School Achievement

I realize it has been ages since I have posted anything...I am starting to believe blogging is seriously not my forte...but I still need to finish the Beautiful posts because all of my sisters are beautiful and that beauty needs to be shared!!!

But real quick I wanted to have a moment for bragging rights! I just received an email from my school that told me that I made something called the Provost's List at my school and it is for those who achieve great academics and it comes with a scholarship! So basically I am on it for getting good grades and my next semester will not cost as much! Hooray! It's tender mercies like this that make all the aggravating, hair-pulling, sleepless days of trying to keep up with school work worth it! I dun a good thing :)

Moment of boasting over, back to humble ;)

What makes you beautiful: Erica

This week I am spotlighting Mrs. Erica, the middle sister in my husband's family. Erica also helped me with my project by sending me this picture and her explanation of what makes her feel beautiful. I  was a little shocked to see Erica struggled to see what made her beautiful, I was shocked to see that a couple of my sisters struggled with it as well. I have no trouble seeing what makes each of them individually beautiful and unique and I am happy that because of this project they were able to take time to think deeply about it and discover their beauty too!

"So, I went sort of a different route. First of all, when I thought about what makes me feel beautiful, I really couldn't think of anything. I don't see myself as a pretty person. I'm just normal, average, and generally unextraordinary. I have my flaws that I see and certainly focus on too much and I have the quick ability to disappoint myself. with all that, I decided to do some soul searching. I am happier now than a year ago. I am grateful for so many things. I enjoy so many things. I am happy. I think happy people are beautiful. Hence, I must think I'm beautiful. So, I wanted to show some of the things that make me happy. It was a lot of fun to think of things that brought joy, a smile, satisfaction, and peace to my life. Evelyn was a helper photographer and she jumped in. I love that picture more than the others. Each thing in the picture shows something that makes me happy.

Art, exercise, music, helping others, my beliefs, freedom to come and go, my family, and so on - these are the things that make me happy. And happy people are beautiful."    -Erica Lundgreen

What makes Erica so beautiful to me is her ability to capture beauty in such a simplistic way. Her art, her photography, her cuisine, even her decor in her house are beautifully simplistic. Her watercolor is soft and fresh and simply breathtaking. The pictures she takes of her beautiful children are always light and again simple, never cluttered, or overdone. Erica (like all Stones woman) is amazingly talented! And Beautiful! But what I find most beautiful about her is her ability to capture beautifully sweet, simple moments and to create them as well! There are many other reasons that make Erica beautiful but I thought this was definitely worth mentioning :) 

What Makes You Beautiful: Brea

I had a very last minute idea this past Mother's Day about beauty and how the woman in the world perceived beauty. I had an idea that woman should take a picture of themselves of when they felt most beautiful, and it could literally be a picture of themselves being and doing anything, then they were to write about what they thought made them beautiful. I wanted to test my idea and turned to my beautiful sister-in-laws to see what they thought was most beautiful about themselves, and man am I so glad I did. These woman astound me each and every day with their creative thinking and their out of the box take on the world. Each of them is unique and different but at the same time they have the same light that comes from them (that I'm guessing comes from being so close and related) ;) 

Today I am spotlighting Breanne. My Husbands youngest, older sister. I have Breanne's thoughts on what makes her beautiful and then to further spotlight her I would like to point out something I think is beautiful about her :


"As I thought about what makes me beautiful I immediately thought of my outside appearance and then about my hobbies, interests and even goals. However the more I thought of these things the more I realized they were fleeting and changing; my hobbies at 13 were much different than at 22 and my goals at 16 are much different than they are now. True beauty is not fleeting but is sustained through one's life and eternally. I then began thinking of the things in my life that are sure and eternal, the things I love and treasure most. These things were not things at all but roles and relationships that I hold most dear. I am a sister; most of my childhood memories involve one or more of my siblings. They are some of my closest friends and as we have grown I have come to know them differently and love them more. I am a daughter; my parents have always been a sure foundation in my life. My mom has taught me the value of order and given me a love for creativity and my Dad has instilled in me a love for learning and a good hearted humor. I am a wife; I have a loving husband who loves and cares for me in good times and through struggles. I have learned patients, humility and perseverance through his example. I am a mother; I have learned and developed a new and greater love than I ever thought possible. I have learned of selflessness and gained a better understanding of my Heavenly Father's love for me. That brings me to the knowledge I have that I am a child of God; I know that by following the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ that I can return to him. Through these roles I find the beauty in myself; I am a sister, daughter, wife, mother and a child of God."

-Breanne Stones Newson

"What makes Breanne beautiful is that her inner-child always shows through. There is such a youthfulness to her that I can hardly explain it. She also seems to see others the way a child would, meaning she always seems to see people with the best of intentions. She offers kind words about others and constantly builds up the characters of others. She tries to always see the good that others have to offer. She will laugh with you when giggles are more than appropriate and she will listen to you and help to steer your thoughts in a positive direction. She also has the creative heart of a child. To me Breanne is vivid color that cannot be tainted. I love you Brea."

-Taylor Stones

Writing Woes.

Why is writing so hard? Why do I have all of these brilliant ideas forming each day in my head but when I go to convert them to paper they just decide to get lost in the jungle of my mind?! Is there anywhere I can go, like workshops or websites to help? Will that stunt my creative growth? I know reading is the best way to become a better writer but when I read I get so lost in the stories themselves that I forget to notice techniques used and the way things are said and written. Maybe my problem is I am trying to expand on stories that I wrote that were meant to be short stories and turning them into anything else just seems unfitting! Good news is at least I am making progress. Slowly but surely one of my stories is taking on new life! I have this new obsession with the thought that I only get one life and I don't want all of my stories to never come to life! I want people to be entertained for years to come! Gah! Someone just needs to fill my head with the secrets of the universe so I can become the ultimate writer! Wouldn't that be lovely!

