More Projects

It's been an eventful few weeks. I finished my second draft of my book! That was pretty awesome, but then I suddenly found I had more free time while some friends of mine are reading it to give me some feedback.

So, we've been working on other projects. Aside from working on massive amounts of cherries, we've found other things to keep us busy.

Kevin's room has a fun mural on it. A while ago, I went through his room and patched all the holes up. We were intending to paint the rest of the walls, but I've been meaning to restore the mural for a while. I didn't remember to take the before picture until I was halfway done, but you can still see quite a few white patches all over.

I wasn't sure how well I'd do, since I haven't done a restoration-type project before, but I was pleasantly surprised. I was able to match the colors on nearly everything except the sky, but I like the way that turned out too. You can't even tell I did anything in the other areas, which is the best kind of restoration. 

We also have raspberries coming in! We don't get many from our few bushes, but we're getting a few. They don't last very long. They're pretty popular in the house. I haven't really been able to do anything with them yet, because they disappear too fast.

It's nice to have free fresh fruit though.

The next project that we started and finished on Monday occurred in the front yard. When the appraiser came to our house, he suggested that we put shallow window wells outside of the front basement windows. We've been thinking about it for a while, but it wasn't until this week that I figured out how I wanted to do it. We made our own wells (because we can't afford the metal kind yet).

I think they turned out quite nice. Now we just need to plant flowers and our front flower garden should be on its way! Also, if there is a random flood, the water shouldn't be able to come in our windows.

The most recent project involved our puppy, Siff. She's a Norwegian Elkhound, so she's been awfully hot lately, with almost no signs of shedding her large coat.

It's no wonder she's been loving the water!

Look at that beautiful coat!

So, today I decided she needed a haircut. She's pretty excited about it, even though she now resembles a sheep.

 My clipper blades are dull, so I cut her entire coat with scissors. I think it turned out pretty nice. I got it mostly even, and she's so soft now. It's like touching a cloud. She's been panting a lot less, and she seems much more comfortable.

It is going to take us a little while to get used to her new looks. Arkhon groomed her for a while after I finished. I'm not quite sure what that meant, except that he loves his little sister.

Today was also Arkhon's birthday!

He turned two, and so for the only time during the entire year, he got to sit at the table (just while I took a picture).

Allopex suggested I give Arkhon a party hat. So I did.

I made him a rabbit cake out of a dog biscuit I have. Then we bought some canned dog food and spread it across like frosting. I also stuck two dog bones in for candles. He and Siff sure enjoyed their cake.

Weirdly, we didn't want any.

Arkhon got a couple of presents, but I think the cake was his favorite part. 

It's been nice to get so many things done. It's weird that our boy dog is two now. It seems like it's been forever since he looked like this:

Now, he looks like this:

He's such a good boy. He listens really well, most of the time. Occasionally, he gets too excited and his ears switch off, but when he hears us, he always listens. He and Kevin are best friends, and he is so tolerant and patient. It's crazy how time has flown.

Mormon Monday: What is General Conference?

This last weekend was General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

When I was a kid, I loved conference weekend, perhaps not for the right reasons. During conference weekend, we would sculpt clay, draw, and paint while we listened to the prophet. Even if my listening wasn't the best sometimes, it still set a precedent of sitting still and listening to the prophet and the twelve apostles.

As I got older, I grew to really love conference. It was a time of spiritual illumination and peace. Now it seems far to short, and I wish it could go on all week.

For those of you who might be wondering what General Conference is, it is basically a large meeting with our entire church across the world where we listen to our leaders tell us what the Lord would have us know.

One talk in particular I wanted to share. Elder Bednar addressed his talk to those who are not members of our church. I wanted to post that online for anyone who is interested. He answers a lot of great questions and explains why members of our church are always so eager (or at least try to be eager) to share what we believe with others.

Here is the talk:

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/watch/2014/10?lang=eng&vid=3822608486001&cid=10


You'll have to follow it to the LDS site, or you can watch all of conference on youtube.



In the old days, after Christ was crucified, the apostles had to be constantly moving. When there wasn't an ordained leader of the church in an area, it seemed that often false doctrine would creep into the church. We often see Paul in his epistles trying to correct the misconceptions that Satan would orchestrate.

In our day and age, we are so blessed to have modern technology that makes it easy for us to hear the voices of the apostles and prophets. If the original Christian church had the same technology, it might not have become so corrupted. We believe that as the apostles were killed, many of Christ's teachings remained, but they became mixed with the philosophies of man.

This is why things like the Nicene Creed were created. Different leaders of different congregations no longer had a prophet on the earth, and so they began to argue and vote on which doctrine was God's doctrine. In our church, we believe that if it doesn't come directly by revelation from God, that it is man's doctrine.

We believe that during this time, after the apostles were killed, there was an apostasy, or a time where Christ's church was lost from the earth due to wickedness and corruption. This was followed by the dark ages.

When the dark ages concluded, the Lord opened the way for his church to be restored upon the earth again today.

We don't believe that our church is the only church with truth. Many truths survied and are perpetuated amongst the different religions. Buddhism, Islam, and other religions also have a lot of truth mixed into their teachings. There is good in all religions. However, we do believe that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only church with ALL the truth, because we believe, and I know, that it is Christ's church restored in its original form to the earth. Christ is the head of our church, and he communicates to us through his prophets and apostles and he did previously.

God never changes, so why would he cease to communicate using prophets and apostles? He wouldn't, and he hasn't. If you haven't listened to General Conference, here is an opportunity to listen to the servants of the Lord. If you don't believe, but want to know if what I'm saying is true: listen and pray.

I can promise that the Lord does communicate to us in this day and age. He will answer your prayer, especially if you are willing to do what He asks when He answers. God will not just give you the truth and allow you to go on with your life. If this is truly His church, He wants you to be a part of it, so you can be a tool in His hands to bless those around you.

I know that this church is God's church. I have received a confirmation from the Spirit that this is true, and I know you can receive that confirmation as well.

The Lord wants us to be happy and at peace. However, the only way to peace is to follow the path that the Lord sets for us.  Each day, I am trying to find out what that is for me, and when I'm in the right place, I feel whole.

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.