April 29, 2012

6 months. half a year. 182.5 days.

here we are.
happy newlyweds!
half way to one year.

we celebrated by going to church, mr. barlow doing his home teaching, and me taking a 3 hour nap!
we also made a delicious dinner and watched modern family all night.
we are pretty romantic huh?!


oh hi husband.
i love you.


we celebrate in style!
obvi that means some Martinellis.
i love me some marriage.

ANNOUNCEMENT!!!
[no we are not pregnant.] 
even though the knot.com is trying to get us to join thebump.com [see below!]


we have a calling at church!!!

mr. barlow and i are teaching the CTR 5 class!
they are so cute. and rambunctious.
they are ages 5 & 6. and we have 12 of them.
wow.
this sunday was our first time with them and i would say we survived!

we taught about the healing power of the Priesthood and we asked the class if they had ever gotten sick..
one little girl raised her hand and said, "i take medicine that makes my poops really big!" 
what can we say.. we love our class!

April 25, 2012

"The Laborers in the Vineyard"

this is a good talk by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland..
it really stuck with me when i heard it in conference.
i have listened to it a couple times since.
his words are strong. his testimony is strong.
this talk helps me a lot to remember the power of the Atonement.


"Which leads me to my third and last point. This parable—like all parables—is not really about laborers or wages any more than the others are about sheep and goats. This is a story about God’s goodness, His patience and forgiveness, and the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a story about generosity and compassion. It is a story about grace. It underscores the thought I heard many years ago that surely the thing God enjoys most about being God is the thrill of being merciful, especially to those who don’t expect it and often feel they don’t deserve it."
"I do not know who in this vast audience today may need to hear the message of forgiveness inherent in this parable, but however late you think you are, however many chances you think you have missed, however many mistakes you feel you have made or talents you think you don’t have, or however far from home and family and God you feel you have traveled, I testify that you have not traveled beyond the reach of divine love. It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines."
"Whether you are not yet of our faith or were with us once and have not remained, there is nothing in either case that you have done that cannot be undone. There is no problem which you cannot overcome. There is no dream that in the unfolding of time and eternity cannot yet be realized. Even if you feel you are the lost and last laborer of the eleventh hour, the Lord of the vineyard still stands beckoning. “Come boldly [to] the throne of grace,” and fall at the feet of the Holy One of Israel. Come and feast “without money and without price” at the table of the Lord."

April 23, 2012

"When we realize that death is only one of the steps that the children of God shall take throughout eternity, and that it is according to His plan, it robs death of its sting and brings us face to face with the reality of eternal life."

- President George Albert Smith
(Teachings of G.A. Smith Ch. 7 “The Immortality of the Soul”)

"Sacrifice"


"Many years ago this conference heard of a young man who found the restored gospel while he was studying in the United States. As this man was about to return to his native land, President Gordon B. Hinckley asked him what would happen to him when he returned home as a Christian. 
“My family will be disappointed,” the young man answered. “They may cast me out and regard me as dead. As for my future and my career, all opportunity may be foreclosed against me.”
“Are you willing to pay so great a price for the gospel?” President Hinckley asked.
Tearfully the young man answered, “It’s true, isn’t it?” 
When that was affirmed, he replied, “Then what else matters?”
[Gordon B. Hinckley, “It’s True, Isn’t It?” Tambuli, Oct. 1993, 3–4;Ensign, July 1993, 2; see also Neil L. Andersen, “It’s True, Isn’t It? Then What Else Matters?” Ensign, May 2007, 74.]

April 20, 2012

for moms & dads!

this first video is a tribute to mothers.
warning: it will make you cry.
at least mr. barlow and i did.

its for the Olympics and not only am i now excited for them but i am excited to one day be a mother.


and this video will give you some giggles.
heres to you, mr. barlow in about 10 years!



April 13, 2012

Silver & Light

this is pretty amazing.
i am obsessed.
i need me a darkroom again. 
i may just turn our laundry room into one.
[or buy a food truck like this guy]
husband?

SILVER & LIGHT from Ian Ruhter on Vimeo.

April 08, 2012

Jesus is the Christ

i am so very grateful for the atoning gift of the Lord Jesus Christ.
and today i am especially grateful for His resurrection. 
for all He did so that we could be forgiven, be healed and return to our Heavenly Father.


also this talk is pretty amazing from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland.
read the whole thing, you'll be happy you did >>> The Laborers in the Vineyard

"Which leads me to my third and last point. This parable—like all parables—is not really about laborers or wages any more than the others are about sheep and goats. This is a story about God’s goodness, His patience and forgiveness, and the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a story about generosity and compassion. It is a story about grace. It underscores the thought I heard many years ago that surely the thing God enjoys most about being God is the thrill of being merciful, especially to those who don’t expect it and often feel they don’t deserve it.
I do not know who in this vast audience today may need to hear the message of forgiveness inherent in this parable, but however late you think you are, however many chances you think you have missed, however many mistakes you feel you have made or talents you think you don’t have, or however far from home and family and God you feel you have traveled, I testify that you have not traveled beyond the reach of divine love. It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines.
Whether you are not yet of our faith or were with us once and have not remained, there is nothing in either case that you have done that cannot be undone. There is no problem which you cannot overcome. There is no dream that in the unfolding of time and eternity cannot yet be realized. Even if you feel you are the lost and last laborer of the eleventh hour, the Lord of the vineyard still stands beckoning. “Come boldly [to] the throne of grace,” and fall at the feet of the Holy One of Israel. Come and feast “without money and without price” at the table of the Lord."

April 05, 2012

inspiring poem..

Good Timber
by Douglas Malloch

    The tree that never had to fight
    For sun and sky and air and light,
    But stood out in the open plain
    And always got its share of rain,
    Never became a forest king
    But lived and died a scrubby thing.

    The man who never had to toil
    To gain and farm his patch of soil,
    Who never had to win his share
    Of sun and sky and light and air,
    Never became a manly man
    But lived and died as he began.

    Good timber does not grow with ease:
    The stronger wind, the stronger trees;
    The further sky, the greater length;
    The more the storm, the more the strength.
    By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
    In trees and men good timbers grow.

    Where thickest lies the forest growth,
    We find the patriarchs of both.
    And they hold counsel with the stars
    Whose broken branches show the scars
    Of many winds and much of strife.
    This is the common law of life.


    i read this poem in a book and i immediately became obsessed with it.
    life is hard.
    but those hard things make us strong.

April 03, 2012

FIND .. film is not dead.

FILM IS NOT DEAD!
it really isn't.
i am obsessed with film.

i wish i still had access to a darkroom.
that would be lovely.
but at least i have my analog cameras to play with.

so why am i talking about film?

because of this guy >>> jonathan canlas

he started FIND. [film is not dead]
he holds workshops everywhere to teach anyone how to shoot film.
want his book?! i have it. and love it >>> FIND

one day i will go to his workshop.
and i already know i will love it.
but until that happens i will just look at these photos everyday.

about 2 months or so ago jonathan posted on FB that he needed some couples for models.
[i follow him all over FB. i know kinda creepy. he prob gets tired of all my "liking"]
a mutual friend of ours recommended me and mr. barlow.

i immediately asked mr. barlow if he wouldn't mind going into work a little late so we could be a part of this.
luckily he knows how obsessed i am with jonathans style and film.
he said yes right away! thank you mr. barlow.

now let your eyes feast on the beauties of film and jonathans greatness.














he is the bomb.
we were almost frozen by the time it was over.
but i did not mind one bit.