Balloons for Ryan

I figured out the reason why it is never a good idea to be awake after 9:00pm...because that is when sad news always comes to light. I was browsing instagram just looking to see what my friends had been up to these past couple of days when I saw that an old friend had posted a picture of a little redheaded boy with the underwriting saying how she was sorry for this tragedy that had happened and she was praying for his (the little boy in the picture) mother...my heart stopped. The little boy in the picture couldn't be more than three...four at the most? What had happened? He seemed happy and fine in the photo so what was thir tragedy she spoke of? Well being the curious sucker that I am I googled the hashtag that was #balloonsforryan and found a blog a woman had labeled "Every Parents Nightmare." You think after seeing this headline I would have stopped. I would have realized, if I read this I am going to be an anxious paranoid freak for the rest of my life! But no...I read on. I read about this awful, gut-wrenching story of a little boy who was taken from his parents when he ran into the road to catch a frisbee and was painstakingly hit by a truck. In just a matter of seconds he was gone. My heart ached for his mother and the undeniable pain, panic and anger she felt. How she must have screamed when she saw him running for the street and how helpless she felt knowing she could not get to him in time. Words are useless at this point. I can't even imagine what this small family is going through. I don't even know if or how they are still functioning through life. I grieve for them because they are grieving without the knowledge that they will see their son again. I am not saying that ding* that fixes everything, I am just saying there is solace in knowing that this life is not the only chance we will get to spend with our family and loved ones. Families are eternal. I pray that this woman has the opportunity to hear about how her son will be reunited with her once again, that he is still progressing where he is. He is not lost to the Universe. He is with our Heavenly Father, who will comfort him and love him. I pray that God the Father and His son, Jesus Christ will overwhelm her with feelings of peace and calm and that they will help her to feel the love that they have for her and for her family. I pray that their hearts do not turn to bitterness but to hope and to faith as they mourn the great loss of their baby boy. I hate hearing about these things. And I imagine the people living these tragedies hate even more than I that these things happen. I pray that she see the greatness in humanity when she sees the countless people around the Earth who are pulling together to help her and who are softened and humbled by her loss. I pray that we each hug our own children a little tighter and remember that our life on this Earth could be shorter than we think and we should spend every moment of it spreading love. If Ryan's mom ever reads this I hope she can feel the truth in my words when I say you WILL see your little red-headed boy again and he will be better than you remembered. Until that great day I will pray for your strength, cause heaven knows I would only ever be able to get through something so heartbreaking on borrowed strength. God be with you till you see him again.

Just a small moment

I just wanted to share a little moment that I experienced tonight with my little family. It was a moment that made my heart melt  and made me swell with pride for my husband. Just a small moment that made my husband a hero in my eyes and reaffirmed my great decision of marrying him!
After our dinner tonight Michael took Page to the little coin machines that have little 25 cent prizes inside and bought her a little green bouncy ball. It wasn't much but to Page it was a most special treat! As soon as she got it she was throwing it and giggling as it bounced and rolled around the front of the restaurant! It was obvious this bouncy ball was going to be a fast favorite for Page. We finally got her to hold the ball long enough so we could get outside to the car. We made it to the car, she's still clutching it tightly. We got her buckled into her car seat, she's still got it. Michael starts to close the car door and what does miss Page do? She throws that bouncy ball right out the car door and Michael and I scrambled to catch it before it got away...but it did get away from us and we just couldn't find it (though honestly we didn't look very long). Page was waiting with her hand out and kept saying "ball, ball?" Michael and I looked at each other a little bummed and I looked at Page and told her ball went bye bye. She looked at me confused and just kept repeating "ball, ball." I felt so bad for her. I know that bouncy ball was nothing fancy but she really did seem to enjoy it quite a bit! We got in the car and started to drive away and Pages request for her ball became sadder and sadder "ballll?...balllllll?" It was very sad but I just thought she would get over it eventually. We were down the aisle we had parked in when Michael pulled a upturn and headed back toward the spot where the ball was lost. He parked, pulled out his phone for light and set back out to find the--what I thought at the time--forever lost green bouncy ball. He got down on his hands and knees and just a few minutes later came up holding that meddlesome little green bouncy ball! I actually gave him a WHOOP! I was so amazed he found it in that dark parking lot! I was even more amazed that my husband was moved to do this for our little girl! He just proved once again that he is super dad! It may seem a small thing but to me it was a testament to how far this daddy was willing to go to put a smile on his daughters face. It was a reminder to me that Heavenly Father blessed me with one of the good ones :) I love my husband. I love little moments.

A growing Girl!

I know we are still 3 months out till Page turns two but man I am in shock! I cannot believe my baby girl is going to be two so soon! I can not believe two years have passed since I went to the hospital and gave birth to a healthy baby girl! Little did I know what I was getting into with miss personality here but oh I couldn't imagine having any other being join our family. She fits us. She makes us laugh, cry, even turns us to anger at times but we love her with all of our hearts! P is what makes us whole!

Here are some pictures of when she was 1 in 2012!

Officially 1 Yrs old!!!

And here she is almost a whole year later! Her hair is longer, she has more teeth and she definitely is growing more into her own personality each and every day! Cannot believe it!

I still can not believe how much she has grown this past year! I am so looking forward to her birthday and for many more years spent with this beauty!!!