Daily Inspiration

I recently found out my wonderful seminary teacher, Sister Gill, has a blog. Even 5 years later, she still inspires me and fills my needs. Talk about taking a calling above and beyond. I found this quote there:

Elder Holland said,

First, we must never, in any age or circumstance, let fear and the father of fear (Satan himself) divert us from our faith and faithful living. There have always been questions about the future. Every young person or every young couple in every era has had to walk by faith into what has always been some uncertainty...But that is all right. This is the plan. It will be okay. Just be faithful. God is in charge. He knows your name and He knows your need.

Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ—that is the first principle of the gospel. We must go forward...one step and then another and then the next. That is how tasks are accomplished, that is how goals are achieved, and that is how frontiers are conquered. In more divine language, that is how worlds are created and it is how your world will be created.

God expects you to have enough faith and determination and enough trust in Him to keep moving, keep living, keep rejoicing. In fact, He expects you not simply to face the future (that sounds pretty grim and stoic); He expects you to embrace and shape the future—to love it and rejoice in it and delight in your opportunities.

God is anxiously waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as He always has. But He can't if you don't pray, and He can't if you don't dream. In short, He can't if you don't believe. (Terror, Triumph and a Wedding Feast, September 12 2004)

We Need You!

Hello Friends,

I need your help. Gary is going to a conference for his major in a week or so. They are having a photo contest on Facebook to win an iPad. The one with the most "likes" wins. Please follow this link and "like" Gary's picture (same pic as above).

I Got Featured!

I feel like a blog celebrity! I got featured (briefly, but still...) on Suzy's Artsy Craftsy Sitcom. Hooray!

When You Get Married, Things Change

I've always liked baking, but I haven't always like cooking. I haven't always wanted to sew everything I could. I haven't always wanted to make my home decor, rather than buying it. Something just changed when I got married. Here's some of the recent projects.

These were so yummy! I got the recipe from Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade magazine. I got a subscription for Christmas and am so happy with it. I baked the cookies too long, so they were a little too crispy, but they still tasted good.

These were my first experiment with cake balls. They're supposed to be owls. They weren't as magically adorable as I hoped they would be, but they're still cute. My next batch will be out of this world!

Well...this was a big mistake. I didn't mean for this to be a pre-natal elephant. Turns out that the direction of the head is very important. I did fix my error, I just don't have a picture of it yet. For now, you all can just see the elephant in his earliest stage of life (before we cut the umbilical cord). (This pattern came from Indygo Junction).


These are my favorite project. They turned out so well! I haven't spray painted them yet, but when I do, they will look like wrought-iron. I got this idea from Suzy's Artsy Craftsy Sitcom blog. You should check it out.

This was a Valentine's decoration, but I like on my piano as a permanent decoration. I can't remember where I got the idea. Google it.

I got this pattern from Heather Bailey. She has the most adorable stuff on her site. Her fabrics are to die for. If you don't start drooling, there's something wrong with you.

Whose Idea was That?

Would it have been so bad to give them necks? The whole floating thing is not a practical marketing tactic.

I Love Gary

This post is more for me than for anyone else to read. So if you don't want to read something sappy, then don't. But if you do, read away.

I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband. He is so sweet to me. I love all of his quirks and details. I love how when he's offering sympathy instead of saying "Poor Natalie," he says "You're so poor." I love how he never leaves the house without a kiss and an "i love you." I love how he shuffles his feet when he bowls. I love how he always shows me cute pictures of baby animals on National Geographic. I love how we both like watching weird shows on Animal Planet. I love how much he loves popcorn. I love how willing he is to help when someone needs it. I love when he wears his climbing gear and helmet...oh baby! I love when he is always so appreciative when I make dinner. I love how supportive he is of my goals. I love how much he loves his family. I love that he married me 9 months, 8 days, 4 hours and 51 minutes ago. I love that we're still in love.

I confess...

I am addicted to blog surfing. I spend hours looking at craft blogs in awe over the amazing transformations and creations these women can make. They inspire me. While the products of these inspirations are generally small and a littly silly, I enjoy them. Here's the newest:



Sorry for the crappy picture. I took it by the light of my headlight just seconds before I gave it away. I just wanted to document it.

Here's what I want to make next:

Isn't that the cutest thing you've ever seen? I think I want to make some for my friend Emma who is in the MTC.

While I'm blogging, I want to brag. I made chocolate chip cookies last night for our Relief Society dinner tonight. Usually I eat a quarter of the dough while making it. I'm a snitcher. But last night I did not take one bite of the dough! Not one! I did eat 3 of the cookies after they were baked, but I earned one of them by doing 50 jumping jacks and 20 crunches before I did (and I made the cookies smaller than usual). I know I can hardly call 3 cookies part of a diet, but I really am trying to eat healthier. So I have a plan: I really need new jeans. By really I mean I patched a gaping hole in them last week. So to motivate myself to cut back, I told myself I can't buy new jeans until I slim down a few pounds. Gary is in on this too. My current jeans are really bad and getting worse. I really don't like wearing crappy jeans. So, as you can guess, my plan is working. :)

Gary and I

I should probably say something about how we're doing. We're great! We live in Provo in a basement apartment right next to the MTC. Gary's going to school (3 more semesters) to finish up in Landscape Management. He works on the tree crew at BYU, but also does freelance works on the weekend. I'm working full time for the VNA Group (google it if you want to know what I do) in Highland. It's a stone's throw from my parents house, which is nice when we want to meet for lunch or I want to take a nap during my break.

When we're not at school and work, Gary and I watch a lot of movies and Animal Planet. Gary also just got certified to be a Level 1 coach for Track and Field. Our friend Jared Ray is starting a pole vaulting club in Utah County and wants Gary to help coach. (Check out their website!) We went to Sacramento a couple weeks ago so they could attend a conference. Tamara (Jared's wife) and I just hung out. Best weekend ever. We went to the Muirwoods, which is a giant redwood forest near San Francisco. Oh my goodness, it was so pretty! The pictures on my phone turned out pretty crappy, but I'll post them anyway.

I'm Back

I am ready to start blogging again. I say this about every 6 months, post once, and then go back into hibernation. But I figure I spend so much time looking at other peoples' blogs, I might as well contribute my two cents to the cyber world.

I have really gotten into crafting lately. Like crazy into crafting. I spend too much time looking at crafting blogs, I spend too much money at the craft store. Ever since I got married last April, cooking, crafting, and decorating all seem so much more fun. It's like the wife-switch got flipped on and suddenly it's fun. For my birthday last year, I got a sewing machine, which probably started this whole phase. My first project was to make a stuffed turtle, which was a huge success. Gary named him Speedicus (Swan Princess anyone?). He was the star on our Christmas tree this year...literally...we placed him on the very top branch. I need to take pictures of my creations, but here's a link to the pattern just so you get the idea.

Inspired by my turtle, I've now taken on a new animal...the elephant. I'm working on this pattern now.

So cute, right? My elephant will be light green with flowers. I went with the spring motif just in case I'm slow and don't get it done before then.

Those are the big projects, but I've had my eye on some smaller ones, like these: