Temple Challenges

My Sunday Doodle from 2/16/14: The Irony of Trying to Quiet an Anxious Mind...

I'm not sure how to go about this post because it's more of an LDS specific issue, and two, it's not exactly shown in the most positive light. Then again, I don't want my blog to only display the candy-coated parts. It shouldn't be a soap opera of dirty laundry either, so I hope I'm finding a happy medium. 

I apologize up front to any of my non-LDS readers who may have no idea what I'm talking about.

I love going to the temple. The Gilbert Temple opens next month.  Chris and I went to the Mesa Temple for a session over this weekend. I wanted to go on my own during the week last week, but a puking kid and other things kept getting in the way. It's not that I didn't want to go with Chris. I just didn't want to go on a Saturday. He is off Mondays too, but so is the temple.

My favorite picture of the Mesa Temple - 1937 Snow!

I love sitting in the Celestial Room. I love participating in sealings for those who have passed on. I enjoyed doing baptisms last month with Mikelle and Chris (though one nice temple worker was afraid of my pink hair...lol...as if it would run into the water and on the white outfit. I assured them it wasn't going to run into the water....)  

I loved attending a sealing last month for some friends of ours who were married a little over a year previously. Congratulations, Mark and Maggie! That same day, just outside the sealing room, it was a delight seeing a cousin of Chris and his wife and chatting it up. I loved that.

But I don't like the endowment sessions. There, I said it. 

I want be able to sit in the Celestial Room without having to go through an endowment session beforehand. Is there a way to do that? Am I horrible for wanting to do it that way?

Original of my Mesa Temple Motif from 2011 and Alexander's hand...

What is my problem? Well, the session is too long for one thing. I'm too fidgety. I always feel like I need "something to do" while I'm sitting there. Yes, it's part of my anxiety and ADHD. I get that.

Three, I'm hot. No matter what, I'm too warm and uncomfortable. It only gets worse as the session goes on. 

Four, I fall asleep or have the hardest time trying to keep from falling asleep. It doesn't matter if I had a great night of sleep and I was wide awake when I arrived. With the quiet surroundings, and the periodic lights being down and then not being able to "do anything", it's like some kind of drug.

Five, I'm too tall and I feel crammed into the chairs. This particular time last weekend I did hold out for an aisle seat, even though it looked weird that I didn't just follow behind the person in front of me and sit down in the same order. 

Reason Six is another reason I prefer not to discuss here. Well, I have a couple of those, actually.

The endowment session recently had new updated movies (same as the movies before, just a more updated version of them) and everyone was talking about them as if it was so exciting. I felt guilty that they wanted to rush to the temple to see them, and I certainly did not want to do that. I was dreading the other aspects of the session that make it so difficult for me that I already addressed above.

This weekend was the first time I was in a session to see one of the new movies. I guess there are two new ones, just like there were two movies before. There were aspects about it that I preferred to the older ones from about 20 years ago, and then again, there were parts to the older ones I liked better. 

Gilbert, Arizona Temple Opening March 2014

But that newness didn't help me with my anxiousness and overwhelming feeling trying to fight falling asleep.  Then when we finally arrived in the Celestial Room, it was so crowded and then I was overwhelmed with anxiousness worrying about the kids at home and feeling like we just should get going. It's so frustrating. I avoided endowment sessions for a few years, and then in the last couple of weeks began to crave being in that Celestial Room. Then I finally was, and I felt pushed out. By my own doing. 

 But I needed the experience of being in the temple and being able to sit and think, pray and meditate and I am frustrated that these obstacles seem to always get in the way.

Please comment if you have any thoughts. But only comment if you'll be loving or supportive. You don't have to agree with how I feel, but if you're going to be rude or judgmental, I'm not interested. 

Gilbert, Arizona Temple - Dedicated next month, March 2014

It Says I'm Iron Man, So Okay, I'm Iron Man!

I don't place much credence in these hokey online quizzes that people share right and left on Facebook. They're fun, but that's about it. I don't share my results that often. One said I was mostly like Cookie Monster. Just because I love sweets, that means all my personality tastes point to Cookie Monster? Yeah, okay...

HOWEVER, I had to take this one: Which Avengers Character Are You?

I didn't even cheat and answer the questions that I "thought" would favor Iron Man. But that is the result I received by just being honest. 

I must say, there is a reason I have been a huge Iron Man fan since Robert Downey Junior took the helm, and yes, RDJ has been eye candy for me since junior high and especially since Chaplin in 1992.  But it goes beyond that. I've loved the Tony Stark character's tenacity and "do it my way" modus operandi with an attitude of sarcasm and endless supply of snark. 

However, especially after seeing the third Iron Man, I have identified many parallels in my own life to the character (symbolically, of course...if I try to wear that suit and fly, I'll crash before I even take off, or I'd fly like The Greatest American Hero...remember that goofy 80s show?). I admired how Tony said how he felt, he certainly wasn't fake, and he stood up for what he believed in - even if it wasn't with the masses and it made him appear crazy.  And yes, the PTSD he experienced was almost welcoming in a way to show that no matter how tenacious, stubborn, and driven he was, he was still a fallible human being.

Of course Tony Stark pulls it all off better than I do, but that's alright.  He has more funding.  Haha  ...Well, his preference in beach front architecture is a little too modern and cold for my taste. But give me his kind of money and I can donate to classrooms everywhere where only teachers' control the funds and how they're spent. I'll happily annoy school administrators everywhere and enjoy exasperating them in ways that only a Tony Stark type can with a tub of popcorn!

(This would be after I acquire my private plane and Oregon second home, of course...)

This was the hardest question to answer. I'm not going to say which one I decided on, but how do you answer a question where all your huge negative flaws are listed? 

Until next time...

Love - Amour - Amor and NPR!

(Disclaimer: Our computer problems have been resolved - sort of. Before there was a virus that was hard to find and get rid of. I had all my stuff, but it moved like a lagging dead zombie looking for brains. NOW...everything moves quick and fast (thanks Tev!), but some of the programs aren't back yet. I can't do any photo editing and it's frustrating. Especially with my art that I planned on editing and posting.   Therefore, this entry has some issues that won't be resolved just yet, but they will soon.)

LOVE - AMOUR - AMOR
On Sunday the 9th, I wanted to do some Valentine pictures of the kids before church. (That way, they'd already be dressed up.)

I'm not sure how they turned out. I guess there is the fantasy of how the pictures should look, and then there's the reality. Hopefully these pictures fell somewhere in between. 

There's Mikelle with her new haircut!

My genius handsome boy - turning 10 next month!

(Check back for proper editing for this to be flipped vertically)

(Check back for proper editing for this to be flipped vertically)

My Silly Lovy Boys!

My Goofball Boy with Mommy's Kissy Lips!

Working hard to hold the Love!

Too cute, No shoes again - ran in the dirt and being cute to get away with all of it!

Mommy Smoochies with her Crazy X-Man!

And what is up with my hair? More like "down" with it! I swear I styled it! But it's just hanging there like pieces of straw with no volume! Grrrrrr.....

NPR Nerdiness Valentine

Chris and I celebrated our Valentines Day yesterday on the 13th due to the Wait Wait Don't Tell Me show in Phoenix! We didn't have the stomach bug that Alexander had, but Chris was not feeling well with some throat achy thing.  And sorry, but I have to squeal in delight that I'm back in Size 10 jeans! Since....I don't know...2009? I don't know. I knew I was probably back in them last month, but I wasn't able to go shopping for jeans. Seven and Earl jeans are my kind of jeans (great fit for my Amazon body... :grrrrr:  ) so when those Size 10 Seven's fit, I was delighted. 

Now let's STAY there!

Back to the evening...I was a little irritated because even though we left early, we still didn't gt into downtown Phoenix with enough time to sit and have a nice dinner. We ended up sitting at the bar at The Strand (yummy!). There was only one seat, so Chris gave it to me, and when we received our food, he still stood there and ate. 

