Found On My GoPro

On our most recent trip out to Reno and then to Vancouver, I finally started to really take advantage of the photography features found within the GoPro camera. I used the burst feature just a little bit in Hawaii, but while talking to my brother-in-law, Dan, I learned about the wifi capabilities of the camera, the ease of downloading pictures straight from the camera to my phone, and that just made everything that much easier. It's unbelievable. I feel like I have an entirely new toy to play with.

Anyway, here are some of my favorite images from the Reno trip. I posted a few to my Instagram, but didn't want to overload people's feeds. On my blog, however, I have absolutely no qualms about doing it. So here goes!

Can you see why I am so in love with Lake Tahoe? It is the most blue, beautiful water I've ever seen. It touches your lips and you feel like you should be drinking it, it's just so pure. And it's not like I haven't experienced some pretty rad waters in my time.

I just thought those were some fun shots. I'm really looking forward to California and what kinds of things I'll be able to capture there.

Esteem As Of Great Worth

Some time ago I read these verses in 2 Nephi 33:

1 And now I, Nephi, cannot write all the things which were taught among my people; neither am I mighty in writing, like unto speaking; for when a man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the hearts of the children of men.
 2 But behold, there are many that harden their hearts against the Holy Spirit, that it hath no place in them; wherefore, they cast many things away which are written and esteem them as things of naught.
 3 But I, Nephi, have written what I have written, and I esteem it as of great worth, and especially unto my people. For I pray continually for them by day, and mine eyes water my pillow by night, because of them; and I cry unto my God in faith, and I know that he will hear my cry.

I started to think a lot about what kinds of things I might include in my plates of brass that I would be passing down to future generations. What are the permanent and enduring lessons that I would take the time to etch into metal plates so that they would be preserved for all of my posterity to read? Am I learning the necessary lessons that I should be gleaning that will be of great worth not only to myself, but to my posterity? What are those lessons?

When you start asking those kinds of questions, I can appreciate a lot more why Nephi and other writers in the Book of Mormon apologize and almost timidly offer up their words for our reading. Knowing the gravity of your assignment adds a lot of pressure and would make anybody at least a little worried about how those messages are being received. On one hand, it is usually easy to know of the impact that lessons learned have on your own life, but how can you be sure that the message remains impactful to the person receiving it in written form only. Thank goodness for the Spirit, right?

This blog for a long time was a vehicle of expression for me about so many things - sometimes silly things, sports, politics, religious things, thoughts on dating, a travelogue, and more politics.

Going forward I hope that this can be a place for me to express some of my own thoughts and help me to clarify and crystallize my own feelings about things. Some of it will still touch on some of those different areas, but I'd like to stay closer to those things that I esteem to be of great worth, as Nephi says.

For anyone who's still out there, stay tuned.

Three Word Answers

As I ease back into this blogging thing, let me start off with something easy. This is an FHE that Amy's sister, Lisa, does with her family and has all of her kids do. We have been meaning to do it for awhile and we finally got around to it about a month or so ago in one of our own FHE's and I think it's a pretty fun thing to do, and something worth revisiting as some time passes and answers change.

There are a few things on here that would already change in just the short time that has passed since we did this, but I'll get to that in a different post.

• What I’m proud of today: Scripture study plan
• What I’m thinking about: Ear is clogged
• Who is home: My little family
• Plans tonight: TV, shower, skype
• Feelings about love: It’s always present
• Feelings about life: I can’t complain
• What I need: Full time employment
• What I want: Start in August
• What I have: Plenty of time
• My pet peeve: Being treated indifferently
• My Guilty pleasure: Sugary carbonated drinks
• What you don’t know about me: Loved Paula Abdul
• What I can hear: AC and typing
• What I can smell: Can’t, all congested
• My Style: T-shirt and sandals
• My hairdo: Simple, no fuss
• My outfit: See “style” above
• My mood: I’m feeling lazy
• The weather today: Like starting summer
• Thoughts on family: My constant happiness
• Thoughts on marriage: Keeps me grounded
• Thoughts on beauty: All around me
• Thoughts on sleep: It’s always fleeting
• Thoughts on writing: Crystallizes my thoughts
• My favorite thing: Besides family? Activity.
• My favorite food: Still say pizza
• My favorite splurge: GoPro or vacation
• My favorite treat: Texas sheet cake
• Ten years ago: BYU senior, clueless
• Five years ago: Getting Provo bearings
• One year ago: Pregnant, nobody knows
• One year from now: Back from France
• Five years from now: Pregnant with 5th
• Ten years from now: Living happily abroad
• I’m famous for: Going to school
• I’ll never be famous for: Loving telephone charades
• Who I am: Highly educated unemployed
• Who I hope to be: Highly educated employed
• What I’m thankful for: Family, free time

One of the main reasons I want to get back to blogging is for the "Thoughts on Writing" question and answer that I have posted. Writing, for me, is such a great conduit for crystallizing my thoughts and feelings on different topics. Blogging is becoming irrelevant these days, but I love it as a form of journal writing that I can be/used to be really good at. I hope to get back to it with some more regularity.