Random Photos (from July).

Some fun at the kids museum.

At Hay Hay's swearing-in!

"I gotta watch da kwouds!"

"It's big and huge and tall!"



 

Sunday Thoughts.

A woman sang a solo in church last Sunday and she was amazing. Like, really super awesome. She just opened her mouth and out came this clear, honest, beautiful sound. And I thought, “Wow. What would it be like to be able to do that? To have that talent? To understand music and be able to translate it into something so lovely for everyone to hear… and to make it seem so effortless?”

A friend and I were marveling about it afterwards and I made a comment about how I got in the wrong line in heaven when God was passing out talents. I meant it as a joke, but later on I actually starting taking the thought seriously...

Why didn’t I get the ability to sing? My dad and both my grandma’s sing well, so it’s in my genes. I’ve always envied people who have that gift. I think I would have enjoyed developing and sharing that talent. I really, really wish I could sing. But it’s no secret that I literally can’t carry a tune in a bucket. Music is just not my forte. 

I’ve made peace with that over the years. But today I wondered, “If I wasn’t in the “music line” in heaven, where was I? What line was I in? What talents or gifts did I get?”

I’ve always struggled with that question… not because I don’t feel like I have any abilities, but because I feel like mine are not as “tangible” as some. I don’t sing. I don’t play an instrument. I don’t sew. I can’t draw, paint, or sculpt. I played sports, but I was never excessively good at them. I danced, but I wasn’t as naturally gifted at it as some. I don’t cook all that well.  I can’t make plants grow. I’ve tried to study photography, but I'm not great in the field. I love to write, but I know I ramble and use way too many commas and I don’t have the creativity for fiction. Math is a foreign language to me. I’m not really a “people person.” I'm not optimistic. I'm not a great listener. I believe passionately in motherhood, but sometimes I think I didn’t get the “mom gene.” I’m not a skilled doctor or a successful businessperson or an inventor. I like to decorate, but I’m not going to end up on HGTV anytime soon. I’m quite smart and I tend to ace standardized tests (and I’m really good at Jeopardy- haha), but I’m not genius material…

I could go on and on listing the things that don’t come naturally to me, the talents I don’t have, but the point of this is not to make myself feel bad. I fervently believe that everyone that God created—every single person—was endowed with special gifts and talents by Him.  I don’t have a self-confidence problem. I know I have strengths and abilities that are needed and useful. Everyone does…

A scripture that I like a lot reads: “For all have not every gift given unto them; for there are many gifts, and to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God. To some is given one, and to some is given another, that all may be profited thereby.” (D&C 46:11-12)

Everyone was not given everything, but everyone was given something, and the idea is that as we cultivate and share our talents, everyone is blessed. We need each other. And it takes all types. The trick is to find out what gifts you were given and to honor them. Some gifts are easy to see, like the musical ability that the woman shared in church last week. I’m sure she’s spent a lot of time honing her skills and as she shared them that day, I was edified. Other gifts are less “obvious.” Some are easy to recognize, others are more personal or spiritual in nature. Some talents come ready to use, others might lay dormant until needed or discovered and developed.

Believing all this, and knowing what I know about myself, my joke to my friend at church last week just made me contemplate the topic a little more deeply than I usually do...  Suddenly I needed to know how I would answer my own question: “What line was I in? What would Holly have been doing in pre-earth life?”

The first thought that came to mind was that I was probably off bossing someone around. I don’t say that to be snarky because I don’t see it as a bad thing. I am a natural leader and I prefer to be in charge. Some people are more comfortable being in the background or doing what other people tell them to do. I am opinionated and strong-willed and I have no problem going to bat. I don’t always do things perfectly, but I try really hard to be educated and I have very high standards, so I prefer to take the lead and give it my best shot.

I can see that I probably volunteered to be on the planning committee for the whole "talent-passing-out" event. I’m not a visionary, but I do see the “big picture” very clearly and I’m big on understanding the “why” behind everything. So, once I understood the importance of what we were doing, I probably jumped at the chance to be involved in the execution of it.

I probably spent a lot of time beforehand making sure things were organized and that small details weren’t left out and that everyone involved knew what was expected of them. I probably wrote up the invitations and visited various gathering spots to announce the event and make sure everyone was informed and excited. I probably penned the literature that was passed out when you were given your talent to help you understand what was expected of you and what a special blessing you were receiving.

I believe in efficiency and I like order. I have exceptional organizational skills. So, on the day of, I was probably walking around with a clipboard, checking off boxes and telling people where to stand and making sure that the lines were straight and that people waited their turns. I was probably making sure that quotas were met and that no one got left out. I made decisions. I answered questions.

While I’m not warm and fuzzy, I do enjoy doling out advice and I’m usually pretty good at explaining things. I like to give speeches and I like to teach lessons. I like to help people by sharing my knowledge and I like when others feel good about themselves, so I probably gave a few people pep talks when they mentioned that they didn’t feel worthy of such and such a gift. I probably reminded them that everyone was entitled to a gift and that the Lord had something special in mind just for them. I’m big on reading so I probably told them what someone in authority had once said and then quoted the book and page that they could find that information on if they wanted to read more for themselves.

