Moments

Today Harold Hatch spoke in our ward at church.  I really enjoyed his talk.  He read a quote from Elder Neal A. Maxwell that really got me thinking.  

"Moments are the molecules that make up eternity."  

I just loved it.  Then I got to thinking about all of the moments this week.  

Monday morning I went on a trail run with Taffy.  I just remember getting to the end of the trail and being there with my sister and just soaking in the beautiful view.  Great moment.

I made bread this week.  As I worked with the dough I knew it was going to be good.  I pulled it out of the oven and it was the most perfect bread I think I've ever made.  Great moment.  

My dad and I got to go and watch my nephews play soccer up in Afton on Wednesday.  Owen didn't see us before his game started.  As he was running down the field after he had scored a goal he noticed us cheering for him.  He yelled out, "Hi Livi!! Hi Grandpa!!"  Great moment. 

Friday I got home from a branding (thanks again Trev!) and there was a letter for me from Tessa.  I just dropped everything and read it.  She's doing so well and I'm just so happy for her.  Great moment.

Friday night I went with friends up to a roping in Afton.  They roped well and it was so fun for me to be there and watch.  When it was over I told them great job and they were like, "Thanks Liv!"  Just a reminder of how great of friends I have.  Great moment.  

At the roping I got to sit and talk with one of my little friends, Mason.  He reminded me again how wonderful kids are.  They're just so loving and honest and real.  We laughed all night!  Great moment.

Saturday morning I got to help my mom arrange all of her lovely flower pots in front of her greenhouse.  We set them up mixed in with all of the fun, old furniture and equipment that she has collected over the years.  After all the switching pots and moving them back and forth, we finally stepped back and decided we found the perfect balance.  I love doing this each year with my mom.  Great moment.  

Kalbie and I had to take one of our riding lawn mowers to Logan for repairs.  We loaded it, strapped it down, drove there, and unloaded it all by ourselves.  No men minds involved!  It was a good learning experience for both of us.  When we finally got that thing unloaded we both breathed a sigh of relief! haha  Great moment.  

On our way home from Logan we decided to stop and hike to the Wind Caves.  Neither of us had ever been.  We had the best conversations and I was repeatedly reminded about how thankful I am for her in my life.  The hike and the view were beautiful!  Great moment.  

My life is full of moments like these.  Moments that go undocumented.  Moments that get looked over.  Moments that seem unimportant.  BUT, these are the moments that make my life so happy.  Don't get me wrong--I love the big trips, the fun weekends, the picture worthy moments, but nothing quite beats these small, everyday, great moments.  

The Miracle of Mary

After my sophomore year of college I wondered how I was going to go back.  I loved school, but mostly because of my roommates.  They all decided to go on missions and I had no idea who I was going to live with when I returned in the fall.  I was bummed.  

The day I returned home for the summer I got a call from my cousin Mary.  She was heading back to school down there and wondered if I wanted to live with her and two of her mission buddies.  I said yes not knowing it was going to be one of the best decisions of my life.  Here are some of the miracles I have been a part of because of Mary.

I made so many friends because of Mary.  I really realized that last night at her wedding reception.  I was surrounded by people I love and I know most of them because Mary introduced me to them.  

Every since my first day at BYU when I would tell people who I was or where I was from they would ask me if I knew Mary.  They immediately loved me.  

Mary was my first roommate that I had that was super diligent.  She inspired me to be more committed to everything I was doing.

I always want to put people first.  Mary always does put people first.  She is friends with so many and reaches out to everyone around her and makes them feel loved.  

Mary asks the best questions.  When I would see her at the end of every day instead of asking me how my day was, she would ask me what the best part of my day was.  Way better question!  Instead of just responding with "good," I had to reflect back on my day and come up with a good answer.  Another one of my favorite questions of hers was, "What's your favorite thing about ________."  Whether I'd been out with someone or talking on the phone it was fun to answer her question and think about all of the good things about the people I choose to spend my time with. 

Mary is so frugal and thrifty.  I've saved many pennies trying to be more like Mary.

