Boldly go

Feeling 33

I loooooove hanging things on our walls. It's one of the greatest perks of being in our own apartment (and not sharing it with anyone). I've always liked to have pictures of loved ones, favorite things, favorite quotes around my place to remind me of the good things in life. My hubby has been the biggest supporter of this obsession - er, preference, using our stud finder, drill and leveler like a pro to hang massive antique-looking mirrors, wedding portraits, and shadowboxes. (Is there anything this guy can't do??)
Wall decor is one of the best things to make our place feel like HOME, and since we have so much wall space, and thanks to Pinterest, I'm always looking at things to add.

I found a small chalkboard in a vintage-looking frame at Target (yay, Dollar Spot! Another obsession...). I love how chalkboards seem to have made such a comeback in the design trend. We used one in our engagement session as a prop with our wedding date on it, which was the first time I'd ever used chalk markers. It turned out so cute, but the markers don't work on porous surfaces (which lots of chalkboards that I've found are). So, we still have the chalkboard with our wedding date on it, since it won't wipe off completely. Not wanting the same thing to happen to this frame, I picked up a small box of Crayola sidewalk chalk. Oh, man has chalk changed since I was a kid! The variety of colors is amazing, and the colors are gorgeous - and there's something SO FUN about drawing with chalk. It brought me back to being five-years-old and drawing on my art easel in our art studio. The final image isn't as clear / sharp as with chalk markers, but at least it's not permanent.

I was trying to think of an uplifting, quirky quote to put in the frame, and since my hubby's affection for Star Trek has rubbed off on me, I thought the juxtaposition of the old-fashioned frame with this "futuristic" quote was cute.

Now I need to find another project with which to use my chalk! Or I guess I could just go draw in our parking lot...

I Believe in Love

I am a fan of love.  And since it's Valentine's Day, in the words of Natalie Cole, "I've got love on my mind" - more so than usual, that is.  The problem is, I don't know how to devote an entire post to love without incessantly quoting love songs....or movies....I guess because they all just say it so well.  So, this is my tribute to:

Romantic Love
"Above all things I believe in love.  Love is like oxygen.  Love is a many-splendored thing. Love lifts us up where we belong, all you need is love! ~ Moulin Rouge

"Love doesn't come in a minute.  Sometimes it doesn't come at all.  I only know that when I'm in it, it isn't silly - no, it isn't silly, love isn't silly at all."              ~ Paul McCartney & Wings

"The way you cut a rug, watching you is the only drug I need.  So gangster, I'm so thug, you're the only one I'm dreaming of.  
You see, I can be myself now finally.  In fact, there's nothing I can't be.  I want the world to see you'll be with me...."
 ~ Train

"Fall head over heels. I say find someone you can love like crazy and who'll love you the same way back.  And how do you find him?  Forget your head and listen to your heart... Run the risk, if you get hurt, you'll come back.  Because, the truth is there is no sense living your life without this.  To make the journey and not fall deeply in love - well, you haven't lived a life at all.  You have to try.  Because if you haven't tried, you haven't lived." ~ Meet Joe Black

As Lumiere once sighed, "Ah, l'amour...."  And for those like me who may not have a romantic love of their own, it's okay - we just haven't met them yet!


"Brotherly" (Family) Love

"Meet Joe Black" is one LOOOOONG movie....but it does have some great quotes.  One in particular really captures the unconditional love among a family.  When asked how he knows if his wife loves him, Jeffrey Tambor's character lovingly explains, "Because she knows the worst thing about me and it's okay."  Even when I feel flawed and inadequate, my family's love is always constant, giving me strength and buoying me up to become better.  Having the love and support of my parents, my siblings, and my extended family is truly one of the most precious gifts I have ever been blessed with.  I am truly thankful for the love of my family.

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.”  ~ Dr. Seuss

Friendship Love
"Friends help you when you're in danger, friends are people who are not strangers.  Friends help you shift to a new place, tell you if you've got food on your face."  ~ Flight of the Conchords 

 








"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart, and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words."  