I probably hugged my friends after they received their gifts and made them promise to sing/dance/play/teach/create/inspire for me when we met up on earth. I probably reminded all the parents to notice and nurture the special gifts in their children and then sent them all off to the back of the room where I had hired someone who can cook to make refreshments for the event because everything is better with food.

When it was all done, I probably had everything cleaned up and put away in very short order. And then I would have sat down and put my feet up, happy to have some time alone at last, satisfied with the accomplishments of the day and what it meant for the future of mankind.

Then it would have dawned on me that I never got in line myself. I probably worried for a minute that I’d missed out, that I wouldn’t have anything to offer once we all got to earth. But then, because I also believe in not making a fuss,  I probably sat back with the brownie I’d swiped from the refreshment table and figured I was fine with what I already had.

So far, it’s served me well. I know I have a lot to learn. I know I’m not perfect. I know I have many weaknesses. There are a lot of talents I wish I had that I don't. I believe that I probably have talents that I haven’t yet discovered...

But I do have something to offer. I’ll never inspire other people with my musical ability, but I can be useful in other ways, ways that help me grow and assist those I come in contact with. It doesn’t matter what line I was or wasn't in.

I was there.

We all were.

Happy 31.

Today I turned 31. It's an odd number and I didn't have much feeling about it. I am always happy to celebrate another year though, and hey, who doesn't love a day dedicated to themselves? :) The kids decorated the house with streamers and balloons and Nate made a killer breakfast. Then he took the kids to play and I took myself to get a pedicure. Ahhhh! Then my parents came over to babysit and Nate and I went on a date! We walked through the Bellagio, ate dinner at a fancy Mexican place at the Aria, wandered over to the Linq to ride the Ferris wheel, and then had ice cream sundaes at Ghirardelli's! It was so fun! I got lots of nice cards and messages and presents, including chocolate from Sonnet, a super awesome bouquet from Nate, a friendship bracelet from my buddy Rushelle, and a dress and shoes from my mama. It was a really, really nice day and I'm grateful I'm alive. :)

 

House Update.

So, we've officially owned our house for two weeks! But there have been no moving boxes or moving trucks or decorating sprees to be had. Instead, there has been lots of my super amazing husband, his tools, and multiple trips to Lowe's renovating the place to make it fit us just right. We figured it would be way better to make all the big messes and do as much work as possible before we moved in, knowing we plan to stay here for a long time. :)

I mean, look how cute!

The first project was adding a room. This house had 4 bedrooms. That's a lot and plenty for us right now, buuuuut I'm never content am I? One of the bedrooms is downstairs and I don't like the idea of one of my kids being separated from the rest of the family at night. Also, I want to use that room as a craft room for myself. :) There's still the master bedroom and two kids' rooms upstairs. Buuuuuut, we want to have another kid at some point and I want all of them to have a room. So, in a perfect world, we wanted a five bedroom house. This house had a good-sized loft upstairs in between the current two kids' rooms, that had windows and could be converted into a bedroom without too much difficulty. So, Nate added a new wall, a walk-in closet, a couple doors, and all the electrical to create a perfect little 5th bedroom. It will be Stetson's room once we finally move in.

Going upstairs- before.

The loft- before.

The loft- before.

The loft being framed in- part of the wall and closet.

Framed and starting to hang drywall- after.

A view from the hall- now.
The room on the left is Stetson's. The one on the right is "spare" right now.

A view from inside Stetson's room to the closet and outside door- now.

 Next to the loft (now Stetson's room) on the right was another bedroom (we're calling it the "spare.") Inside it had a good-sized closet. In the hall next to that room was some dead space and a big linen closet. Backing up to that room/closet/linen closet on the other side is the master closet. Well, we all know I like shoes, which means that even though the master closet wasn't small, it just wasn't quite big enough either. :)

 

So, while he was already knee-deep in drywall mud, Nate got the idea to knock down a wall, rearrange some closets, add a few more walls, and generally just make the space more functional. He's awesome like that. We weren't originally planning on this project, but we're so glad we did it.

View of the spare room and linen closet- before.

The closet inside the spare bedroom- before.

The little dead hallway and linen closet- before.

Inside the master closet- before.

View of the hallway, spare bedroom, and linen closet getting beat up.

Steton's room on left and spare on right in framing stages.

New closet for spare bedroom got put into the dead hallway.

Drywall-ed closet. You'd never know what we did if you didn't know what we did. :)



What that side of the upstairs looks like now.



Inside the master closet- now.



Inside master closet- now. Added lots more space and made it much more usable!

Nate also added some extra shelves in all the closets! Go Nate!

 So, now all those walls are in the process of being textured and then everything will get painted next week. Also, we're changing out the flooring throughout the whole house so the old stuff just got ripped out...

Living room with no more nasty carpet- now.

My craft room with no flooring- now.

View from kitchen into family room- tile has been chipped up- now.

  The final big project will be painting the kitchen cabinets, replacing the countertops, and adding a backsplash. Right now the kitchen looks like this...

 

So stay tuned... things are starting to get fun! :)