Heaven is Here

 I believe that there is life after death, but if I'm being truly honest, a small part of me sometimes wonders.  I think that's why stories that describe near death experiences really pique my interest.  I love learning about them; they touch my soul and give me hope in a unique way.  I just finished the memoir Heaven is Here by the incredible Stephanie Nielson of NieNieDialgoues. The book includes memories of spending time with her grandmother  in heaven from while she was in a coma.  This really resonated with me because my grandmother is one of the first people that I hope to see when I move on from this life; I miss her and think about her often.  She talks about her grandmother helping her during an almost fatal plane crash and being there to guide and comfort her. This reminder of how we likely have angels watching over us and that they could be our own family members was really touching.  

I also read a book titled Heaven is for Real back in November about a little boy's out of body experience during a life saving operation.  He told his parents that he met his grandfather in heaven but  didn't recognize him in pictures until he saw one of him as a younger man.  He explained that there are no old people in heaven.  He also said that he saw Jesus, but no pictures of Jesus looked right to him until he came across "Prince of Peace" painted by Akiane Kramarik at age 8.  I realize that some of this book might have had some of the boy's imagination mixed in with his memories, but it was still an inspirational read.

Prince of Peace

Have you read either of these books? If so, what did you think? 

Both of these books were given to me by others to read, but I think I'm going to seek out more since I found them very uplifting.  If you have any book suggestions please share! 

Morning Bootcamp

Rick and I often read each other articles we find interesting, and earlier this week Rick started reading this article  about making the most of the morning aloud.  I wasn't really too excited about the subject at first but as he continued I felt like this author knew me and offered the exact advice my life is so in need of right now.  I made Rick start over so I could take notes, and then I kept interrupting him to say "who is this author? I think they know me!" Obviously they don't, it is just full of universally good advice for everyone.  

We are slowly but surely reworking our mornings to be productive and meaningful.  Every week we are going to include a new goal to work on and try to do it religiously for 21 days.  We will stop making goals when we feel like our routine is where we want it.  Ideally, our morning before Rick leaves would look something like this:

wake up early after a good night's sleep

read scriptures or something else uplifting

pray

workout

eat a healthy breakfast together

blog, read news articles or catch up on emails

{I have been slacking lately on blogging and since this is essentially the only journalish thing I've got going for me I want to be better}

We are on day five in our first week of morning bootcamp.  We have read our scriptures together every day.  Next week I think we are going to get our work outs in...

Delicious Rainbow

We have joined an amazing CSA program in Pleasanton and I get giddy every Wednesday when I drive to a nearby farm to pick up all the beautiful produce.  I love feeling like I'm doing my small part to support local farmers & farming practices and feeding my family freshly picked produce.  We are really happy with everything so far and have enjoyed incorporating plants into our meals that I wouldn't normally buy.  Yesterday Rick picked up the produce and I got a kick out of the conversation we had about it later.  He told me "We got to choose between rainbow swiss chard and kale, and originally I picked up the swiss chard... but then a lady said most people prefer kale.  I know you like kale since you cook with it a lot so I swapped for the kale, but the rainbow chard looked delicious!"

The fact that Rick described rainbow swiss chard as looking "delicious" makes me want to roll around on the floor laughing.  He has come a long way from when we first were married and he referred to anything green as "rabbit food".  He makes me smile.  I hope next week they offer rainbow swiss chard again so I can cook those delicious greens for the hubs.

Enjoying the Journey

Sometimes life feels exhausting.

Lots of laundry, dishes, errands, nursing, cooking, time-outs....

you know how it is. 

But then there are those beautiful moments

when everything is so happy and seemingly perfect.

Where my two kids are giggling together 

while I hold hands with the love of my life.

Those moments are what life is all about.

Feeling very blessed lately
& grateful for this journey that is life.

Life is like an old-time rail journey—delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride. 

Gordon. B. Hinckley

Camping with the Cows

We kicked off our camping season with a trip to the Organic Pastures in Fresno.  The farm produces milk, eggs, cheese and beef and did this campout as a thank you to their consumers.  I buy their milk and love learning about food production, and Rick loves to camp, so it seemed like a perfect opportunity for our family.  We really enjoyed ourselves and plan on going again next year.  Their farming practices and standards exceeded my expectations and we all loved being up close and personal with the animals and getting to know the amazing farmers.

Here is a little slideshow of our good times:

SF ♥

Rick and I were excited to have a weekend to ourselves while my parents watched our two kids (I seriously can't believe we have two kids, that seems so adult-like and I still feel like such a kid).  We decided instead of going away we would explore around here, since we haven't gone out too much since moving back to California.

It was awesome; we slept in (and through the night), went out to eat, finished some projects around the house and spent an entire day biking around San Francisco.

Here is a video of our day in SF:

Thanks Mom & Dad for the much needed break!

Ariel's Shower

It was so fun to get together with dear friends and childhood neighbors for Ariel's bridal shower.  She is so adorable and we are all so excited for her and Cody!  I know Jessica would have loved to be there, but my mom and I did our best to represent :)

Good looking genes run in this family!

It's good to see some of the ladies I've always looked up to!

Britt & I sometimes go a while without seeing each other, but when we get together it's just like old times.

The view was just beautiful!