Create!

My Aunt Shannon forwarded me this in an email. I usually scoff at and delete forwards without reading them, but this one really inspired me. I figure if it's got Elder Uchtdorf in it, it must be worth looking at, right?

The talk this was taken from truly inspired me. On the one hand, the small amount of time I spend on creative things often daunts me and leads me down a spiral of self-criticism for not making time for myself, not cultivating my talents, and so on, until I collapse in an uncreative, exhausted heap on my living room floor and spend yet another night on Facebook. However, I doubt that's what Elder Uchtdorf had in mind.

On the other hand, he's totally right - everyone is creative. I remember thinking similar thoughts when I tried to convince a discouraged teenage sister of mine that yes, she was indeed creative. She has since discovered scrapbooking and no longer needs any convincing. But creative does not necessarily mean artistic or musical or eloquent. Creative means you can create things - all sorts of things. Smiles, children, cleanliness, friendships, organization, peace, consolation, patience, habits, flowers, compliments, faith, hope, encouragement, laughter, testimonies - all these things need creating, perhaps even more so than songs or paintings. One of my favorite quotes that I posted on my wall in college encompasses a lot of what Elder Uchtdorf is talking about:

To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.

~Bessie Andersen Stanley (often misattributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson)

One of the chief reasons I scoff at and delete forwards before I read them is because they contain rants that just make me feel angry or guilty without any invitation to do anything about what I've just read. So, if you've actually read to the end of this very long post, congratulations - now get off my blog and go create something!

Yeah, yeah, I know. It's been a while...

So here's my excuse for not posting, lame though it may be. Yes, the H is a peacock, but Aaron and I have redone the letters and they look so much cooler than they did, that we wanted to try to sell them on Etsy.com. So I wanted to take a really nice picture and I was going to post that on Etsy and the blog, but I never got around to it, so that's why I haven't posted yet. Lame, I know. Lamer still that I still haven't taken that picture yet. Oh well. Someday...

In the last month, a lot has happened. Aaron got a new job at a greenhouse measuring plants. Not exactly the most prestigious thing in the world, but he gets paid well. He's going elk hunting in Colorado with his brothers in the fall, which he thinks about and plans for every day. He's way excited since this is the first big hunting trip they've gone on together. He also took me out to Red Lobster this week on a date. That was the most fun we've had together in a long time. Their coconut shrimp defies description.

Noah has learned how to say consonants now, and he's practiced almost every sound on the IPA chart. His favorite syllables thus far are "blah blah blah" and "dada." I can't get him to say "mama" for the life of me. He still hasn't made the connection that the sounds mean anything yet. He slept for 10 hours the other night - hooray! Still no teeth and no crawling, but he's stayed up on his hands and knees a few times when I've put him there. Not much, but progress is progress.

As for me, I think I'll post my news later on since a little bit of it is time sensitive. I'll just leave you all intrigued... My family comes into town for spring break this week, and I am stoked to see my parents and my lil' bro and have lots of diet Coke and drag my hubbie to Gardner Mill, etc.

Here's a video of Noah's new talents.