 

"I get by with a little help from my friends." 

~ The Beatles

Charity - the Pure Love of Christ

"And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.....charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever..."  (The Book of Mormon, Moroni 7:45-47)

Of course the greatest love that has cause for celebration on this holiday that celebrates love is the pure love of Christ.  It is His love that gives power to all other forms of love, and is perfect and eternal.  I love this quote by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland:

"Life has its share of some fear and some failure. Sometimes things fall short, don’t quite measure up. Sometimes in both personal and public life, we are seemingly left without strength to go on.  Sometimes people fail us, or economies and circumstance fail us, and life with its hardship and heartache can leave us feeling very alone.  But when such difficult moments come to us, I testify that there is one thing which will never, ever fail us. One thing alone will stand the test of all time, of all tribulation, all trouble, and all transgression.  One thing only never faileth—and that is the pure love of Christ....I testify that having loved us who are in the world, Christ loves us to the end.  His pure love never fails us.  Not now.  Not ever.  Not ever."  ("He Loved Them Unto the End," Ensign, Nov. 1989, 25.)

"In His Light" by Greg Olsen

I add my testimony to Elder Holland's.  I know that Christ's love is real, perfect, powerful, and true - and it is available every single day of the year, not just on Valentine's Day.  It is my hope that I can learn to love a little bit more like the Savior each day.

And may we continue to celebrate love all year long.

Some things never change

When I was four years old, my favorite movie was "The Wizard of Oz."  I absolutely LOVED it - and desperately wanted to be Dorothy Gale.  Specifically, Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale.  I felt I could relate to her - she had brown hair and brown eyes (liked me), loved dogs, liked to sing, wore pretty dresses, liked to have adventures, and wore cool shoes.

Seriously, how could you not love her?  And don't get me started on the dog.









I always wanted to dress up just like Dorothy, and so when Halloween came around, I finally got my chance.

(The Karate Kid behind me is my big brother, Joe.)  My parents were always the best at helping us put together the greatest  costumes, and as luck would have it, that year we found a little dress and blouse that would work perfectly for Dorothy.  Since I was only four, it was difficult to find some authentic-looking ruby slippers, PLUS this was before Target moved into town where you can buy glittery shoes all-year-round.  Add in the fact that I didn't want to be slowed down by uncomfortable shoes - especially since that was the year that we were going trick-or-treating in my cousins' neighborhood (which was so busy, people didn't wait for kids to ring their doorbell, they'd just take off their screen and sit by the front door doling out candy by the fistfuls to all the kids).  So, I decided on some very practical moccasins.  Okay, they were pink, but honestly I could care less.
With my Pound Puppy as Toto (in my pink plastic basket from a previous Easter), I made sure to have Mom braid my hair like Dorothy's, and I was all set.  Sure, the real Dorothy had longer hair, and RED shoes, and her socks weren't yellow.....but to me, that was one of my favorite Halloweens.  Everyone recognized me as  I went trick-or-treating, and I can still remember the feel of the pavement under my feet as I pounded the neighborhood in those moccasins. 

Now fast-forward twenty-four years (you do the math).  It's autumn, and my Dad said that he had received an invitation to the All Hallows' Ball, a big annual shindig in Tampa.  The whole party is invitation only, and so he tells me that he'd like ME to go along as his guest!  (I felt like Charlie Brown in "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" when Lucy tells him they want him to be their model:  "ME?!  You want me?!")

Dad deliberated over what we should go as, but thanks to the wonders of on-line shopping, he found me a costume that brought out my inner four-year-old.

This time my shoes were not only red, but totally blinging.  My basket was straw (and not pink), and my hair was a little longer.  But I felt just as special as Dorothy this time around as I did twenty-four years ago.  People still recognized who I was (it didn't matter that this time it was guys in thongs as opposed to neighborhood homeowners), and I had a ball.

I'm living proof that the fun doesn't end when you grow up.  It only gets more sparkly. :)

Me with Daddy as my Lollipop Guild Munchkin (nicknamed "Snappy")