Hope Rising

First read when some days are dark…the following is my Monday response.

When I first found out there may be problems I prayed and clearly I heard in my mind, Not mine but Thine.  And this was something I had been desiring to do, to be able in the midst of hardship to face it with undeniable faith and bravery, with my Father’s help that is just what I did.

Hope Rises

Some days are dark… on Sunday this was what I wrote:

I feel as though life is a complete mess and most days I can see the beauty in that mess because it is mine.

It’s funny how you can go from Mrs. Optimistic to not, like that.

I felt like I was braving it well, the stress from the surgery, recovery and the financial mess our health has caused, the prospect of possibly never having things the way we imagine.  But, I was okay, happy to be me, happy to be healthy, happy to be Izzi’s mom, grateful for family and my faith and all that I do have and content to be patient for the more. {And by more I don’t mean boats, trips, expensive clothes or toys—I mean stability, and the means to help others in the places we have been}

Wait…that is not what I meant.

Dear friend,

I have decided not to repost my entries from my other blogs so as not to duplicate but this one I feel strongly about sharing, sharing with you and sharing with my sweet McGilly.

Love you little one.

Mom

……repost………

Dear friend,

Well, I so loved this saying left on my facebook by a friend that  made it into a logo.  As I was sharing it on Pinterest and Facebook I noticed something.  Not everyone understood what I was trying to say.  So, I googled the saying to see if there was anything else out there similar to what I was thinking and here is what I found–people were using it in terms of rock hard abs strong is the new skinny, like to replace the Kate Moss version of skinny with Jillian Micheals skinny.

THIS IS NOT WHAT I MEANT.

A Vintage Valentines

 

Dear friend,

 

I call this vintage valentines because the only way to get the pictures to look okay considering the lack of light that morning was to go seventies with them.  Our day began with a yummy breakfast of whole wheat heart pancakes with strawberries and fresh squeezed OJ.  Then McGilly got her valentines trinket and who would have thought that 8.00 could make her so happy.  It is a week later and she is still insisting it climb the stairs with us, go into the bathroom when she baths and for a little while it sat on her bed as she slept-it’s been on a wagon ride and has made 3 trips down the canyon to visit family.  It is official she loves her baby stroller.

 

And I love this little girl!

 

xo Ash

Let’s go fishing!

Dear friend,

Here is one of McGilly’s favorite snacks, it’s yummy, it works on fine motor skills, and it’s fun-what more could you ask for.  Go organic on the packaged snacks and 100% almond butter on the dip and it’s healthy too.  Can’t get enough of those chubby cheeks and those Michelin wrists, love her.

xo Ash

Valentine Velocity: A Tutorial in Photo

A salad spinner + a construction paper heart +kid chosen paint globs on top + SPIN and count to 10 + drying + washing = Velocity Valentines!

With love,

Ash

Our Winter Easel

Dear friends,

Yesterday we had a few friends over to play and I noticed something the favorite toys, were of course the kitchen and the easel–the kids just kept coming back and back for more.  So, this morning when McGilly started painting as soon as breakfast was over I thought I should share this popular activity at our house.  It all began as the weather got too cold to paint outside, McGilly’s paintbrushes were still in the easel tray but she just pushed around the chalk powder with them.  Then silly me I realized–I could give her water to paint with.  This is her usual routine-she draws on the board as in the picture above, then the next time she visits…

she adds some water painting and once the water is on there…

 

she has learned that if she dips her chalk in the water bowl the chalk works better, so she then draws on the water.  This can almost turn into a chalk finger paint and sometimes that board is covered from top to bottom with it.  Periodically I will wipe it off with a baby wipe and she starts again.  She loves it, her friends love it and it’s easy to clean up–I even like playing with it sometimes, it’s quite relaxing.  It gets used so much we are almost through our second box of chalk in 3 months.

Here are our supplies:

1 IKEA easel

1 box of colored chalk

1 holder of different sized paintbrushes

1 bowl of water

 

So easy and so much fun!

xo Ash

 

Stars or the Mud and Personal Progress

Shoot for the treetops and land in the mud, Shoot for the moon and land among the stars.

Dear friend,

As I explained in this little post, I am the secretary in my wards Young Women and in addition to making my life a bit more crazy I have found so much joy!  I also have created some fun printables and helps over the last 3 months that I want to share here with you so I begin with one I made for our Personal Progress Activity this Wednesday.

Our goal for this week is to assess where the girls are, since we are all new, and then plan our activities for the first Wednesday from the requirements that would benefit the most girls.

Let me back up and explain a little for those of you not familiar with the Young Womens program.  Young Womens is a program within my Church-the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints-that guides young women between the ages of 12-18.  Personal progress is an inspired set of requirements and projects that help the girls gain a testimony of Jesus Christ, understand their identity, learn how to be worthy to return to our Father in Heaven, prepare for the roles they will fill in their life {leader, wife, mother}, and prepare to go to the temple and make covenants there to bind their families throughout eternity.

