why God is the ultimate artist

My friend gave the coolest talk in sacrament meeting today. She said pretty much everything that I've ever wanted to say and understand about art and music and our Heavenly Father. It was absolutely beautiful.

She reminded me:

I am one of God's daughters.

That's kind of awesome.

If I'm his daughter, that means he's my dad. And I bet I'm more like him than I know.

When I'm painting, and giving special care and attention to every detail, what if-- WHAT IF-- that's a shadow of a sliver of a glimpse of how God felt creating the earth?

We inherit his creativity and share his desire to make beautiful things.

Have you ever looked at a seed and thought about how crazy and amazing it is? Heavenly Father thought of that. The Northern lights? He made that. The moon changing shapes, leaves changing colors, sunsets and sunrises. He made it all. Your own flipping foot? Look at it. That is how you know that He has a sense of humor.

Some people see a rainbow as nothing more than light. HELLO? YOU GUYS? Rainbows are freaking amazing. Who could possibly think to create something that simple and beautiful after something like a rainstorm? Only God.

He created sound and music and he blessed us with the ability to be close to him by creating it. I watch this video this morning before church, and it reminded me just how amazing life is.



I love music. You know what? Heavenly Father probably loves music too. In fact, I know He does.

We are so much more like Him than we realize.

It's hard for me to wrap my mind around everything. He took the time to make every. single. star. And he remembers each of them.

He took the time to make every single human being, and he remembers each of us. Not just remembers us. He cares about us. He loves us with an infinite love, and he has a plan for each of us.

I still don't know how he listens to all those prayers at the same time. But I do know that he hears them and that he answers them.

Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us so much. If you ever forget, please reread as often as needed.

Life is pretty awesome, guys. Let's be grateful for it.

date a boy who travels

By lainnnes. I found this and I thought it was pretty much the best thing I've ever seen.

Date a boy who treasures experience over toys, a hand-woven bracelet over a Rolex. Date the boy who scoffs when he hears the words, “vacation”, “all-inclusive”, or “resort”. Date a boy who travels because he’s not blinded by a single goal but enlivened by many.

You might find him in an airport or at a book store browsing the travel guides – although he “only uses them for reference.”

You’ll know it’s him because when you peek at his computer screen, his background will be a scenic splendor of rolling hills, mountains, or prayer flags. His Facebook friend count will be over-the-roof, and his wall will be plastered with the broken English ‘miss-you’ of friends he met along the way. When he travels, he makes lifelong friends in an hour. And although contact with these friends is sporadic and may be far-between, his bonds are unmessable and if he wanted, he could couch surf the world… again.

Buy him a [root] beer. Once a traveller gets home, people rarely listen to their stories.

So listen to him.

Allow him to paint a picture that brings you into his world. He might talk fast and miss small details because he’s so excited to be heard. Bask in his enthusiasm. Want it for yourself.

He’ll squeak like an excited toddler when his latest issue of National Geographic arrives in the mail. Then he’ll grow quiet, engrossed, until he finishes his analysis of every photo, every adventure. In his mind, he’ll insert himself in these pictures. He’ll pass the issue on to you and grill you about your dreams and competitively ask about the craziest thing you’ve ever done. Tell him. And know that he’ll probably win. And if by chance you win, know that his next lot in life will be to out do you. But then he’ll say, “Maybe we can do it together.”

Date the boy who talks of distant places and whose hands have explored the stone relics of ancient civilizations and whose mind has imagined those hands carving, chiseling, painting the wonders of the world. And when he talks, it’s as if he’s reliving it with you. You can almost hear his heart racing. You can almost feel the adrenaline ramped up by the moment. You feel it passing through his synapsis, a feast to his eyes entering through those tiny oracles of experience that we call pupils, digesting rapidly through his veins, manifesting into his nervous system, transforming and altering his worldview like a reverse trauma and finally passing, but forever changing the colors of his sight. (Unless he’s Karl Pilkington.)

You will want this too.

