stole this from this blog.

One Life

I'm a Romantic Remember?

SAVE THE DATE from Hailey Haugen on Vimeo.

Um ok. So the girl in this video and I don't know each other but we have mutual friends. Call me a creepy stalker but I think they are the most perfect couple ever. I absolutely love this video! They're SO in love. You have to watch the video of him coming home from his mission. It will make you cry. Watch it here. Can I have that kind of love please?

John Steinbeck On Love

"And don't worry about losing. If it is right, it happens -- The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away."

John Steinbeck sent this letter to his son:

Dear Thom:
We had your letter this morning. I will answer it from my point of view and of course Elaine will from hers.
First -- if you are in love -- that's a good thing -- that's about the best thing that can happen to anyone. Don't let anyone make it small or light to you.
Second -- There are several kinds of love. One is a selfish, mean, grasping, egotistical thing which uses love for self-importance. This is the ugly and crippling kind. The other is an outpouring of everything good in you -- of kindness and consideration and respect -- not only the social respect of manners but the greater respect which is recognition of another person as unique and valuable. The first kind can make you sick and small and weak but the second can release in you strength, and courage and goodness and even wisdom you didn't know you had.
You say this is not puppy love. If you feel so deeply -- of course it isn't puppy love.
But I don't think you were asking me what you feel. You know better than anyone. What you wanted me to help you with is what to do about it -- and that I can tell you.
Glory in it for one thing and be very glad and grateful for it.
The object of love is the best and most beautiful. Try to live up to it.
If you love someone -- there is no possible harm in saying so -- only you must remember that some people are very shy and sometimes the saying must take that shyness into consideration.
Girls have a way of knowing or feeling what you feel, but they usually like to hear it also.
It sometimes happens that what you feel is not returned for one reason or another -- but that does not make your feeling less valuable and good.
Lastly, I know your feeling because I have it and I'm glad you have it.
We will be glad to meet Susan. She will be very welcome. But Elaine will make all such arrangements because that is her province and she will be very glad to. She knows about love too and maybe she can give you more help than I can.
And don't worry about losing. If it is right, it happens -- The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away.
Love,
Fa

Obsessed with these lines from the letter (as you can tell)... 


"And don't worry about losing. If it is right, it happens -- The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away."

love.

I'd Be Ok if I Didn't Shower For a While

I had two showers within a week of each other. One was a baby shower for my good friend Autumn and the other was a bridal shower for my sister Alyssa. Wow! I never realized how much work showers are. But everything turned out absolutely perfect and I really enjoyed myself!


First off, Autumn's shower.
The shower was at my apartment and the theme was "Oh Boy". We played the balloon game. (tie your shoes with a balloon under your shirt--hence the picture of me pregnant..I think I just wanted to fit in :-) The guess-the-size-of-Autumn's-belly game was fun too. We ate Hawaiian haystacks, ate treats, opened presents, and just chatted. It was a male/female shower and even though only two of the guys were manly enough to show up it sure was fun. I'm so excited for this baby boy to make his entrance into the world! Autumn is going to be an incredible momma. 


P.S. I just need to toot my own horn for a sec..that adorable (if I do say so myself) blanket autumn is holding up I made..I haven't sewn since I made my high school boyfriend a quilt so I was pretty proud..even if it was super easy :-)

Now Lyssa's shower.


This shower was super fun as well! It was my mom, sister Steph, sister-in-law Paige and me who put this one on. It was nice to not have to do it by myself :-) The shower was at my parents house in Sandy and I think it turned out absolutely fabulous! The decor was amazing. Aren't those silhouettes of Lyss and her Fiance Parker so adorable? Steph made and framed them. I loved the banner with the hanging pictures of Lyss and Parker. My mom made a YUMMY dinner. We had LOTS of cute treats. We played fun games including a memory game with things for the honeymoon, "who said what" (steph made it SO cute) and "guess-the-sexy-male-celebrity-I-tape-on-your-back" game. We opened presents of course and just chatted until the roads were getting so bad from the snow everyone had to go home. Lyssa's friends from high school and her sorority sisters are just so much fun to be around. It sure was a good time.
The shower made it hit me that my sister is actually getting married. I truly am SO excited for her and Parker. It's a miracle, but my jealousy is gone and excitement fills me instead. Lyss and P-dawg are absolutely perfect for each other. (not to mention they're going to have the most beautiful kids). Parker makes it a little bit easier to give away my sista because of what a great man he is. If it was anyone else marrying her I don't know if I could do it. I love them both so much and am so happy for them.   

A couple other things that made me happy this weekend:

Rowan Paige. I loved spending time with my nieces this weekend. (even if I didn't get any pictures of the other two I still love them just the same ;)

I was shopping on main street and found this in a tree..made my day (the picture won't turn)

Look at that ADORABLE baby cow! (yes I work for IT and can't seem to turn this photo..judge me)

I hope you all had a splendid weekend!