That wasn't exactly the Valentines ambiance that I was hoping for, but it was still a great place with GOOD Italian. Plus, this lady who was sitting at the bar next to us stood up when she saw Chris eating while standing up and said, "Take my seat. My son does that (eats while standing up) and it drives me crazy...." She took her martini glass and went to the other  end of the bar and waited for another seat to open. Chris turned to the bartender and said, "Can we please get that ladies' drink for her? She was so nice to give up her seat...." Yes, my husband is quite the gentleman, even if it was a woman who gave up her seat for him.

Carl Kassell and Peter Sagal

Anyway, so then we skipped down to the show. I was disappointed that Bobcat Goldthwaite wasn't one of the three panelists as originally scheduled.  It was Kyrie O'Connor, Bryan Babylon, and Maz Gobrani. (sidenote: I'm usually not into bald guys, but he is one good looking bald guy! Probably due to his Middle Eastern roots...if all balding guys looked like him, I don't see male-pattern baldness as much of a problem!)

Maz Jobrani

Yesterday's February 13th Phoenix show will be broadcast on NPR tomorrow (Saturday February 15). Check it out! 

Who was the surprise guest? Well, the show was 'on location', so we knew the special guest had to be an Arizona local. I was thinking, "PLEASE PLEASE don't be Sherrif Joe or Governor Brewer. Please no...." 

I sort of got my wish. It was our Junior Senator, Jeff Flake. At first I groaned, but it was pretty good and he really rolled with the jokes and fun when it was his turn to be interviewed and take the quiz! There were all kinds of jokes about him being Republican and how many NPR listeners are more on the Democrat side. Well, it was my centrist Republican husband (the only kind of Republican to be if you're must be a Republican) introduced Wait Wait to me years ago, and I do find the show very bi-partisan. 

I don't think this part will be on the show that will be broadcast, but Peter Sagal, the host,  said they don't get a lot of Republican guests and he wishes he would so it'll appeal to a wider audience and portray just how bi-partisan Wait...Wait really is. 

Highlights of the show? Probably the jokes the panelists made about climbing Alligators (listen to the show) and the part where Senator Flake spoke about the time he spent alone on a desert island thousands of miles out in the middle of the Pacific. He said he was so bored, he would use a Sharpie and put numbers on hermit crabs as they muddled by. Chris laughed and turned to me and said, "That's sooooo something you would do!"

I'm sure there are other funny bits that I'll remember after I listen to the show tomorrow. If you're Phoenix local, it's on 91.5 at 11am and then again on Sunday at 10am.  

So what's on the agenda for our official February 14th? Not much. Root beer Floats with the kids after a heart-shaped Papa Murphys pizza! I'm looking forward to just chilling tonight!

Happy Valentines Day! Check back for photo editing.

When I'm Queen of the World...

When I'm Queen of the World, Vomiting will no longer exist. Between my Hyperemesis Gravidarum with all three pregnancies (first two much worse than with Alexander) and Alexander making up for my more mild case in his pregnancy with his vomiting frequency, I am so done with vomit.

Alexander has passed up with siblings on vomiting frequency and this Momma is tired. I'm not talking about the vomiting from when the nickel was stuck in his esophagus. That's understandable. I'm referring to viral or bacterial ailments. Less than a week after the nickel incident 2 months ago, he got sick in the car and there was projectile vomit everywhere. It was late at night and I Chris and I stopped at a convenience store and bought paper towels and I had to borrow the clerk's cleaning solution. Good times. Good times. And that's just one past incident I'm willing to recall on this post.

I knew something was wrong yesterday afternoon when he fell asleep on the couch. He rarely does that. To get that kid to go to sleep, we have to take him on drives. 

When he woke up, he was really hot (fever) and tugging at his ears and saying "Ow..." and crying. I figured he may have an ear infection (I didn't even think of a yucky tummy...), so I packed him up and off to the doctor we went. Well...we got in the waiting room and I signed him in and Mikelle (who came with us) informed me that he threw up all over the toys in the kids play area. It got on his clothes and they had to close off the play area and we stripped X-man down to a diaper.  

This is 2 months after being sick and throwing up the last time. Too soon kid. Too soon. A good rule of thumb for vomiting is to wait at least a year in between "incidents".

When we got into the pediatric dinosaur room (the prehistoric surroundings I painted for Dr. Lamb back in 2005...), a few minutes later he threw up again. This time I was prepared with the barf bag, but vomit is vomit.