Mary always puts the Lord first.  She always studies her scriptures, prays, attends her meetings, and serves those around her.  You can see it in her eyes, her smile, and her countenance.  She just glows.

Mary got married yesterday and I was privileged enough to be asked to do her hair.  I don't know if she knows how much I really loved doing it or not, but it meant a lot to me.  She was a stunning bride and Ryan is one lucky man!  It was so fun being part of her day. 

Living with and near Mary since I've been at college has been a huge blessing to me.  I'm sure she'll continue to be a large part of my life since we're related and all, and just because she's a great person like that.  I'm so thankful for The Miracle of Mary in my life.  

My Room

So, the bedroom in my parents house has been mine since Tyson graduated in 2004.  That's a pretty long time.  I've chosen the wall paint, the bedspread, the pictures, and all of the little things that make the room mine.  This room is a space that is totally ME.  I was putting clothes away and cleaning up a little bit this afternoon and I was reading all of the quotes on little papers and tiles, and looking at the photos, and thinking about the different pieces of furniture and how by surrounding myself by all of these things every day have shaped who I am and who I am becoming.  

Anyways, here's a little "tour" of my room. 

 Here we have the beds.  The room recently became Tessa and I's (at Christmas time) because all of my married siblings felt the need for another double bed in the house.  I'm not really sure why??...  So, now we have bunk beds and I sleep in a cave.  

I made the quilt on the bottom bunk.

My mom or grannie made the quilt on the top bunk years and years ago.

My grandma Teichert made my pillow case.

She also made the baby blanket you can see wadded up in the far top corner of my bed :)  

Taffy made the pillow case on the top bunk.

The stool has my jammies on it.

I recovered the stool last summer.  I got it out of Stan Larson's yard and redid it, but I'm not super pumped about how it turned out.  

Above the bed is this quote.  I really love it.  Taffy gave it to me for Christmas one year. 

This is also above the bed.  This picture was given to me by my grandma Teichert.  It reminded her of Tessa and I, and it basically is.  

Also, I just notice my lovely corsage from my junior prom?! haha

 Now we have my closet.  It is almost always like this with one door open because that's the best place to hang my towel.  I know I have way too many clothes because they don't fit in here very well...

On the open door there is a picture of the Logan Temple and the Young Women's theme.

There is also a quote by President Hinkley that says, "Of all the creations of the Almighty, there is none more beautiful, none more inspiring than a lovely daughter of God who walks in virtue with an understanding of why she should do so, who honors and respects her body as a thing sacred and divine, who cultivates her mind and constantly enlarges the horizon of her understanding, who nurtures her spirit with everlasting truth."  

On the closed door is a picture of me with Mylie and Tel at the airport waiting for Violet to get home from her mission.  

Here was have a collection of all of my things.  

The blue trunk was my great grandma Duncan's that she brought out west with her when she was 16. 

The two boxes hold letters, journals, pictures, and other random fun things.  

Against the closet is a little trinket thing that was a gift from someone in the Philippines.  

On top of the boxes are an emergency lantern, my life quote "It's not all sunshine and rainbows, but a lot of it actually is," and my favorite sister missionary ever!

After the boxes comes a long line of books:

Panoramas from all over the world

Photo album from my summer of DC, Costa Rica, and Alaska

Two children's books, one about self esteem and one about making choices

History of Hugh and Flossie Brady (my grandma Buhla's parents)

Letters from my 4th graders at West Side Elementary

Photo album of photos of just Tessa and I through the years.  She gave it to me for graduation and we just keep adding to it!

Recipe book from my Oberg side  

Photo book from my senior year made by Taffy

New York photo book  

Family photo book

Four instagram photo books

Moab photo book from Kalbie

Spanish/English Dictionary

Farm Animal book from my favorite antique store in Provo

My latest journal

Laying on the trunk are my headphones and my almost finished letter to Tessa.

Then Violet picked up that cool old wooden desk for me for $50 at some antique store.  I love it. 

On top of that is a picture of my family and my globe.

