the arts.

"We must recognize that excellence and quality are a reflection of how we feel about ourselves and about life and about God. If we don’t care much about these basic things, then such not caring carries over into the work we do, and our work becomes shabby and shoddy.

Real craftsmanship, regardless of the skill involved, reflects real caring, and real caring reflects our attitude about ourselves, about our fellowmen, and about life."

-Spencer W. Kimball, "The Gospel Vision of the Arts"

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"The more you trust and rely upon the Spirit, the greater your capacity to create."

-Dieter F. Uchtdorf

and then she was blonde.

i missed my blonde hair too much. brown was fun while it lasted. and im sure it will be fun again soon.

x0x0

Fear Not

The past few months have been some of the most uncertain and scary months of my life. I have been introduced to new and strange experiences that I never thought I would encounter.

No one ever expects to loose someone they care for. Even if he has been fighting a monstrous disease for a very long time

No one expects to have their plans change so quickly and before they know it finding themselves in a new state doing something that they feel completely inadequate to do.

We may understand that changes will be thrown at us, but who really expects them to actually happen?

I have felt an extensive amount of discomfort in not knowing what the future holds. I have been overwhelmed with the vast scope of my weaknesses.

I’ve been afraid, not because there isn’t a solution to my seemingly gigantic challenges, but because I haven’t been looking for the right solution to those problems.

The solution I haven’t been looking for is the Savior’s atonement. I was sent an email from a co-worker the other day entitled ‘Fear Not’ by Elder Tad R Callister. This email wasn’t intended for only me or for the problems that I am facing, but really it was for ME and for MY problems. It was exactly what I needed to hear. Read it- you will LOVE it.

Heavenly Father truthfully knows us. He IS listening to everything we say. He can feel our sorrow and knows our weakness and has promised that if we trust him our seemingly unsolvable problems will always have a solution.

The challenges I am facing are not earth shattering, they are not unconquerable, and truthfully they are miniscule compared to what others are facing.

They may feel gigantic to me, but it isn’t because they really are, it’s because I’m not looking at them with an eternal perspective.

“Fear not… For with God nothing shall be impossible.”(Luke 1:30, 37)

The challenges I face with life don’t have to be scary, because I know that no matter what a solution that will be for my benefit will come out of each situation I am placed in.

In relief society on Sunday our closing song what hymn # 270 “I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go”. Holy smokes it hit me like a ton of bricks.

“It may not be on the mountain height or over the stormy sea, it may not be at the battle’s front my Lord will have need of me. But if by a still, small voice he calls to path that I do not know, I’ll answer dear Lord, with my hand in thine: I’ll go where you want me to go….. So trusting my all to thy tender care, and knowing thou lovest me, I’ll do thy will with a heart sincere: I’ll be what you want me to be.”

Sam and I have been faced with quite a few decisions as of late in determining where our future will lead us. Our bishop said something pretty neat that has also made me realize that Heavenly Father is on our side and that he will make things go the way they need to go. He said, “As long as you are doing what you are supposed to, those things that should happen will fall into place and the rest will fall out of your life.” So great to be reminded yet again that I’m not in charge, but if I put my faith in the atonement it is all going to work out.

Life is good. I love my internship. I still have SOOO much to learn, but I’m here for a reason and I’m excited to find out what it is.

im on fire.

ok not really. but i made this one for sam for valentines day too.
our office is "decorated" in yellow, red, black and white thus the colors i chose.
all of the yellow states are places we have lived+louisiana where sam served his mission.


idaho. wyoming. utah. illinois. virginia. louisiana.

looove

im ok with having valentines on a monday. it means you get to spend an entire weekend celebrating love and then its like monday is a bonus day or something. (except you have to work) the work part stinks but the loove part rocks.

i have a slight problem.

everything i do is slooooooww

like seriously slow.

for some reason the mind of kyrsten doesnt understand expediency.

i probably take twice the amount of time to do anything compared to the average person. even the dishes. sam can whip out a sink full in 10 minutes it takes me close to 45! sheesh!

my mom- who knows how she accomplishes practically every possible thing in a day?!?

it seems as though every person i know accomplishes a lot. at least a lot more than me.

but today i did accomplish something.

my cousin emily introduced me to the most fabulous blog last night. while searching her blog i found this. I was seriously in L.O.V.E. with this idea.

with valentines day just around the corner I thought it would be a lovely gift for my sweetheart.

i think its safe to say that sam rarely reads this blog, so posting it before he actually gets it shouldnt be an issue.

one thing that this girl loves is a little bit of personal art. it adds such a sweet flare to any space. especially when its all about you and your lover!

pretty sure pink wont d0 in our home, but hey its valentines day so i thought i'd add it.

so what do all of these things mean? your probably dying to know so let me tell you.

{palm trees} i love anywhere tropical and warm. take me to a beach and i will be one very happy woman.
{airplane} we love to travel. we have been so blessed to visit some amazing places in our short time together. hopefully we will get to see much much more!
{music note} i caught sam's attention after him hearing me sing a song by one of his favorite bands. we quickly found out that we have the exact same taste in music. music has been a big part of our marriage. (although i am in no way musically talented- i love it!)
{fleur-de-lis} sam served his mission in louisiana. this symbol is a major part of the new orleans style. one of our very first trips as a married couple was to louisiana. i love it there. so does he.
{our initials} duh.
{mustache} once while shopping my entire family bought fake mustaches. we even put one on baby stellas pacifier. we ended up putting one in my dads casket too. kind of strange but a wonderfully fun memory.
{idaho} theres no place like home.
{westfalia} you saw the before pictures of our beautiful new van, we (sam) is in the process of fixing her up. and boy oh boy is she going to be pretty! i cant wait for all of the fun memories we will make with her!
{unicycle} while we were dating sam taught me how to unicycle. we went through a rough patch around christmas the first year we were dating, but he loved me enough to customize my own unicycle even after i had broke his heart. good thing he can forgive and forget. and now we are a unicycling family! :)
{temple} this isnt the temple we were married in, but it is now the temple we live 3 blocks away from. i love having a place that constantly reminds me of how important my marriage and my family is.
{sunshine} i think we both have seasonal depression! we need all the sunshine we can get!
{ice cream} lets be honest... who doesnt love ice cream. yum!

happy valentines day everyone. i have a lot to post about but its almost 2 am. so peace and love!