My Poor Baby

And not to sound selfish, as I love my baby and I will do anything to take care of him and help him feel better, but if I come down with this stomach bug and it ruins Chris and I's night out tomorrow to see Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, I'm going to be exceptionally angry in ways that I cannot put to words. I've been waiting for years for them to come back to Phoenix and these tickets were bestowed upon me for Christmas (though I told Chris they don't count as a 2 for 1 for Valentines Day as well. We'll see how that goes...). Valentines Day is the day after the show and I'm perfectly fine with getting sick on Valentines if it means I'll be puke-free  for the show on Thursday.

I'm not exactly sure how to transition from vomit to hair, so I'll just keep going. 

Mikelle got a new haircut over the weekend after we went to my cousin's open house. After much pain and peril and angst, Mikelle and I finally agreed on a hair cut. She wanted something incredibly extreme (and way too short), and we were able to come to this compromise. Thank you, Georgia Cardwell, my cousin Brian's wife, for being the "good guy" outsider! When we got to the Open House earlier that day, Chris and I had been exhausted from the hair argument with Mikelle in the car on the way over. Thankfully Georgia became the "cool" adult outsider and sat with Mikelle and found some good compromises. Since Georgia wasn't Mikelle's lame "parent", it meant she might actually have wisdom and knowledge to offer. ;-) 

Mk didn't want me to be in the picture, so I asked her to show us the back so I could "take a picture" and I got in the pic instead. It's the "Mom Tax" teens have pay for us still smiling and not killing them...

My friend Charlie, whom I love (let me preface with that - between him and Deryl Lamb, they can both adopt me as the fathers I never had), tried to play the dude card and say that he was on Mikelle's side as far as the picture and that I shouldn't have been in it. "She's not an elk you bagged. If her friends think it's cute they'll tell her. If mom and mom's friends think it's cute, it's kind out of her world-bubble. You're in the decade of a million selfies but you'll get the finger everytime you try to take one of her. Nonetheless her hair is cute."  

Selfie, Charlie? Selfie? Sure, I'll take a "selfie" from time to time, but no more than I would have taken before it was a "trend". The Selfie trend is just....euuuw.

My reply to my wanna-be dad, Charlie: "Charlie, I was just trying to have some fun after the weeks of tug of war with the haircut argument. It wasn't about a "selfie" as I don't like that trend. It was about therapeutic goofing off. .......If I had to puke for 5 months straight and have to be hospitalized for a week at 8 weeks pregnant with the IV and injections and blah blah blah and then have to huge episiotomy due to vacuum and forceps after 2 hours of pushing, it certainly wasn't going to be all for nothing."

By the way...Yes, I "went there" with the episiotomy. You know what kind of episiotomy you end up with if your kid has be extracted from your body with a vacuum and forceps? And she wasn't even that big...7 pounds, 3 oz...she was just all wrapped up in the cord and "cokscrewed" in the birth canal. 

What does Mikelle's hair look like from the front? I would love to post those pictures. But I cannot begin to discuss the frustrations I'm having with this main computer at the house and the slowness and lagging. The next day we took some Valentines pictures - well, we attempted to. 

I'll post those pictures next. 

Plus, a girlfriend challenged me on a theme and concept for a new piece of artwork that I hope to have finished by Friday that I'm still feverishly working on . So stay-tuned. 


And please pray that no one else gets the pukes. Or if they do, they wait until AFTER Chris and I go to the show tomorrow night.

What Love Language Are We Speaking?

My cousin Ashlee was married over the weekend, and we had the privilege of going to her open house yesterday. It was fun seeing some of my family and chatting it up and letting the kids play together. 

We gifted Ashlee and Robert with this artwork and a copy of what should be required reading for ALL couples - engaged, newlywed, married for awhile or even married for a long time - Gary Chapman's "The Five Love Languages". 

If you think it's a "froo froo" book that is just going to spout a bunch of lovy dovy marriage tips, that's where you're wrong. It's a very informative account of how different people "feel" loved. 

Seriously, if more people change their way of thinking and concentrate on what they can do to make their spouse feel loved (the way their spouse feels it - not the way we wish they'd prefer it), there would be more happy and successful marriages out there.  