Hanging above all that is the only decoration that goes with me to college: my favorite picture of Christ.  My space just isn't complete without it.  

  This is my "getting ready" area.  It's where the most clutter is.  I always get ready here instead of in the bathroom and I know it has saved me from many fights with my brothers, since I've always shared a bathroom with them.  

First of all, this mirror is the best with the swinging sides!  

On the mirror I have nice reminders and quotes that remind me to have courage, be kind, be diligent, remember Christ loves me, and to like myself.  

The table normally has some sort of hair tool, but at the moment just has perfume and lotion.  

The chair is my favorite.  It was my great grandma Minerva's.  

Tami made the pillow that goes on it for me for Christmas one year.  

The shorts and pants draped over it are work pants that are too dirty to fold up and put in my closet again, but too clean to throw in the dirties :)  

The little dresser thing holds all the things I use and all the things I don't use, but for some reason still hold on to.  

Then my jewelry is all hung up.  

The wall hanging above my necklaces is a board that I literally broke in half with my hand.  We did it at Girl's Camp one year and then painted it and put vinyl lettering that says, "I can do hard things.  The Lord is my strength."  So true.

Then I have my garbage and my clothes hamper.  

The part is pretty cluttery.......

I've got this picture hanging that Taffy made for me for Christmas one year.  The pictures are super outdated, but I really love them.

We've got Mylie, Connor, and Tel back when they were the only 3 grandkids, a picture of me with my fish I caught up in Seldovia, AK, and then Tessa and I kayaking up in Alaska. 

An the lowest shelf I've got a little tile that says "Be strong and of good courage"

The medium one has a picture of me and my dad at a daddy-daughter date for Merry Miss and a tissue box holder made by Norene Thompson.

The tallest box has a pretty framed quote I got for Christmas years ago that says "Daughter, bless your heart for the happiness you put in mine," a box with a beautiful hand held mirror from Nauvoo, and a jar full of my great grandma Duncan's buttons.  

Below the tallest shelf is my small doll collection with dolls from Alaska, Peru, Ecuador, a porcelain doll from my Aunt Linda, and a doll made by my grannie.  

Also, hats and belts.

So, there's my room.  It's amazing to me how much my room is just me.  So much of the furniture and decorations are sentimental.  I realize that I'm pretty lucky to have as many neat pieces of furniture as I do.  The quotes and pictures all have a purpose.  We internalize the things we put around us whether we realize it or not.  I've been thinking a lot about qualities I have and qualities that I want to acquire.  So many of these quotes are about self worth and confidence.  While I lack confidence in many areas, I do not doubt that I am a daughter of God and that He loves me.  I realize that all around my room are reminders of that very thing.  I know that these quotes have become a part of me and have given me confidence throughout my few short years of life.  

It's been fun to take a close look at my room and think about the little things that define me, and if you made it to the end of this post, good for you! haha  

Me?! Play the Piano??

I started piano lessons in 1st grade and finally got to quit in 8th grade.  I fought my parents about piano practice for at least 7 of those 8 years.  All of my siblings play the piano very well.  All of them are able to accompany people, play the organ (well, minus Sulli), and just respond whenever they are needed to play the piano.  I, on the other hand, have accompanied one song one time.  In Jr. High I had to play "Let the Holy Spirit Guide" for my parents and Sulli and Tessa for one of my dad's high council assignments.  

Well, today my streak of good luck ended.  I was asked to help with the Young Women's lesson and because of all of my siblings' skills at the piano it was assumed that I also played.  When I was asked to play the opening hymn for them I was like oh I don't really play.  The sister just kind of laughed and was like what page number?  I quickly thought of the first song I knew and said, 142.  "Sweet Hour of Prayer."  You guys, I can't even believe I agreed to do that?!  I faced a huge fear and I played the piano in church!  Thankfully I only messed up once!?  It was a huge blessing cause I literally never play since I quit all those years ago.  You can even ask my mom.  

Spring Fun!

