February 28, 2011

i love life!

life is beatiful.
i love it.

i dont always understand the turns or road blocks that have or are to come on my path ..
BUT ..
i do KNOW one thing.
the most important thing.

as long as i keep my Heavenly Father first and foremost in my life He will not leave me alone on my path.
this truth i am most grateful for.


i love life!
i cannot get enough of it.

i love that as we show love to everyone life is more of a beauty.
i love this mormon message.
enjoy.

and remember ..
there is something to love and be grateful for EVERY SINGLE DAY!



February 27, 2011

i love sunday naps.

i do not know how i survived my mission without sunday naps.
seriously.
the Lord blesses us in many ways!

i crave the opportunity to cuddle up on a sunday and take a little snooze.
it is the day of rest right?!

i also love quotes.

thank you father barlow for this one ..


“The Spirit does not get our attention by shouting or shaking us with a heavy hand. Rather it whispers. It caresses so gently that if we are preoccupied we may not feel it at all...
Occasionally it will press just firmly enough for us to pay heed. But most of the time, if we do not heed the gentle feeling, the Spirit will withdraw and wait until we come seeking and listening.” 
- Boyd K. Packer   

February 26, 2011

i love the House of the Lord!

today was beautiful and filled with the Spirit!

Braden and Heather had the wonderful opportunity to be sealed for ETERNITY in the San Diego Temple.

Heavenly Father is marvelous.

when we walked out of the Temple it was pouring rain.

we walked to the cars to get more umbrellas and the camera [thank you my sweet cat!] and 5 minutes later the skys cleared and became blue!

THE LORD BLESSES US!
seriously.

i took some shots of them for remembrance of their special day in the Temple. 


the power of love is strong and bonding.

i couldnt have chosen anyone better for my H!
her eyes light up when she looks at B. 

he may look a little angry in the above photo but i promise you he is smiling.
its just his squinty albino eyes!


i love the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
we can be bonded to our loved ones for eternity.

to me that is the best gift. ever.

as we were in the sealing room the rays from the sun were shining in and the light that shown was full of truth.

it was a perfect moment of peace, love, clarity and eternal happiness.


through the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ this blessing of eternity is made available to all.
it is amazing.

questions? this is the place to go >>> eternal marriage.

thank you H&B for letting me apart of such a significant day.
i love you.

February 25, 2011

i love mission companions!

seriously.
love. them.

i love when we get to have a little catch time up via the cellular. 
of course they all have to live in utah!
boo on that one.

i love talking to my mama hood.
hearing ruby scream in the background.
not because her mama is mean but because drs are mean and gave the poor girl some shots.
mama hood is a good mama.

i really need to meet the ruby.

we love to laugh about the words i say wrong, foods we disagree on and of course RED FACE!

we love talking about boys.
namely her husb nic jones and mr. barlow.

she makes me laugh and smile.


i have so many stories to tell my girls.
the blacky and little j!

even if we only get to talk once every couple weeks it feels like no time has past between us at all.
i love it.

anything we talk about relates back to the WMM.
it makes us all smile.

i feel so much better about life after having a little chat with one of these two.
i wish we could be roommates and actually stay up all night instead of lights out at 10:30pm
but alas utah has them both.


my last 2 companions are out in the field yet ..

oh how i miss them so!

i get their weekly emails which inspire and lift me up.
lets me know the work of the Lord continues forth.

this girl .. the pluiminator as we like to call her will be on her plane home [of course to utah] in just about 3 weeks.

where did her time go?
i remember her very first day in the field.
meeting her in the milwaukee chapel and becoming her trainer.


my sister b. johnson killed me.
what a marvelous 6 weeks those were in mad town.

not only did she teach me the amazingness of tim tam man slams but we sprinted every single day.

if i wasnt tired before madison i was def tired after.
best. killer.

i miss our chats a lot ..



wisconsin continues to bless my life.
every. single. day.

connections continue to be made and they make me smile.

my mission companions became sisters to me.
these girls have a special place in my heart.