People express and receive love in different ways. Dr. Gary Chapman identifies these as the five languages of love: quality time, words of affirmation, gifts, acts of service and physical touch. If you express love toward others in a way they don't understand, they will not realize you've expressed your love at all. The problem is that you're speaking different languages!

Allow me to "borrow" some content from Dr. Gary Chapman himself from Focus on the Family (titled "Understanding the Five Love Languages). 

By the way, for a long time, I thought I was bi-lingual and my Love Languages were Words of Affirmation and Acts of Service. However, through some discussion with Chris and discussing examples from over the years and even years before we knew each other, we've determined that yes, I am bilingual, but my Love Language is Words of Affirmation and Physical Touch. Acts of Service becomes a close second.There is nothing sexier than a man doing things around the house without being asked. Oh baby! 

Chris's love languages are also bi-lingual. They are Quality Time and Physical Touch. I admit I have a hard time with the Quality Time as I usually tend to be going three or four directions at once. I have a hard time just "chilling". However, since it is clear that it means so much to him, I have made extra and hopefully better efforts.  I have to fight the monkey on my back that tells me I have to be productive all the time, as that gets in the way during the attention that is required for Quality Time.  Nevertheless, I know he appreciates it when I set all that aside and just spend time with him and not try to fill any holes with tasks.

Take it, Dr. Chapman:

Words of Affirmation
One time when my wife and I were visiting our daughter and son-in-law and our two grandchildren, our son-in-law took the garbage out after dinner. When he walked back into the room where we were talking with our daughter, she looked up and said, "John, thanks for taking the garbage out." 

Inside I said, "Yes!" because I knew the power of appreciation. I can't tell you how many men and women have sat in my office over the past 30 years and said to me, "I work my tail off every day, yet my spouse acts like I haven't done a thing. I never get a single word of appreciation." 

If your spouse's primary love language is words of affirmation, your spoken praise and appreciation will fall like rain on parched soil. Before long, you will see new life sprouting in your marriage as your spouse responds to your words of love.

Jill talking again:
Of course, we need to also keep a sense of humor and if jokes and well-delivered lines can make someone with this love languages laugh, it is filling up their love tank even more. I know it works that way with me. One of the first things about Chris that attracted me to him was his sense of humor and his joking around (well, that was after I saw his gorgeous dark thick head of hair...lol). 

How did we meet? Myself and a girlfriend of mine were hanging out with a bunch of friends late at night at a Denny's after a local casual college dance. 

Chris had been invited to our Denny's gathering by someone there and he showed up. The waitress was a little irritated at another obnoxious young kid/college co-ed showing up. 

She asked him, "Okay, What do you want to drink?" He replied, "Uh.....water...." She asked him what he wanted to eat. He replied, without skipping a beat,"Croutons!" In other words, he had no money. He showed up solely for the socializing. However, the way he joked (even though she wasn't amused) caught my attention immediately. The flirting commenced. He asked me out in front of everyone within an hour. However, as he was leaving, he didn't bother to ask for my number. I could have just become suddenly timid and chicken and let that go, but I figured carpe diem!  I said, "Um...don't you need my number?" 

And the rest is history.

Of course, in the journey of relationships and marriages, those same qualities can also annoy the hell out of your partner. After 19 years of marriage, when I'm playing the part of the irritated waitress (not being a waitress, but just tired, irritated and tapped out from work, kids, the day, or all of the above like she probably was), such joking around can not be as amusing. lol

Back to Dr. Chapman:
 
Acts of Service

Do you remember the old saying, "Actions speak louder than words"? For some people, that is particularly true of love. If acts of service is your spouse's primary love language, nothing will speak more deeply to him or her emotionally than simple acts of service. 

Maxine, who had been married for 15 years, came to my office one day because she was frustrated with her marriage. Listen to what she said: "I don't understand David. Every day he tells me that he loves me, but he never does anything to help me. He just sits on the couch watching TV while I wash the dishes, and the thought never crosses his mind to help me. I'm sick of hearing 'I love you.' If he loved me, he would do something to help me."