The tasks require that the girls be industrious, provide service and think of others, learn new skills, plan for their future, be a leader, it requires introspection, and creating goals for their life.  But it is all personal and for each girl to be responsible for.

So, to help the girls organize their goals and continue moving forward in accomplishing their goals I have created a worksheet for each quarter that they will fill out during an activity and then hang in their room so they can check their progress.

As the girls fill out their worksheet our team of leaders will be pulling each girl aside individually to share with us her accomplishments in personal progress.

I hope you find this useful!

{Download the worksheet here}

I hope to be posting more of our fun shortly:)

Ash

Beauty Adjustment

…and see it in yourself.

For me I have always qualified beauty when it pertained to me.  Inside I believed I was beautiful.  I care about people, I love to help and share with others, I am creative and loving.  I strive to be like my Father in Heaven and like my Elder brother Jesus Christ.  I have done good things.  I believe in others and want great things for everyone.  I sincerely try with all my choices to make this world better by me being in it.  But when I tried to apply that word…beauty…to my outward appearance I failed miserably, I was awful and such a mean girl but only to myself.  It didn’t make sense to me because I looked at others struggling with the same issues and saw the goodness and beauty in them, why could I not see it in myself?  As of 4 months ago this perspective changed.  I undertook this new lifestyle, a new diet regime, a whole foods-plant based way of life, and it all changed.  I am my own ally.  I am stronger mentally, physically, and spiritually and I am grateful.  I will no longer stand in my own way.

I wanted to share a couple of resources I happened upon today…the first is Operation Beautiful.  Such a fantastic idea and I already illustrated a few post-its and have a printable planned for you.  The mission of this woman is to improve the overall esteem of women in general by beginning a movement of kind acts–specific kind acts–go and take a look you won’t regret it.

Two, this article in more eloquent words reflects my thoughts and I believe pin points a population-teenagers-that need uplifting in this area.  I know every insecurity I had stemmed from those crucial years.

And last, a beautiful young girl named Victoria, beginning her own blog hoping to spread this same message–

“You are beautiful just as you are!”

We can improve our health, and take care of ourselves but that does not change who we are, we are what we put out into the world–don’t let it be negative by the comments you make about yourself.  Trash the trash talk and be your own ally, buoy yourself up each day by telling yourself of your innate worth and beauty.  Be kind to yourself and it will make a bigger difference than any outward alteration you could make.

Trust me–begin tomorrow by telling yourself how beautiful you truly are and in doing so begin a legacy of love for the girls who will follow in your footsteps.

McGilly this is for you–I am beautiful without qualification, beautiful is me.

love. love.

Ash

Food and Faith

A few days ago these two pictures showed up in my inbox.  My aunt had sent them to me in response to my first post.  The before was taken in about 2002 and the after was at a Christmas party this last December.  I was speechless and still am, when I showed my grandmother she put words to what I was thinking about the old me,

“even your countenance has changed, Sweetie. You are a naturally beautiful girl, and beautiful here in both pictures, but you certainly do have added light. I love you.”

The girl in the before picture would have vehemently disagreed with my grandma but the one in the after seconds this statement.  I was beautiful but there is strength in the after, strength and light.

 This past week I have been thinking about my faith in relation to my new way of eating.  As I mentioned on the homepage of our blog Fifi, Evey and I met because of our faith.  We are part of the same ward.  A ward is a local congregation of Latter Day Saints.  We live within a four block radius of each other and attend church at the same time.  One standard by which we strive to live is the Word of Wisdom.  The Word of Wisdom is a law of health revealed by the Lord for the physical and spiritual benefit of His children. On February 27, 1833, as recorded in section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord revealed which foods are good for us to eat and which substances are not good for the human body. He also promised health, protection, knowledge, and wisdom to those who 

obey the Word of Wisdom.

When I began this whole foods, plant-based diet I was told by one who will remain unnamed that I was breaking that law by the way I was choosing to eat.  Not having read the scriptures in detail for sometime I felt that it was time to revisit…here is what I found pertaining to my new diet–for the full set of scriptures click here.

12 Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly;

Sparingly in the Dictionary is defined as meager and meager is defined as deficient in quantity and this scripture is followed by another–

 13 And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine.

And if you follow the reference given for used you get:

20  And it pleaseth God that he hath given all these things unto man; for unto this end were they made to be used, with judgment, not to excess, neither by extortion.

I believe by all accounts in America we most definitely partake of animal proteins to an excess.  It also seems to me, after my study, that I am not only following the Word of Wisdom but I am doing better at it than I have in my whole life.

I love this plant strong stuff more and more everyday!

I found this article about SIster Hill, a woman who attributes her 150 lb weight loss to following the Word of Wisdom, she says,  

“Just like you need a recommend to go into the temple, food needs a recommend to go into your body. If it doesn’t fit the Lord’s criteria, it shouldn’t enter,” Sister Hill said. 

I agree. I feel better physically, mentally and spiritually–faith and food for me are becoming fast friends.

Love. Love.

Viv

PS Stat update to follow…

See the current journey here.