dripping with passion

i spent most of this weekend in earnest, velvet rumination. i sat on my bed for hours, the soft early summer sun slanting through the blinds, and prayed and thought and wrote and pondered. i called parents and siblings and friends and took notes on their perspectives and advice. i read old journals of my own and wise words of others and i shed some heavy, opaque tears. and in the evenings i had conversations that made me rip deep inside of myself, through all the veins and muscles and tendons of my life experience, really. in the past few days, i have felt so harrowingly burdened and so excruciatingly enlightened. i’m continually amazed at how the good and the hard of mortality are intertwined.   i want to share more about what i’m learning soon, but for today here are two small, golden thoughts, one from jeffrey r. holland and one from my wise sister saydi : remember, in this world everyone is to walk by faith. working takes less effort than doubting. {the artwork above is by my

among my favourite, favourite things (yes, i know i have a lot of those) in the world is the 7th inning stretch at a major-league baseball game. and i sure belt it out as well all stand and sing together. on tuesday, the boy took me out to the ball game. we took the train to at&t park and got there just as the game was starting and the sun was setting. we walked around the back of the park, watched a couple of innings from behind the scoreboard, nearly froze to death in our seats at the tippy-top of the stands, ate a bratwurst while watching from lower down, saw a score-tying homerun hit by a giant right into the bay waters in the bottom of the 9th inning (!!!) and of course thoroughly enjoyed the 7th inning stretch.  there’s just nothing like the electric, hearty atmosphere of a baseball game.

= the best. especially with the mustard flowers out in wild bloom. not sure what this pose is about. but i was very happy under that sunsetty sky.

on saturday, the boy took me to pinnacles national park. i had no idea this place existed (neither did he until a week or so ago)! turns out southeast of monterey there is this incredibly cool spot of nature. it was fun to discover an entirely new place with zero expectations. it was a balmy, clear day and the drive to pinnacles was spectacular. once we arrived, we just set out to explore. we encountered caves and a reservoir and vista peaks and big soaring birds and neat rock formations and wildflowers and (my favourite part) neon multicolored moss.     the bay area never ceases to amaze me. there’s always more beauty to go see.

…between the boy and i…   on friday night we made homemade pizza. for toppings, i chose strawberries, bacon, sweet onion, chicken, and cilantro with a balsamic glaze sauce. the boy chose pepperoni. opposites attract?

1. true love requires sacrifice. and sacrifice is a choice. 2. the principles of faith as power apply to faith in other things besides god. faith in other people, in the future, and in my own heart are all important shades of faith. 3. it’s good for me to do things i don’t want to do. there is value in doing work that i don’t have initial motivation towards. 4. separating the mortal from the eternal is a very important skill. it is equally important to recognize man’s humanity as it is to recognize god’s divinity. 5. sometimes, i just need to reeeeelax. 6. people can be wildly different. we can see, conceptualize, experience, understand things completely differently than someone close to us.   7. humility is hard. but so often required for happiness. 8. people are always the priority. i get bogged down in different things going on in my life, but at the end of the day, how i treat others is the most important. 9. comparison can be incredibly damaging and can skew my perception

        i’m a little obsessed with all the pretty quote posters i see pinned on pinterest. i know i’m not the only one. this morning i was having a hard time getting going and not feeling discouraged about things in my life. i went right to my board of pretty & wise words and found some inspiration. no matter what, i am in charge of how i feel about my life, and truth is  - my life is beautiful.

with nine children and twenty-four grandchildren spread all over the country (massachusetts, new york, the district of columbia, arizona, utah, california north and south, hawaii) and an insatiable desire to see all those loved ones often, my parents get around quite a bit. i’ve started to notice over the past few years that they drop in to see my siblings quite more often than me. they’ll freely admit that it’s for the grandkids. i once threatened to go ahead and have a baby out of wedlock so they would come visit me! :) well, last week linda and rick went to maui to see four of their grandchildren (oh, and my brother and sister-in-law, i guess) and decided it was worth a stop-over in the bay area on their way and their way back to see me. well, me and the boy. well, probably mostly the boy… anyway, i was so excited to make reservations for us four to share a meal together both last wednesday and last night. we went to a fabulous italian place in downtown san francisco last week and

speaking of french, i loooove this video and had to share. i dare you to watch this and not feel excited about life today. why are you wasting your life? / dance, dance, dance! / look at the time you loose / why do you complain? / it would be better if you wake up / get out of your bubble a little / go ahead and shake yourself and dance! / why are you wasting your life? / dance, dance, dance! here's to a colorful, groovy tuesday!

brittany and i auctioned off a fancy dinner party at our ward service auction at christmastime. three  of our friends went in on buying it together. it was quite a feat to find a day that worked for all of us to make it happen, and finally the day of the party came last saturday. it had been a while since we had thrown a dinner party together and it was so fun to do it again. the weeks preceding included a lot of scheming and planning and excitement. and everything worked out so beautifully! {past dinner parties: st. patick’s day / good friday / mid-summer night / pioneer day / autumn / st. lucia day }                  we decided we wanted to create the         ambiance of “springtime in paris” and         try french cooking together. brittany         has lived with french families in         france twice, so she knew just how a         parisian dinner party at home should         go.         we started our preparations early in the         morning on saturday.

a few weeks ago i posted this . which prompted this question from a reader: i have been reading your blog for a good long while now, and i am always struck by your love of life, and your excitement for it...i wonder how you came to feel that way? how is it possible to be so excited amidst, well, life ?! i too love life, but it weighs on me and at times i can't seem to move past the heavy and into the excited. i share your beliefs... and i am grateful for the large part they play, but seriously, how come you are so happy ? share your secret! it made me chuckle a little because the reason i had posted that thought about enjoying the day and being glad in it was because i really didn’t want to face that february 21, 2013. i was feeling super overwhelmed and life was weighing heavily on me. and, so, i decided to decide to snap out of it, recognize my blessings, exercise my skills of positivity and passion, and move forward.  i can’t remember that day perfectly, but i’m willing t

my lovely kelsey was recently hired by the museum of craft and design in the city, and they opened up their new space last weekend! on friday night steph and i got to be kelsey’s special guests at the vip reception celebrating the new exhibitions. it was a such a fun fancy night. those sea creatures are made out of crocheted wire! pretty neat.

at christmastime, the boy and i went to a messiah singalong in stanford memorial church. we sat next to a lovely older man named bob and got to know him a little. he told us he works part time at filoli , which is one of my favourite places ever. he said we’d have to come visit in the spring and he would take us on a tour. last week bob let us know that the 60,000 tulips at filoli were at their peak! so we arranged to come see him and them on sunday afternoon. it was such a glorious couple of hours. i was totally swooning at all the gorgeous flowers, in awe of the splendor of man’s cultivation and organization of god’s creations.