Isla's First

Thanksgiving Day also happened to be Isla's first birthday.  We had Crystal, Adam, Lyndon, Vera, Becky, Noah, and Jacob over for dinner and a little celebration for Isla.  Here are some pictures documenting the day:

Our table before all the food

Noah dutifully carving the delicious turkey

The other boys playing outside while we slaved away inside ;)

The finished product. It was SO good.

Isla's first cupcake, or what's left of it :)  She had a blast eating it.

All in all, a pretty successful day.  Such a good day and so grateful for all of my wonderful friends and family.

Thanksgiving

I would be lying if I said I always handled challenges gracefully.  This last month has proven to be particularly challenge-filled for me, and graceful would not describe how I handled most of it.  Suffice it to say that pretty much every aspect of my life went down the hole at once and I frequently found myself feeling like I was drowning in my own life.  Sounds pretty dark, but that's how it felt.  Take it or leave it.  Or not. 

Anyway, things were bad.  At first I just felt frustrated ALL THE TIME!  I knew I should be handling things better.  I knew I was not relying as completely on the Savior as I should have been.  We've all been there.  

What I'm grateful for the most this month is that it is the Lord who truly brings out the best in people, not ourselves.  I would be a complete wreck right now if not for Him.  He helped me understand that life requires patience---it requires waiting on His time-table because He knows what/when is best.  It requires trusting that He is still there even when it feels like things just keep getting worse and worse and how could He possibly still be involved if things just keep getting worse!  I know He is mindful of my life.  I know He loves me.  And I know that after night comes the morning.  There will always be a morning.  I'm so thankful for the things and people He has placed in my life to help me:

-my wonderful parents. You will never know how much I love you and appreciate the life you have given me.
 
-music. the right music can reach a part of me that almost nothing else can. it can lift me out of the deepest funks and put hope back in my heart.

-my incredible friends. we may not talk as often as I would like, but I still love you and am grateful to know you. my life would not be complete without you.

-my daughter, Isla. you bring so much crazy love into my life. sometimes you drive me nuts, but I love you. your smile makes my day. 

-my husband. you are my best friend. thank you for wanting to be with me forever.

"...weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."  --Psalms 30:5

I draw

On my mission I started drawing as a way to release some creative energy.  I haven't shown these to very many people and I figure putting them up here won't be a problem since no one really looks at my blog either.

Ferdinando the fish: drawn on the mission

Love me some life.

I must have a lot of free time if I'm able to blog so frequently these days.  I need to get a new hobby. And stop complaining about how I have no time!!! Hah.

Last night Michael and I were eating dinner.  Isla was crawling around the kitchen.  This was the resulting mess:

Isla has recently discovered a new way to laugh.  She does it when she's particularly amused, or when she's hungry and is crying/laughing at the sight of her bottle.  It's pretty funny. 

Below are two pictures I saw/found recently that I thought were especially humorous.  Perhaps you will also find them amusing.  

 bahaha so true.

And on that note, I bid you adieu and good night.  Chicken salad and sleep await.

So little time

Do you ever feel like there's so much you want to do with your life and NEVER enough time to do it all?  I recently felt I needed to make a list of my goals for the future.  Some were relatively straight-forward like learn yoga and lose the weight I gained while pregnant (all 60 lbs of it...I'm not sure how much I have left to lose since I never weigh myself). Some, however, are a bit more in depth like starting a program to educate youth about mental illness.  How to do it all?

I think I need a professional life-organizer.

Boo (in a non-halloween-ish sort of way)

Is it okay to to just say life feels really, really crappy sometimes?  Cause it is.