February 24, 2011

i love these three!

these three crazies have a hold on my heart.

i love when they jump on me, hug me, cuddle with me and call me their momo the lemur.


the times i get to be with them are less now since i no longer live in the beehive state ..
but when i do get the chance to be with them again i never want to let go.

they make my heart happy!

February 23, 2011

i love words with friends!

thank you to the world of apps for this little one.

thank you for being my opponent catherine n. card!

lets see who wins next round.  

February 22, 2011

i love the postal service!

#1. not the band. 
i do like the band but ..
we are talking about real, hold it in your hand, tangible parcels. 

#2. i LOVE all forms of mail. 
letters, postcards, packages!
the post man is one of my fav people.

#3. i especially LOVE when it is homemade.
the care and effort put in makes me feel so special.

today i came home to this:


with love from my sydney.
made my day.

[i think blue hair looks good on me eh?]

February 21, 2011

i love 3 day weekends ..

especially when they include a visit from mr. barlow!
i love visits from this man. 

[dont mind a christmas time photo, i failed yet again at using my camera this weekend!]

he flew in on friday afternoon.
of course it had to rain this weekend!

i asked father barlow if i could pick jacob up from the airport.
he kindly let me and it was nice to see jacobs surprised face when he got off the plane.
we got some good talking in during our 1.5 hour LA traffic jam!


the rain continued through to saturday .. 
which meant cuddle time in cats bed with the O.C.

I LOVE THE O.C.


i am OBSESSED!
thank you mr. barlow!

another thing i love is cexilly and i dressing alike on the sabbath!
BUT ..
we only dress alike when it is leopard print.
it seems to be our signature look.


the biggest news of the weekend that I LOVE is ..

MR. BARLOW IS MOVING TO BURBANK IN 2 WEEKS!
blessings.

he got offered a job and they wanted him to start sooner than later.
blessings.

we will get to be together everyday rather than once a month.
blessings.

this weekend was full of ..
loving on mr. barlow
the o.c. 
good news

i love 3 day weekends!

February 17, 2011

i love the celebration of life!

certain days mark big events in each one of our lives.

the photographer i work for lost his wife to cancer 3 years ago today.
each day he misses his wife but especially today he was reminded of it.

i love the celebration of life and so does ray and his marianne!
i was not there 3 years ago but ray and i talked today about the services for marianne and it was a celebration of her life, music, and love!

my marmie started a tradition with us girls of sending a balloon up to our dad with messages on it.
i love doing this and wanted to share that love with ray!

today was a celebration of the beautiful life of marianne elgin!


i also believe the sun shone all day just for him!

February 16, 2011

i love countdowns ..

my 26th day of birth is one month from today.

let the countdown begin.


February 15, 2011

i love the little things!

a little valentines gift from my mr. barlow.

he really does make me smile, blush and get the butterflies!


a cute reminder of our long distance love.
[and also that i draw him stick figures of us when i write him letters!]

February 14, 2011

long distance love ..

it is officially the day of love.
i love celebrating love everyday so valentines day is just another day to me!

but since it is valentines why not share a love story?

i like this one. a lot. 
its about my sweetheart, mr. barlow.

our long distance love can be traced back to almost a year ago ..

wait ..
i was on my mission a year ago!
i know you now want to hear this story ..

in december of 2009 i got the impression that i needed to stay on my mission a little longer.
i had a couple talks with my president barrett, received an answer from the Lord and stayed for 6 more weeks.

for my last 6 weeks i was transfered to madison, wi.
i was put with sister b. johnson to serve in the madison ysa and madison 4th family ward.

about 2 weeks before i went home the ROSE family signed up to feed us dinner.
we went to their home the eve of 02.16.10 and i had the opportunity to talk to heidi [BARLOW] rose.
soon we discovered we were both from LA and that we had a couple friends in common.
small world right?

this letter home to my family tells a little more about this meeting! >>> the standard of truth! [02.22.10].

after being home from the wmm for about a month or 2 i get an email from heidi asking if i am dating anyone ..
i tell her no and she decides she wants to set me up with someone.
it was not her brother.
[i actually did not know she had an attractive, 25 year old single brother till a couple months after her email!]

