovery.

"Fasting is another mark of a faithful household, he said. As a boy, he learned to appreciate God's blessings through fasting when his mother would send him down the street with a plate of food for a neighbor who was alone before the family sat down to eat. President Monson said he once suggested to his mother that since he and the other family members were all hungry from fasting that day, maybe he could deliver the food after they finished their own meal.

She declined, saying his own meal would taste better after he delivered the food to a friend in need. "She was right, it did," he said.Making one's home a house of faith includes petitioning God for needed blessings and asking for his help. One couple in Colorado did so when their young missionary son in Germany decided he wanted to come home shortly after arriving there. As a visiting general authority to their stake conference, President Monson prayed with the couple that their son would find the courage to stay and complete his assignment.

When the father asked why their faith was being tested after they had worked so hard to help their son serve, President Monson asked where he was serving and told the couple their prayers were not in vain, as he had been assigned to meet with the missionaries in Germany within the month. He interviewed their son, who stayed and served an honorable mission.

He urged members to build a house of learning by studying the scriptures regularly and to read good books with their families, especially young children, in order to develop a lifelong love of learning.

Making one's home a house of glory includes the need "to be sincere with God. You can not be one person and pretend to be another," he said. "We can't live a lie ... .It is by being consistent that we can assure a house of glory."

A house of order includes time for family, for work, for study, for recreation and for self, and "above all, time for Christ.

Developing a house of God is one where "clean thoughts, noble purposes, ready hearts and ready hands" are dedicated to helping and serving others. One missionary exemplified the teachings of such a home when he was hospitalized and facing major surgery, President Monson said.

The missionary shared the basic principles of the gospel with five other men in his room before he was taken into the operating room, and the men decided among them to fast for his recovery, though none of them knew much about the LDS Church except what the missionary had shared with them.

The operation was a success, and as President Monson — who was then serving as mission president — attempted to pay the surgeon, he refused to take the money. "He said he had never before performed a surgery where he knew that his hands had been guided by a power higher than his own."

"This, then, is your building project, brothers and sisters, to organize yourselves, prepare every needful thing, and to establish a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God."

DUE to travel read some DEW

Due to travel to and in Oregon the next few days I won't be posting for a while. So I really, truly, hopefully desire for you to read this - Sherri Dew's address at the 2008 Women's Conference. Often when I'm reading someone's blog and they suggest I go read something great I don't. But then sometimes I do. This is good. And remember one of my favorite sayings . . . "Don't pass up an opportunity to have a spiritual experience", another goodie from Matt G.

China Quake Aid

It has been heart wrenching to learn of the death, destruction and pain that has been associated with the quake(s) in China. I cannot begin to comprehend the enormity of this horrible situation. I was encouraged as I read this news report. Even from my comforts and far distance I know my tithing and contributions will in some small part be of assistance.

My Day In New York

Saturday was an awesome day trip to New York. Here are an assortment of photos from Lake Canandaigua, Palmyra Temple, Smith Family Farm, Sacred Grove and the Hill Cumorah. Thank you J and C for the long day that I will never forget. I loved this wonderful experience.

Impressed and Motivated!

I just have to give a shout out to my daughter (in-law) Boo, married to my #2 son. She along with 3 of her 5 sisters, her mom and a niece competed in a triathlon in St. George, Utah last Saturday. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL. I am soooo impressed. Go here to read about it and see her photos. Very, very impressive. If this isn't motivating I don't know what is.

Makes my little 2 miler seem down-right piddly. I think I want to look into this more and see what I might be able to do to get in shape to compete. Oh right, I'd need a bike, a swimsuit I can fit into, shoes, drop 30 lbs. just to begin with. Boo, can you give us some insight into your training please? And I think I really want to hear from Sue and what her training regimen was. Doesn't hurt to learn.

It's worth sharing that I have an extra perk when I'm using the "solar drier" these days due to my wall of jasmine blooming!!! It's aroma heaven.

I've started a batch of pinto beans with ham hocks and onion in my hand-me-down dutch oven so dinner will be ready whenever we get to it tonight. I love dutch ovens. I need to get out and get my cell phone either fixed or replaced and then I get to attend the Relief Society scripture study group tonight. What a great way to wrap up the day with sisters studying scriptures. I'm feeling blessed.

Skippie humor: After my boastful blogs of my flower pots Cousin Skippie emailed me her photos. I always love a good laugh. In case you don't know, she really has the Geiss Thumb, it's just too early in Oregon for her to be able to brag. Thanks for the fun Cousin and your grass looks beautiful.