My Friend's Book

I have this friend who is pretty fabulous. Her name is Laurel Christensen. We should've been friends a long time ago, as our paths crossed multiple times, but as it turns out, just this past year or so is when we've gotten to know each other. She is my husband's brother-in-law's sister. Or my sister-in-law's sister-in-law. Confused? My husband's sister married Laurel's brother. Got it? (You know, in Spanish, they have specific and shorter words for those relationships...)

Anyway, she has written several books and given speeches geared for teenage girls, mostly to aid in their feelings of self-worth and self-realization of their own fabulousness, as they gear their lives toward following Jesus Christ. Check her work out here. She has a new book coming soon, and I think you should check it out, no matter what your age. It's based on this Young Women Theme which teenage girls stand and recite each Sunday in our church. Powerful, no?

Go here to check out more details from this new book and pre-order, if you like. You won't be sorry.

(some quotes from the book)

FAITH
"The reality is that faith isn’t about me. It’s about Him. And the Lord Jesus Christ has a pretty impeccable past record…not just in my life but in the countless lives and experiences of God’s children. That is why if my faith is really centered in HIM, then I’m always okay. Always."

DIVINE NATURE
"Regardless of who your parents are or how they have chosen to raise you, you have inherited qualities from your Heavenly Parents that are 'in your blood.' It's just who you are."

INDIVIDUAL WORTH
"Trust that God has a divine mission waiting for you and JUST for you. Trust that He is, even now, orchestrating details of your life to help you fulfill what you were sent to this earth to perform."

KNOWLEDGE
"The most important knowledge you will gain in this life will be the knowledge that is put into your heart and your mind through life's experience by the power of the Holy Ghost."

CHOICE & ACCOUNTABILITY
"Every choice has a consequence. But, the Lord loves you enough and trusts you enough to let YOU choose throughout your life. And a daughter of God who understands who she is has the power within her to make good choices and then gets to enjoy the consequences of those choices."

GOOD WORKS
"One of the characteristics of God's daughters is that we have a natural inclination to nurture other people. We want to love them and serve them and help them. It's one of my favorite things about being a girl. And it's one of the things that makes a girl beautiful."

INTEGRITY
"That is the epitome of integrity--not simply acting right when you have the chance to act wrong, but acting right when you have the chance to act...right."

VIRTUE
"The culminating experience for a daughter of God who lives the values is being as close as possible to her Father in Heaven and to her Savior as she enters the doors of God's Holy House--the temple."

Superhero Sighting

What could be better than waiting for a smoothie taste at Costco? Waiting next to a superhero, of course (complete with yellow crocs).

Oh, how I love this boy! He is as sunshiny as his shoes (except when he's not...).

Wow.

What a magnificent lesson!

A lesson in eavesdropping

Last night, my husband asked me, "So, is so-and-so pregnant?"

Wait a minute. What the? And this is how I replied:

"Didn't we have this conversation after church with her husband today? I heard him talking about how he'll be busy this fall, and that's the reason, blah, blah, blah. Remember, I turned to you and said, 'See, you were the one who guessed first, and you were right.' And then I turned to him and said, 'But we never ask. Congrats. We think it's great!'"

And then my husband replied, after nearly falling over with laughter:

"We were talking about how World of Warcraft 2 is going to be released in November. That's why he'll be so busy. I thought you were being awfully nice and unusually supportive about it."

It's too bad my foot fits so nicely in my mouth.

*BTW, she is pregnant, and she's having a boy in December. She said so herself. At least I know enough not to ask!