in june cat and some of us g7ers decided to support the Lakers and their amazingness by going to the Laker Parade ..

in july mr. barlow decided to stalk justin dator .. and me.

that is how mr. barlow and i officially met .. thank you facebook!


we finally met in person when he came home to burbank for 3 weeks in august.
a little background on mr. barlow ..
he went to byui and graduated in april 2010, got offered a job for the university as an ASL Interpreter, so when he came home he was just visiting while school was on break.

we met on a sunday in g7.
said hello, talked about heidi and that was pretty much it ..

we went to a couple of the same activities like this ..

watching the joseph smith movie at the LA Visitors Center ..
we actually sat by each other during the movie.
pretty sure i remember mr. barlow joking around about trying to hold my hand ..


it was a fun 3 weeks of going out with g7ers, having sunday eve game nights and talking about knowing heidi!

 we even danced together at a ysa dance.
mr. barlow would say he 'waltzed' into my life ..
[also smoothest way of giving me his number/getting mine .. he asked for my phone and put his number in it so that if i was interested i would call/text. i did.]

his summer time trip was coming to a close and for his last night in LA he had a little dinner at the Rain Forest Cafe at Downtown Disney.

he invited me to come and i went down to anaheim with tara and cody raptor!

during the dinner seating arrangements were shuffled and i jokingly said i would sit in front of mr. barlow so we could play footsies ..
mr. barlow took it seriously and so the night before he left back to rexburg we played footsies under the table at the Rain Forest Cafe at Downtown Disney.

it was about another month until had the opportunity to see mr. barlow again.
we texted during that time, little getting to know you questions and answers.

we were both in utah the same weekend for october general conference!
 cat, hill j and i met up with mr. barlow in provo for some froyo ..
   
while there we played footsies .. again.


and tried to take some photos together ..


this one is one of my favs .. just sayin ..


about 3 minutes after we left this froyo place i get a call from mr. barlow asking me on a date before we both left provo!
i really wanted to say yes but i had already planned on spending time with my 2nd family.
i told him i would see if it could work out but alas it did not ..

i got to see him at the sunday pm session of general conference for a little bit ..
he then left back to rexburg and me to the monrov.



after this time together in utah we started skyping each other.
we skyped and texted quite a bit ..

the morning of 10.18.10 i got a call from mr. barlow asking me my plans for that coming weekend ..
i told him none. he asked me if i would like to go on a date. this time i of course said yes!

that was the beginning of what we like to call our "marathon" dates ..
he flew to LA the weekend of 10.22.10 and we had our first date.

that weekend also included the g7 "Live Clue" game night ..
so we of course dressed up!


the next move came from me ..
mr. barlow flew down to LA to take me on a date SO ..

i flew up to rexburg for the weekend to see him!
why not?
i had a crush on mr. barlow.
we were getting along amazingly.
i had never been to good ole rexburg!

we worked it out where i would come up for the weekend and drive [13 hours] to LA with him for thanksgiving!

marathon date #2 ..

we had a wonderful time in rexburg.
it was cold.
he kept me warm.

we stayed a night in utah.
he signed for hours to entertain my little siblings!

we drove. alot.
we talked. alot.
we both loved every minute of it.

next adventure was thanksgiving at each others homes!
i was mostly nervous about meeting the young lady in this photo .. kimberly!
mr. barlow told me she gave a dating test to those who wanted to date her brother ..
oh i took it and passed.
kim and i love each other!


marathon date #2 was a success!
thanksgiving was a success!

mr. barlow and i were enjoying our time together!


the next gap between seeing each other was a lot shorter from thanksgiving to christmas break!
that was a blessing!

reuniting was always such a good time.


christmas break was marathon date #3 ..
we saw each other a lot more than just a weekend of a time which was amazing.

but ..

we had to decide/discuss the long distance status.
DTR.
thats always fun right?!

for us it turned out good.

christmas night will be one i wont forget ..


after him meeting the rest of my immediate family we went to burbank to spend time with his family.
before we went in to his home we exchanged christmas gifts and had a little talk.