Maxine's primary love language is acts of service (not words of affirmation), and even though her husband, David, loved her, he had never learned to express his love in a way that made her feel loved. However, after David and I talked and he read The Five Love Languages, he got the picture and started speaking Maxine's love language. In less than a month, her love tank was beginning to fill up, and their marriage moved from winter to spring.

The next time I talked to Maxine, she said, "It's wonderful. I wish we had come for counseling 10 years ago. I never knew about the love languages. I just knew I didn't feel loved."

Jill Talking again:
Can I just declare how awesome it was to hear the vacuum running when I got out of the shower a couple of weeks ago? (I've showered since then....don't worry) Chris knows how to speak my language, but sometimes as in all relationships, it gets too loud to hear or we speak gibberish. But not that time. The language was spoken loud and clear. 

Back to Dr. Chapman: 

Receiving Gifts

In every society throughout human history, gift giving has been perceived as an expression of love. Giving gifts is universal, because there is something inside the human psyche that says if you love someone, you will give to him or her.

What many people do not understand is that for some people, receiving gifts is their primary love language. It's the thing that makes them feel loved most deeply. If you're married to someone whose primary love language is gift giving, you will make your spouse feel loved and treasured by giving gifts on birthdays, holidays, anniversaries and "no occasion" days.

The gifts need not be expensive or elaborate; it's the thought that counts. Even something as simple as a homemade card or a few cheerful flowers will communicate your love to your spouse. Little things mean a lot to a person whose primary love language is receiving gifts.
 
Quality Time

If your spouse's love language is quality time, giving him or her your undivided attention is one of the best ways you can show your love. Some men pride themselves on being able to watch television, read a magazine, and listen to their wives, all at the same time. That is an admirable trait, but it is not speaking the love language of quality time.

Instead, you must turn off the TV, lay the magazine down, look into your mate's eyes, and listen and interact. To your spouse, 20 minutes of your undivided attention – listening and conversing – is like a 20-minute refill of his or her love tank.

Men, if you really want to impress your wife, the next time she walks into the room while you are watching a sporting event, put the television on mute and don't take your eyes off her as long as she's in the room. If she engages you in conversation, turn the TV off and give her your undivided attention. You will score a thousand points and her love tank will be overflowing.
 

Physical Touch
We have long known the emotional power of physical touch. That's why we pick up babies and touch them tenderly. Long before an infant understands the meaning of the word love, he or she feels loved by physical touch.

In marriage, the love language of physical touch includes everything from putting a hand on your mate's shoulder as you walk by, touching his or her leg as you're driving together, and holding hands while you're walking to kissing, embracing and sexual intercourse.

If physical touch is your spouse's primary love language, nothing communicates love more clearly than for you to take the initiative to reach out and touch your mate.

Jill Talking again:

I'm pretty sure all three of our kids have Physical Touch as a Love Language too. I guess that makes sense since it's a primary love language for Chris and I. It was hard at first to see how Physical Touch was one of my Love Languages because I tend to speak a different dialect of Physical Touch as Chris does. Due to my sensitivity to heat and propensity with sweating more than I should (or any human should), I have been more resistant to touch. I also have some intimacy or fear issues with hugging, so I'm more resistant to hug friends in greetings and good-byes. But each time I push through it, I'm glad to have the friendship I do and I find I need the hugs that they offer. I do use humor as a defense mechanism though (which if you know me personally, that certainly isn't front page news). 

I guess as one may have a "speech impediment" with their verbal language, I have an impediment with my Physical Touch primary love language. 

I am in no way a professional to have the qualifications to speak on this matter. But as a wife and proponent of the concept of the 5 Love Languages, I felt this was an important subject to address. Plus, Valentines Day is Friday and it's good timing. 

If you haven't read The Five Languages, please do so. Dr. Chapman also has Love Language books geared towards children, dating, men, women and other specifics. Check them out. In the meantime, if I'm invited to your wedding, don't be surprised that a copy of this book ends up wrapped nicely on the gifts table. If you already have a copy, that's great! Give our copy as a gift to another! This is a re-gift that no one should be offended over!