Date a boy who’s lived out of a backpack because he lives happily with less. A boy who’s travelled has seen poverty and dined with those who live in small shanty’s with no running water, and yet welcome strangers with greater hospitality than the rich. And because he’s seen this, he’s seen how a life without luxury can mean a life fueled by relationships and family, rather than a life that fuels fancy cars and ego. He’s experienced different ways of being, respects alternative religions and he looks at the world with the eyes of a five-year-old, curious and hungry. Your dad will be happy too because he’s good with money and knows how to budget.

This boy relishes home; the comfort of a duvet, the safety stirred in a mom-cooked meal, the easy conversation of childhood friends, and the immaculate glory of the flush-toilet. Although fiercely independent, he has had time to reflect on himself and his relationships. Despite his wanderlust, he knows and appreciates his ties to home. He has had a chance to miss and be missed.

Because of this, he also knows a thing or two about goodbyes. He knows the overwhelming uncertainty of leaving the comforts of home, the indefinite see-you-laters at the departure gates, and yet he fearlessly goes into the unknown because he knows the feeling of return. And that the I’ve-missed-you-hug is the best type of hug in the whole world. He also knows that goodbyes are just prolonged see-you-laters and that ‘hello’ is only as far away as the nearest internet cafe.

Don’t hold onto this boy.

Let this boy go and go with him. If you haven’t travelled, he will open your eyes to a world beyond the news and popular perception. He will open your dreams to possibility and reality. He will calm your nerves when you’re about to miss a flight or when your rental blows a flat, because he knows the journey is the adventure. He will make light of the unsavory noises you make when you – and you will – get food poisoning. He will make you laugh through the discomfort all while dabbing your forehead with a cold cloth and nursing you with bottled water.

He will make you feel like you’re home.

When you see something beautiful, he will hold your hand in silence, in awe the history of where his feet stand, and the fact that you’re with him.

He will live in every moment with you, because this is how he lives his life. He understands that happiness is no more than a string of moments that displace neutrality, and he is determined to tie as many of these strings together as he can. He also understands your need to live for yourself and that you have a bucket list of your own.

Understand his. Understand that your goals may at some points differ, but that independence is the cornerstone of a healthy relationship when it’s mutually respected. You may lose him for a bit, but he will always come home bearing a new story and a souvenir he picked up because it reminded him of you, like it was made for you, and because he missed you. You might be compelled to do the same. Make sure that independence is on your bucket list, and make sure it’s checked. Independence will keep your relationship fresh and exciting, and when you’re together again it will forge a bond of unbreakable trust.

He’ll propose when you’ve breached your comfort-zone, whether it be a fear like skydiving or swimming with sharks, or sitting next to the smelly person on an overcrowded bus. It won’t be with a diamond ring, but with a token from a native culture or inspired by nature, like the penguin and the pebble.

You will get married somewhere unassumed, surrounded by a select few, in a moment constructed to celebrate venturing into the unknown together again. Marry the boy who’s travelled and together you will make the whole world your home. Your honeymoon will not be forgotten to a buffet dinner and all-you-can-drink beach bars, but will be remembered in the triumphant photographs at the top of Kilimanjaro and memorialized in the rewarding ache of muscles at the end of a long days hike.

When you’re ready, you will have children that have the names of the characters you met on your journeys, the foreign names of people who dug a special place in your heart if only for a few days. Perhaps you will live in another country, and your children will learn of language and customs that open their minds from the very start, leaving no room for prejudice. He will introduce them to the life of Hemingway, the journey of Santiago, and empower them to live even bigger than both of you.


Marry a boy who travels and he’ll teach your children the beauty of a single stone, the history of the Incas and he will instill in them the bravery of possibility. He will explain to them that masking opportunity, there is fear. He will teach them to concur it.

And when you’re old, you’ll sit with your grandchildren pouring over your photo albums and chest of worldly treasures, while they too insert themselves into your photographs, sparked by the beauty of the world and inspired by your life in it.

Find a boy who travels because you deserve a life of adventure and possibility. You deserve to live light and embrace simplicity. You deserve to look at life through the eyes of youth and with your arms wide open. Because this is where you will find joy.

And better, you will find joy together.

And if you can’t find him, travel. Go. Embrace it. Explore the world for yourself because dreams are the stuff reality is made from.

dis gurl gon b busy

Summer. Holy. Crap.