i told him i wanted us to continue to date, even though it would be long distance for a time.
mr. barlow told me he was in love with me.
best. night. ever.
[he also told me he didnt want me to say anything .. so i didnt!]

mr. barlow and i became officially official on 12.25.10

we spent the rest of the break going on dates and spending quality time together in LA.

marathon date #3 had to come to an end.
he had to get back to byui to start interpreting for the new semester ..

new years eve 2010 was mr. barlows last night in LA!


we spent the evening eating with his family, having a dance party with his nieces & nephews, taking photos, dancing the night away with g7 and of course sharing a midnight kiss.

when mr. barlow dropped me off i told him that i loved him.

he drove back to rexburg new years day and we started planning out the next couple of marathon dates!

i went to rexburg about a month ago in January for the long weekend.
marathon date #4 included thai food, watching mission videos, the Temple, exploring rexburg, seeing some friends of mine and of course cuddling.


mr. barlow will be coming here this weekend for marathon date #5 and i could not be more excited!

i love love.
i love mr. barlow loving me.
i love loving him.

[credit def goes to heidi barlow rose for this one! thank you!]

mr. barlow .. feel free to correct any part of this love story you see fit but with my memory i am pretty sure i got it all accurate!

i love you everyday.

February 13, 2011

i love the restoration.

i had the opportunity to teach sunday school today on this topic.

i really do love the restoration.
so much goodness came from that spring day.

i KNOW the Church of Jesus Christ was RESTORED to us.
it is on the earth now and so many blessings come from the fulness of the gospel.

more  >>> restoration


re·store
–verb (used with object), -stored, -stor·ing.

* to bring back into existence; reestablish: to restore order.
* to bring back to a former, original, or normal condition, as building, statue, or painting.

February 12, 2011

disneyland = love!

i love being an official disneyland annual passport holder.

it truly is the happiest place on earth!


the magic and love will never end!

February 11, 2011

love for brother wing ..

jonathan g. wing is an excellent man.

the love i have for him is .. A LOT.

we first bonded on a drive to the LA Temple.

our bonding continued as we realized our really good friends were married to each other .. the hamills.

more bonding happened when we gave sacrament talks on the same sunday.

and then we were bonded even more as we became the first g7ers to experience cats nose waxing skills.


jonathan is a man full of love and charity.

i have learned so much from him these past couple months.

thank you for coming to LA.
more specifically for coming to pasadena to attend Le Cordon Bleu.

not only do i love you but the world will love you.
this man will be famous.
world get ready to feel some of his love!


February 10, 2011

i love gummy vitamins.

since coming home from the wmm i have proven to be the warner girl that gets sick the most.
something i do not love.

i told marmie that maybe i would stop getting sick if i would just take my vitamins.
BUT ..
i hate swallowing pills.
seriously.

my big sister L had to teach me how to swallow pills when we were growing up.
i dont think i actually got it down till sometime in high school.
[ok. lie. i still dont have it down.]

before i could swallow pills L would crush up said pill [i.e. Tylenol] in a spoon and put some sugar and water with it and that is how i would take my meds.
thank you big sister! 

in my christmas stocking this past 2010 santa brought me these guys ..


GUMMY VITAMINS!

best invention ever.
i have been taking them EVERYDAY since christmas.
and i have NOT gotten sick since the holidays.

i really love them.
sometimes i just really want to eat them like fruit snacks.

February 09, 2011

i love doppelgangers.

jacob barlow vs. michael stahl-david


[thank you cat & peyton for watching cloverfield and figuring this one out!]

February 08, 2011

i love babies.

in 6 months to this day this little peanut is expected to HATCH.
[hopefully you all caught that piece of cleverness!]

my level of excitement for auntie hood is zooming off the charts.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE BABIES. 


i am declaring this my little peanut.

my little peanut is going to be a boy.
[that is just my guess virtual world! just so you know they have not found out yet.]

H&B can even name him after me.
MEL.
[as in mel gibson!]
done & done.
or justin bieber.
take your pick H.

i love you three!