Just Because

Chris surprised me with 2 dozen pink roses last night, February 4th. Funny thing? Tonight, February 5th is the 20th Anniversary of when we got engaged in San Diego (Coronado), and we both forgot until tonight! We realized it when we were talking to Mikelle about something and somehow we both remembered. 

 Yet, last night he brought home roses "just because". I wasn't even mad at him to prompt such an offering. I think "just because" is the best. Sure, gifts for birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, etc are awesome and we should always think of others. But to do something for someone else "just because" shows that something is truly of the heart.

No, we're not going to officially celebrate the big engagement 2-0 this weekend because there is a little too much going on, and we have tickets next week for Wait Wait Don't Tell Me as they're doing a special broadcast in Phoenix (yes, we're NPR nerds. However, no matter how nerdy you are or aren't, check out Wait Wait Don't Tell Me....the humor is awesome....). And one of the panelists is comedian Bobcat Goldthwaite! Now that's going to be hilarious. 

That'll be our Valentines Day/20 Year Engagement Celebration.

 

Teenager Fun

I'm not going to turn this into a kid-shaming post, but I have to have some outlet and humor, right? 

Mikelle hasn't exactly been happy about this upcoming move. That's actually a good sign that her life in junior high isn't the misery that it can be. (Holy Moses, I HATED Junior High...HATED it...) The downside to that is she doesn't want to leave her friends. 

I can understand that. Believe me, while I'm chomping at the bit to get this move done and over with, I know I'll be a blubbering mess when it is upon us.  I know I'll have to adjust emotionally - despite being "prepared".

It doesn't help that there was an 8th grade field trip to the local high school today. This is the high school Mikelle will not be going to because we'll be 100 miles away by then. She came home wearing a free T-shirt from that high school and even complained that the mascot for Wickenburg (where she will be going) is stupid compared to Queen Creek's. 

I did my best to listen with understanding and sympathy. However, we are still moving.

She is lucky that she was young and oblivious during those four years where Chris was out of work 4 different times and one of those unemployment droughts lasted almost 2 years. She is lucky that she was a baby, toddler and then a very young girl who didn't grasp the stress, tears, and trials of what was happening. The flip side to that is she doesn't understand the magnitude of the importance and blessing her father's job is to the family. He's been there for 10 years and it's been a blessing I haven't forgotten for a single day of those 10 years.

I know it's hard for Mikelle to understand now (and even Christian is struggling with it), but moving to Wickenburg in order make the commute of easier for her dad makes perfect sense. 

But I understand that in her limited understanding, she finds a solution to be for him to just quit his job and find one closer to where we are now.

This is from THIS entry back in January 2009.

Red Star - Where we are now, and have been for the last 16 years (10 1/2 of those in our current house). 
Red Dot on Wintersburg, near Tonopah, below Interstate 10 - Where Chris has worked since July of 2004!
Red Star on Wickenburg - Our move. His miles will be cut in half and the commute time cut down to the third! (note the commute from work to Wickenburg doesn't include driving through and to the other side of Phoenix....!)
Red Dot on Peeples Valley/Yarnell - Hopeful future summer shack to escape the heat. It's 15-20 degrees cooler up there and less than an hour from Wickenburg.

Back to Mikelle, I don't think what happened next has anything do do with her continued displeasure of the impending move, but it seems apropos to add it here. I had a huge pack of Toilet Paper from Costco. I asked her to please stack them neatly (as they always are by their meticulous, wonderful and giving mother!) under the sink in the frog bathroom. And throw away the plastic. I made sure I had eye contact when I gave those explicit instructions. 

However, about 10 minutes later, I find this:

Um....No. 

I don't get it. Every time something like this happens (and it happens...a lot), I make her go back and fix it. It takes so much more time than just doing the initial task correctly the first time. Yet, the same thing happens over and over.

But I love her. She has stubbornness of both her dad and myself (why couldn't she just have one of the stubborn qualities? But both of them? C'mon!) and she'll argue with you about the particular shade of blue in the sky. 

Yet, she's ours. 

And we love her. 

"The Wedding Night", Another Sunday Doodle, and the Beauty of the Temple

"The Wedding Night" Copyright February 2014 Jill Henrichsen

"The Wedding Night" 

This is the final of the trio of romantic-themed work for the Valentines season, titled "The Wedding Night". 