This spring has been one for the books!  Since I've been home I've been able to do some really fun things!  Some of my favorites include (in no particular order): 

Branding with the Cornia's

Spending a day with Tami in Idaho Falls

Helping the Child's with sheep

Recovering Kelly's truck seats

(The coolest cloud over Deseret on the way home)

State track with my dad and the Micheli clan

(State Champs!)

Visiting my friends in Provo

Helping Taffy fix up their playhouse

Branding with Nate's

Walks with friends

Docking sheep with Child's

(Lunch Break)

Fires with friends

Working out with Kalbie (she's a fabulous workout partner!)

Getting the cemetery ready for Memorial Day

Sulli's graduation

Becoming an aunt again

Moab with Kalbie

Having all my sisters and their kids come for a day

Skyping Tessa on Mother's Day

Walks with my mom

Taking over the bread business again

As you can see, it's been pretty stellar.  I feel so blessed that I get to do such a wide variety of things with my days :)

I don't really know what to title this post, but I miss my sis.  

Some days I just need to talk to her.  Friday was one of those days.  My life really is so great and I'm so happy, but I have questions and I need her to answer them for me.  Or at least validate my crazy thinking?!  I'm not going to lie, I even cried.  Then I went in the mountains on a hike and just talked to my own dang self!  

haha.  Not the same, but as close as I'm probably going to get :)  Miss you Tess! 

Fitbit Fanatics?!

Back in December, in my string of good luck, I was given this sporty purple watch by my lovely friend Faith. 

Her mom had given it to her and just a few weeks later the buckle on it broke.  She called the fitbit people and they told her they'd just send her a new one?!  At school a few days later she asked me if I wanted it.  I knew that fitbits were kind of expensive and was pretty shocked!  She insisted that all of her family already had them and that if I didn't just take it she didn't know what she'd do with it.  So, I was gracious (hopefully!) and accepted the fitbit with the broken buckle.  I wasn't too worried about getting it fixed up any time soon, but I decided to tell my boss Wayne (he and his wife got these things about a year ago and he's lost almost 50 pounds and his wife has lost over 70 I think) about it.  He was so excited and was like, just go to Walmart and get a watch with the same size band and we can just switch it out! Well, I didn't even have to do that, cause the next morning my boss Lee shows up, pulls his watch out of his pocket, and what do ya know--the buckle ripped right through the leather band on his watch?!  He looked at it and deemed it unfixable.  That's when Wayne's eyes got wide and he asked me where my fitbit was?  I went and grabbed it out of my backpack and what do ya know?!  The buckle fit perfectly!  Later that week I went and bought a charger and I was in business!  

And that's how it all began.  I had NO idea what I was getting into?!  A bunch of my Oberg cousins as well as my mom, Aunt Linda, and Aunt Carol have them and each week we compete in the "Workweek Hustle."  These people are crazy! Most of their daily averages are from 15k-25k steps a day.  Trying to stay in these competitions is grueling!  Luckily I'm an active person and hold my own pretty good in them.  One Friday night the competition was closing and I was about 300 steps ahead of my mom.  I was exhausted and had fallen asleep in the middle of the living room.  All of the sudden I was woken up by the sound of repeated footsteps.  My mom was pacing our house trying to beat me?! So, of course I had to get up and get those extra steps to beat my mom!  We were just walking all over trying to out step each other and finally I was fed up with it.  I grabbed her and tied her to a chair!  Enough is enough!!  haha  Anyways, we've had some pretty entertaining comments and trash talk among the group and it's been a fun way for me to connect with some of my cousins who I would have no real reason to have contact with otherwise.  

Aside from the challenge, it's just been fun to see how much I really move around in a day.  Some days I'm shocked at how lazy I am and some days I'm shocked at how active I am.  Like yesterday.  It was my first day off in a couple of weeks and I really had nothing planned.  So, I decided to try and do a bunch of things!  I got a lot accomplished and I ended up with over 49,000 steps.  Crazy.  My day off and I get a new high on my fitbit.  I really wouldn't have it any other way though.  So, If you don't have a fitbit, don't feel like you NEED to get one, but they are pretty fun to have :)