Words of Wisdom

I stole this from my friend Morgan's blog. (I won't give you the link to her blog because she'd kill me) I absolutely love it. Words of WISDOM right hur. 

Dear Sugar,

I read your column religiously. I'm 22. From what I can tell by your writing, you're in your early 40s. My questions is short and sweet: what would you tell your 20-something self if you could talk to her now?

Love,
Seeking Wisdom


Dear Seeking Wisdom,

Stop worrying about whether you’re fat. You’re not fat. Or rather, you’re sometimes a little bit fat, but who gives a shit? There is nothing more boring and fruitless than a woman lamenting the fact that her stomach is round. Feed yourself. Literally. The sort of people worthy of your love will love you more for this, sweet pea.

Be brave enough to break your own heart.

There are some things you can’t understand yet. Your life will be a great and continuous unfolding. It’s good you’ve worked hard to resolve childhood issues while in your twenties, but understand that what you resolve will need to be resolved again. And again. You will come to know things that can only be known with the wisdom of age and the grace of years. Most of those things will have to do with forgiveness.

Don’t lament so much about how your career is going to turn out. You don’t have a career. You have a life. Do the work. Keep the faith.

You cannot convince people to love you. This is an absolute rule. No one will ever give you love because you want him or her to give it. Real love moves freely in both directions. Don’t waste your time on anything else.

Most things will be okay eventually, but not everything will be. Sometimes you’ll put up a good fight and lose. Sometimes you’ll hold on really hard and realize there is no choice but to let go. Acceptance is a small, quiet room.

One hot afternoon during the era in which you’ve gotten yourself ridiculously tangled up with heroin you will be riding the bus and thinking what a worthless piece of crap you are when a little girl will get on the bus holding the strings of two purple balloons. She’ll offer you one of the balloons, but you won’t take it because you believe you no longer have a right to such tiny beautiful things. You’re wrong. You do.

Your assumptions about the lives of others are in direct relation to your naïve pomposity. Many people you believe to be rich are not rich. Many people you think have it easy worked hard for what they got. Many people who seem to be gliding right along have suffered and are suffering. Many people who appear to you to be old and stupidly saddled down with kids and cars and houses were once every bit as hip and pompous as you.

When you meet a man in the doorway of a Mexican restaurant who later kisses you while explaining that this kiss doesn’t “mean anything” because, much as he likes you, he is not interested in having a relationship with you or anyone right now, just laugh and kiss him back. Your daughter will have his sense of humor. Your son will have his eyes.

The useless days will add up to something. The shitty waitressing jobs. The hours writing in your journal. The long meandering walks. The hours reading poetry and story collections and novels and dead people’s diaries and wondering about sex and God and whether you should shave under your arms or not. These things are your becoming.

One Christmas at the very beginning of your twenties when your mother gives you a warm coat that she saved for months to buy, don’t look at her skeptically after she tells you she thought the coat was perfect for you. Don’t hold it up and say it’s longer than you like your coats to be and too puffy and possibly even too warm. Your mother will be dead by spring. That coat will be the last gift she gave you. You will regret the small thing you didn’t say for the rest of your life.

Say thank you.

Yours,
Sugar

Stress Management

“I cannot and should not be cured of my stress,
but merely taught to enjoy it.”
                                                      —Hans Selye


I am taking a stress management class this semester and it is very interesting.


Change and Stress are words that are used simultaneously.


Yes, people don't like change (I hate it) but I need to remember there is so much opportunity that comes with change. So, in fact, I am grateful for change.


Stress is inevitable and this semester I'm going to work on finding inner peace even in all the stress.

Today

Today I woke up in a most terrible mood. Which is weird considering my dream right before I woke up was Rob Dyrdek and me making out..don't ask. Anyways, I hate being in a bad mood. It makes me want to cry. It's just not in my nature to be grumpy. So, here are some things that make me happy..

Living the Abundant Life

President Thomas S. Monson

In my church we believe in modern day prophets. Just like Adam and Noah from old. We believe that God talks to us through a living prophet.  Thomas S. Monson, the prophet of our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) wrote a magazine article in a monthly LDS (mormon)  magazine (the Ensign) about "Living the Abundant Life" in this new year. It is so encouraging. I love that he quotes Ralph Waldo Emerson and leaders from other churches. You can read this article here.

President Monson said:

"At the advent of a new year, I challenge Latter-day Saints everywhere to undertake a personal, diligent, significant quest for what I call the abundant life—a life filled with an abundance of success, goodness, and blessings. Just as we learned the ABCs in school, I offer my own ABCs to help us all gain the abundant life."

His ABCs were:

  Attitude. Have a positive attitude.


Believe-in yourself.

  Courage. Face Challenges with Courage.