  

I have so many things that I want to do.

I have this picture in my head of me waking up every morning at 6 am and watching the sunrise while I read my scriptures and eat breakfast on the back porch, and be all spiritually cleansed for the day. And then I'm going to exercise (it took me three tries before autocorrect would even recognize that word to correct it) and get a six pack, and keep in touch with all my friends, and I'm going to be a boss this summer and actually do all of it.

You know, something about me: I like to plan. I like to plan a lot. Sometimes I get so excited about my plans that I don't actually do any of them.

But not this summer. No, no, no.

 

I'm making a serious game plan. This summer, I'm going to be happy, productive, healthy, well-rested, and not lazy. I'm going to reach the day before I go back to school and be able to say, "Dang, girl, you done good."

 

So. Here's my list of things I want to do summer 2013

 

 

THINGS I WANT TO DO: SUMMER 2013

 

1. Wake up early every morning and read my scriptures while I watch the sunrise. (Must. Finish. New. Testament. For. Seminary. Grade.)

 

2. Keep a photo journal 1 beautiful thing for every day.

 

3. Write a pantomime.

 

4. Practice the National Anthem with the Socialaires. A lot.

 

5. Take a picture of the sunset every night, no matter where you are, and collect them at the end of the summer.

 

6. Draw with chalk in one of my friends neighborhoods all of the sidewalks.

 

7. Plan Homecoming.

 

8. Run on the treadmill every morning in the garage while watching Season 2 of Lost.

 

9. Read at least 3 new books.

 

10. Finish the drawing for my teacher of him and his wife for her birthday.

 

11. Get my permit.

 

12. Keep my room clean.

 

13. Host a dance on the basketball court.

 

14. Eat more fruit and vegetables.

 

15. Go to the movies with a group of friends. You know, I've never done that before.

 

16. Personal Progress. Do it.

 

17. Learn how to French braid.

 

18. Do my only summer homework: Create a project out of the theme "make a difference".

 

19. Learn how to curl my own hair.

 

20. Paint a picture. Don't know what of yet.

 

I've got more in my head too, don't worry. I'm so excited. So freakin' excited.

 

One more thing. I think I've found one of my favorite movie quotes of all time. From 27 Dresses.

 

Happy summer,

Nicole :)

 

 

the awesomeness of freshman year

HOLY COW WOW my freshman year is over.

Taylor Swift's secret = Go to high school. Write it all down.

Guys, nine months ago, I was terrified to be in high school. I'd heard how hard and awful it was, all the bad things that go on.

You know what I found?

High school rocks. It has been the best step of my life so far. 

Sure, the first week was overwhelming. I got lost on the way to my class a couple times. The seniors were a little intimidating at first. But I have never had such a fun time. I've gotten involved in sports, drama, choir, leadership. Some of my best friends are seniors and juniors. And sophomores. And freshman. From all different cliques and personalities. It's great.

And it is true that there are negative influences all around. But how are you supposed to be a shining example in the world if there is no dark to fight?

Here come the clichés.

I have made so many amazing and incredible friends this year.

First day:

Last day:

 

Seriously. I don't know why me and my BFFs aren't in a Nickelodeon TV show, because we would be perfect. Movie nights on the weekends, staying up late talking and eating and laughing and talking and crying and and taking cheesy iPod photos and going to dances and passing each other notes via teachers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've been able to experience some rougher stuff this year than I have in earlier years, which is all cool, because not very many people in this world are as lucky and blessed as I am to have people like my friends and my family.

 

I mean, come on. I've got friends who email me stuff like this on a regular basis.

 



Seriously.

 

Some days I felt like this:

Other days I felt like this:

 

 

But I love it all. Even waking up for seminary every single flipping morning at 4:45.

 

I. love. it. all.
 

It has gone by SO FREAKING FAST. Like, I can't believe that I have to do four years of high school and I just did one. I have three left. HOLY FREAKING CANOLES.

Maybe this is just newlittlefreshman-itis. But I hope it's not. I hope I can live my next three years as excited and happy as I am now.

Here's to an incredible year.