Greeting the Pearly Gates

Image from Google

"I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long perfectly manicured fingernails.

 I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor's children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden. I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and tears of a friend on my shoulder.

I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived."

~Marjorie Pay Hinckley


I share the sentiments of this remarkable woman. I want my life to contain more substance than things the world provides...

The world provides objects and things that are fleeting, things that end, things that are broken and lost. And those things are the ones that really don't matter.

The things that do matter are the ones that have eternal consequences--service, love, charity, motherhood, compassion, sacrifice, family. These things are not broken or lost. They never end.

And they are the things that I want to carry with me when I greet those pearly gates.

Love,
JaM

My Symbolgram

For one of my classes, my first assignment was to create a "symbolgram."
What in the world is a symbolgram? I thought.
Basically my symbolgram was whatever I wanted it to be.
Just something to symbolize who I am.

Being one who loves a "traditional" approach to creativity,
I made a poster--one filled with pictures and words that make me who I am.
To accompany it, I wrote a brief, one-page paper about what
makes the pictures and words significant to me.

What a cutie! He held my poster up so I could take a picture of it. :) Thanks Joshua. You're the best!

•  I am from Olathe, KS. No, I do not own red, glittery shoes or have a dog named Toto.
•  I married my husband, Joshua, in August 2011 in the Mesa, AZ temple.
•  Joshua and I have a 6-month baby girl named Kaiya. She is the sweetest, cutest baby in the world!
•  I love babies! I love how innocent and pure they are and how curious they are about the world around them. They should be showered with kisses!
• I love dancing and danced throughout high school and danced on BYU’s Folk Dance team (that’s where I met Joshua).
• To continue my love of dance, I play Zumba Fitness on the Wii.
•  I am an avid user of Pinterest, but I always make sure to set a time limit so I don’t spend hours on it! I love pinning recipes and craft ideas and then trying them myself.
• I love fruit! All sorts of fruit—I’m not too picky. I often carry an apple in my backpack.
•  Cooking and baking are hobbies that I have developed since being married. I never really cooked before then, but now I love it and love finding new, easy, yummy recipes.
• Photography is another hobby of mine that I hope to really develop throughout my life. I enjoy the ability to capture precious moments and be able to look back on them over and over again.
•  Brownies and ice cream (together) are a huge weakness of mine. Oh, so delicious!
• Dark chocolate, especially Ghirardelli’s Dark Chocolate Mint Squares, are another weakness. They are SO good. Sometimes, when I’m lucky, my husband comes home with a bag of these for me.
• I have a testimony of Jesus Christ. I know He is my Savior and I appreciate the Atonement and His love for me. This is one of my favorite pictures of Christ because I imagine each one of us as a lost sheep who He finds, holds, and comforts. He provides a safe haven in a scary world.
• I also have a testimony of the Book of Mormon. I know it is true. I am grateful for the spirit I feel when I read it.

All of these things represent a part of who I am. Working on this project was actually very rejuvenating.

It helped me kind of meditate on what makes me, me. 

 It helped me realize that I do have passions, dreams, goals, and talents that I am developing.

Throughout my life, my symbolgram will change. 

I'll never be the same person that I am now in years or even months from now. 

And that's the beauty of growing up and learning and becoming someone and something more refined.

Hopefully, becoming the kind of person God wants me to be. 

Well, there's a little piece of me! What would you put on your symbolgram?

Hope you had a wonderful day today. 

And for you Provo friends of mine, I hope you stayed safe from the deathly ice rinks today!

Love, 

JaM

A day to serve

First of all, Happy Martin Luther King Day!
 Joshua and I celebrated the life of MLK by doing service for Community Outreach Day.
We headed up to BYU campus around 8:30 this morning excited and ready to do some service,
even though it was freeeezing outside!
We decided to help out the group making educational materials for children in India and Africa.
When we got to (what we thought was) the place for the project,
we realized we had gone to the wrong station!

So, instead of making educational materials for underprivileged youth in India and Africa,
we made journals for youth in juvenile detention centers!
Even though it wasn't the project we originally signed up for, we really enjoyed it.
And we loved bringing Kaiya along with us to expose her to service early on (even though she fell asleep by the end!).
I really hope that Joshua and I can teach our children to love service
and to love others as Christ would.

In other news...
I have been working on a Valentine's Day project for a few days now and finally finished it!
 Well, almost...
I just have one finishing touch to work on.
Here's my lovely project (Tutorial here)! Thanks Pinterest... :)

All the supplies for the project. 

Partway done...and surprisingly, it took a lot of work to get this far!

The finished product! I just need to spray paint the candlestick holder white!

Well, hello 3-day weekend!

I am so excited for this 3-day weekend! It almost feels like a 4-day weekend to me because I don't have class on Fridays, just work. So, this weekend is pretty amazing and relaxing.

Joshua and I have just had a blast today spending time together. We spent the morning having a yummy pancake and french toast breakfast with some of our single friends. Needless to say, Kaiya was a miniature-sized celebrity among all the single people there! They just loved her.
 And I mean, what's not to love? :)

I've also been working on a Valentine's project today that I will write about tomorrow!
I'm pretty excited about it. It's the first really crafty thing I think I've ever done!
And hopefully it turns out...we'll see!

Dinner tonight was super yummy so I'm going to share the recipe here! Joshua and I love the Cafe Rio chicken recipe. We made it earlier this week for burritos and used the leftovers for these quesadillas.

Cafe Rio Chicken Quesadillas

Ingredients:

• whole wheat tortillas
• mozzarella cheese
• Cafe Rio chicken (from this recipe)
• black beans
• cilantro (optional, for taste and garnish)

Directions:

1. Heat medium-sized skillet on medium heat.
2. Place one whole wheat tortilla on skillet and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese, shredded Cafe Rio chicken, and black beans.
3. Top with another tortilla.
4. Flip quesadilla over after the bottom has turned golden brown. Let the other side turn golden brown.
5. Remove from skillet. Top with cilantro if desired and serve with salsa, sour cream, Ranch dressing...whatever you like to eat with your quesadillas! Enjoy!

Try these! You won't regret it. ;) And have a great weekend!

Love,

JaM