I have been frustrated with the color harmony (or shall I say, disharmony) in this one, so it's probably going to have some changes before it's officially listed and declared finished. 

Perhaps just stepping away from it for a few days and coming back for some touch-ups will help in what needs to happen to bring it together. 




This (left) is my latest "Sunday Doodle". No, I don't only doodle on Sundays. I just need to draw on something at church and sometimes when I'm not involved with teaching, I have time to just listen and draw. I currently teach the 10-11 year old girls, but only every other week as I partner with another teacher for the girls. Therefore, on the Sundays that I am not assigned to teach, I especially have more time for idle relaxing with the paper and pen.

In this one, think of the "Winter Rain" message as a fervent prayer for rain.

 It didn't rain today, but it was beautiful as if it did. It was overcast with temperatures in the high 50s. If I lived where it was like this all the time (or often), I know I could train for a marathon! The run I took this morning was just perfect with the crisp air and no glaring sunlight. 

And later, Chris and I had to take our car in to get the AC fixed (better to get it fixed now then wait until it gets warm again, which will probably be in about 10 minutes the way things go around here), and we had Alexander with us. While waiting for the car diagnosis, we took a little walk with him in the stroller (well, he was whining, but I'll leave that part out...lol) and it was just so gorgeous with same overcast from this morning. 

The Gilbert, Arizona Temple 

 

Gilbert, Arizona LDS Temple

I am tearing up as I attempt to write about the Gilbert Temple because I am overcome with emotion. I am in awe of the beauty of that building. So many critics in their rude and accusatory tones desire to call the marble staircases, stain-glass, huge chandelier and other fine materials as some kind of "boasting" as if it's some kind of expensive worldly mansion meant for us Mormons to "show off". 

Sadly, that is where they are misunderstanding the purpose of our temples. 

Such fine materials are used solely to honor God. I personally have been inside* a few temples (Mesa, Arizona of course, Salt Lake City Utah Temple, Jordan River Utah Temple, Logan Utah Temple, Manti Utah Temple, San Diego California Temple, and the Snowflake Arizona Temple) and the beauty of the Gilbert Temple strikes me in ways I didn't expect. 


*I've also been to other temples, but the list I just gave are the temples I've been inside.

The San Diego California temple is still my favorite, but I am certain the Gilbert Temple is a close second. 

Sadly, because we're moving to Wickenburg, the Gilbert temple won't be "our" local temple anymore, as the Phoenix temple is set to open this summer (pictured in this entry back in June). However, I know we'll still be around a few times to take advantage of its beauty and participate in temple work. Plus, I am excited about the Phoenix Temple. Phoenix is where I was born, and even though I wish to live out of state, it is exciting to have a Temple in Phoenix as well.

 
Back to the Gilbert Temple. When I created this artwork (left) back in 2011 for the Gilbert Temple, I was unaware of the significance of the Agave (pronounced A-Gav-eh) plant in its designs, motifs and symbolism. 

And after touring the inside of the Gilbert Temple with some friends about a week ago (night before the Color Run, to be exact) and seeing so much of the Agave in the designs, especially in the stained glass, I knew I had to make a second "edition" of the Gilbert Temple design. 

That is definitely on the top of a short list of projects I have planned.

Look at this stained glass (below) from the Gilbert Temple with the Agave plant. If this doesn't scream "inspiration" for the subsequent Gilbert Temple design I have on the horizon, I don't know what does!

The San Diego, California Temple

And below is my San Diego Temple motif. My friend Tonya Naef expressed interest in having one of my designs for the temple where she and her husband Brad were married. Since the San Diego temple was one of my favorite temples, I had no problem having San Diego as the next temple design I created and then providing Tonya with a print. 

I still think this is my favorite (so far) of my temple designs.

Well, as usual, I'm up too late and I need to wrap this up. I told Chris I wanted to go back to the Gilbert Temple Open House at least one more time before the dedication. We'll see if we can squeeze it in. 

It's now February! Last full month of winter and probably the last month of true cool temperatures. Let's try to enjoy it and not have time pass too fast.