Too bad I didn't get to do this today...

I was just too busy!

My life will never be the same...

First watch this...

(I am not endorsing the organization or the people shown so much as the general message.)**

My life will never be the same because of this... In fact, my life has been changed for the better because of it... I have experienced a multitude of emotions - happiness, sadness, joy, pain, excitement, sorrow, and many, many others - because of this blessing:

Adoption

There have never been words to fully describe my feelings when I speak of adoption and my daughters and their birthparents. This month is National Adoption Month, and I want to share with you my gratitude to those who made the arrival of our daughters possible, their birthparents. They are the ones who found courage to make this choice of love. We are not talking a simple love of the brotherly kind, but an intense love that directs you do to what might be the hardest thing you have ever done in your life, or will ever do in your life because you know it's right and best. They had a love that was willing to listen to the whisperings of the spirit and follow its promptings even though they knew that they would experience pain. In this act, they followed our Savior's example, he willingly accepted the pain and sorrow of all people that the way might be opened for us to progress. Our birthparents sacrificed much because they wanted to give their daughters more, not only in this life, but eternally.

The most memorable experiences of our both of our girls' adoptions have taken place at their placements. Both of our daughters were placed into our arms by their birthparents, and both times the spirit in the room was overwhelming. There is a bitter-sweet feeling in the room during placement, as mother and mother and father and father look to each other and to these sweet little ones with love and hope for the future. These birthparents look to us with trust that we will do our best to raise their girls in righteousness. I often ask myself, as I love, teach, and guide our girls, am I being the mother that their birthfamilies hoped me to be? I will admit that I am not perfect, but I take this great responsibility very seriously because I love their birthparents dearly. I hope to one day stand before them, mostly likely with tears in my eyes, and thank them for the blessed opportunity to be a mother to their little girl.

Why do I share this with you? I hope that for you who have been touched by adoption in some way will express gratitude for that blessing - that includes all of you since you are my friends. I also hope for those of you who may be considering adoption, or may consider adoption in the future, I want you to know that you are about to embark on one amazing journey, and the highs and lows are all worth it because the blessing at the end is absolutely incredible. To you, I say do not fear the unknowns of adoption because I can testify that it is all in the Lord's hands. He is watching over all involved. My life has been blessed forever.

**I did try to check the validity of all the people cited as being adopted in the video, and to the best of my research all but two are definitely adopted by one or both parents. The remaining two are questions because I founds sources saying it was true and sources saying it was false. The two in question are JRR Tolkien and Tim McGraw.

Why I don't like leftovers (by Little Robby)

1. They don't taste the same.
2. They look and feel even worse.
3. They smell funky.
4. They're cold (usually)

--Little Robby

Arrow of Light!!!!!!

I got my Arrow of Light with only 19 days to go till my birthday!!! After 346 days, I'm done!! (Good thing it can't hurt anyone) ;) Now I can go on to Boy Scouts with no regrets!

WOO HOO!!!

Cool Tip I Want to Share...

The other day I was watching a home improvement show, and I saw this great technique for hanging an arrangement of pictures easily. Now you may already know about this idea, but humor me, it's a new discovery of mine, and it has worked fabulously for hanging pictures in my bedroom this week. (I know I'm still getting stuff hung on my walls five months after moving in -- Abbie, you put me to shame with all of your hard work decorating your apartment within the first month or so of being there.) Anyway, here's what I learned...

1.) Trace an outline of each of your pictures on butcher paper, newspaper, or packing paper (or whatever large paper you have on hand).



2.) Cut out your outline. Then flip your pictures over and line up your cutout with the back of your picture.

3.) When you have it lined up, carefully pull it back till you can see the bracket for the nail. (I know you can't see the bracket in this picture, but it's there.)

4.) Noting the nailing bracket's location, lay the cutout back down, and mark where your nail needs to be. I have been able to feel through the paper the groove for my nail, and I put an arrow head on the paper to mark the spot. (You may also want to label your cutout with which picture it belongs to.)

Do steps 1-4 for all of your pictures.

5.) Next lay your pictures out on the ground to experiment with spacing and arrangement.

6.) When you are satisfied with your arrangement, take all of your cutouts and tape them to the wall in the desired arrangement. (I would suggest masking tape, so you don't pull paint off your wall when you remove the cutout.) Shift around your cutouts as needed to make the arrangment look appropriate for your space. Also take your time to make sure that you have gotten your cutouts level.

7.) Hammer your nails or picture hangers directly through your cutouts in all of your nail markings. Then pull your cutout off the wall by tearing through the edge around the nail, leaving the nail in the wall exactly where you need it.

8.) And finally hang your pictures on your perfectly placed nails! Voila! (Of course, I still need to fill the massive holes left by the previous homeowners on this wall.)

I have used this to hang several arrangements, and it has worked perfectly! And I have used it to mark nail spots for pictures that have two brackets on the back. For me this has been so much easier than trying to measure and mark and hammer and decide to rearrange and rehammer and rearrange and rehammer and ... you get the picture. My only extra tip is pay special attention if your pictures that have two brackets that are off center that you hang your cutout the right way on the wall.

So there's my latest and greatest discovery! I hope it helps at least one of you!