It speaks for itself...

So I think I first noticed it Tuesday.  My stomach.  It just seemed fatter.  'Oh no', I thought, 'the time has arrived'.  Time to cut back on my beloved, daily ritual of chocolate ice cream and microwaved (for approximately 12 seconds) chocolate-chocolate chip-peanut butter chip with walnuts cookie dough.  (Am I making you hungry?)  But then I thought, 'Well, I did just eat.  Maybe it will flatten some more after some time.'

Fast forward to Wednesday night.  Brushing my teeth.  Nothing better to do, but stare at my self brush back and forth.  I turn to the side.  Gosh, still there!  But another excuse came to mind this time...

...and this is it.  And I think the blue line needs no explanation.  Round two begins.  I hope this time it sticks a little better.

*update...sooo, a friend of mine informed me that after a miscarriage, home tests aren't considered reliable because you're hormones could still be stabalizing for up to 3-4 months.  I hope this isn't the case and that I really am pregnant.  Cuz if not...well, that's just depressing...and that means that I've gotten fatter!  ha!

The Tempest is Raging

This past weekend we went to St. Louis to go to the temple.  The temple is a special opportunity because sometimes answers to prayers come so easily there.  There's things I've been praying about and that I hoped to find answers for there, but nothing this time.  Nevertheless, it was so nice to go to the temple.

On the drive home, Chad started singing some hymn and I joined in and shortly after Liam began his chorus along with us (ya, we're weird like that).  Well, the singing of this one hymn turned into a sort of game.  I'd randomly flip to a hymn (thank you iphone hymn app) and if we knew it, we'd sing it.  We made a great trio and we sure could dramatize some of those songs.  (You should of heard us on the chorus of 'Master, the Tempest is Raging'!)  In fact, 'Master, the Tempest is Raging' was the hymn that really stuck with me then and that has stayed with me these past few days.  Not because of our memorable rendition of it.  It was the second verse.  I'd never paid attention to it.

Master, with anguish of spirit

I bow in my grief today.

The depths of my sad heart are troubled. 

Oh, waken and save, I pray!

Torrents of sin and of anguish

Sweep o'er my sinking soul,

And I perish! I perish! dear Master.

Oh, hasten and take control!

Never before had I been able to relate with the disciples on the storm tossed ship.  I've felt so urgent as did they.  Like them, I wondered why the Lord wasn't responding with more earnestness.  

Sunday, the night the tornado hit Joplin, we were under a tornado watch here.  The sky was brewing with storm clouds.  And the lyrics to the song came to my mind again.  And now, as I watch the after effects of this tornado, the chorus echos in my mind once more.

The winds and the waves shall obey they will:

Peace, be still.

Whether the wrath of the storm-tossed sea

Or demons or men or whatever it be,

No waters can swallow the ship where lies

The Master of ocean and earth and skies.

They all shall sweetly obey thy will:

Peace, be still; peace, be still.

They all shall sweetly obey thy will:

Peace, peace, be still.

Now, like those disciples of old, I see that the Lord knows all and has the power to still the storm...in his own timing. 

(Below are pictures I took the night of the storm.)

Flowers | I Heart Faces

I started life with a bias.  My eyes are green.  I always thought it made me unique and for that, I liked the color green.  But the real turning point was in my 6th grade art class.  The art room had green vibrant cupboard doors the color of grass lining one wall of the classroom.  It was then that I first remember admiring the color.  It felt so clean, fresh, and simple.  And from then on green has been my favorite color.

'Tis the season of green right now here in Missouri.  I may miss some things from the west, but one thing Missouri has that the west will never have is the color green.  And I love it!

Oh, and if you haven't guessed it, this week's challenge is "May flowers".  These flowers are from a field behind my house.  

Flashlight

Awhile back (you can see I'm catching up on some pictures) we were home alone while Chad was at Young Men's and the power went out.  Liam was fascinated with the light of the flashlight...and I was fascinated with his fascination.