THE BLUHMS

Journal jar :)

2011-08-08T13:46:00.000-07:00

My wonderful friend Lena made me a journal jar when I was leaving for Alaska for the summer. She knew that I wouldn't know very many people and she also knew that I would have a lot of down time and because she knew of my love for writing she thought a journal jar would be just what I would need! If you haven't heard of a journal jar before its basically just a jar with a bunch of pieces of paper inside with questions on them and each day you can take out a piece or 2 or as many as you'd like and write down your answer to each question. I started doing it each day and I'd like to finish the jar by answering the questions here on my blog! Feel free to answer the questions for yourself as well on a comment, I'd love to hear them! :) Hope you enjoy!

Today I'm going to answer 4 questions!

1) What do you think of when you see the night sky filled with sparkling stars?

I love when this happens! I always think about God and how He created this world. That thought always gets me thinking about all of the other worlds and people that are out there and it gets my mind going crazy. It's so fun to think about these types of things and it usually ends being a spiritual experience for me. :)

2) Do you have a favorite general authority? Who and why?

My favorite general authority is Jeffrey R. Holland. He is always so sincere, tender and passionate in what he has to say. I can always feel his love for all of us members whenever he speaks and the way that he teaches has always touched me so much.

3) What is your favorite meal and dessert?

My favorite home-cooked meal would have to be my moms roast beef with gravy, mashed potatoes and rolls! :) And for dessert my moms strawberry shortcake. SO INCREDIBLE!

4) Describe Christmas traditions.

Christmas eve-eve: All of my siblings would always camp out under the tree together. Christmas eve: Spent with the Hampton side of the family and we all have a big dinner and then the little kids re-enact Christ's birth! Following that we all sit around and sing Christmas songs and have dessert!
Christmas Day: All of the kids get up early and wake up our parents then we open our stockings and presents in the order of youngest to oldest! Then my mom would make a big breakfast and we would all hang around all day and play with our toys, watch movies, or play games until Grandma & Grandpa Hampton would come over and visit then we would go over to the Miller side of the family and have a big dinner! :) I love Christmas time!!

25 thought provoking questions.

2011-08-08T13:33:00.001-07:00

1. How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?

2. If you had the opportunity to get a message across to a large group of people, what would your message be?

3. Is it possible to lie without saying a word?

4. If not now, then when?

5. What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you?

6. Are you holding onto something that you need to let go of?

7. Have you done anything lately worth remembering?

8. Who do you love? What are you doing about it?

9. When is it time to stop calculating RISK and REWARDS, and just do what you know is right?

10. Do you think crying is a sign of weakness or strength?

11. Would you break the law to save a loved one?

12. When you're old, what do you think will matter to you the most?

13. Do you ask enough questions? Or do you settle for what you know?

14. Do you celebrate the things you do have?

15 When it's all said and done, will you have said more than you've done?

16. When was the last time you tried something new?

17. Which activities make you lose track of time?

18. If you could do it all over again, would you change anything?

19. What is the difference between living and existing?

20. If you had a friend who spoke to you in the same way that you sometimes speak to yourself, how long would you allow that person to be your friend?

21. If you had to teach something, what would you teach?

22. Time or money?

23. Are you aware that someone has it WORSE than you?

24. What makes you smile?

25. What would you regret not fully doing, being,, or having in your life?

Love.LOVE.love.

2011-08-02T18:23:00.000-07:00

What would you say is God's ultimate power?

Along with His power of love..I personally feel that it is His power to create. He created this world but more importantly He created US. I am feeling very humbled today as I think about how He allows me to share with Him that power and that as a woman I can bear children.

Something that has been on my mind a lot lately is: BABIES. Me and Brady are at the time in our marriage where we are thinking about having a baby and so very often I think about how amazing it is that we have the power to CREATE just like God... yet how sad it is that SO many people in this world take advantage of that power or don't even recognize it as being sacred :/ I am so grateful to have been raised in the Gospel and to have been able to learn about my Savior and my Heavenly Father and all that they have done for me and I hope that I can make them proud with my time here on this Earth.

Friendship

2011-02-21T11:58:00.000-08:00

Heres a thought that has made it's way in my mind time & time again this past month.

Everyone is facing an inner battle. Majority of people will not bring up those issues but we should always be ready to help and always treat everyone with kindness. Don't be afraid to go the extra mile and make someone smile.. you never know when someone could be crying for help inside.

This is not new knowledge for me. We are all human and go through the same types of things every day... But why is it that I keep thinking of this? As for now I take it that I need to be more aware of the people that I come in contact with and always try to give a listening ear even when what people talk about isn't necessarily of great importance. Sometimes people just need to be heard.

Everyone is in need of a friend. Everyone wants to feel special and loved. Everyone wants to have someone to trust, someone to laugh with, someone to confide in.

Jesus Christ was the PERFECT friend and if I want to be like Him I need to work on being one too!

Art.

2011-02-20T15:16:00.000-08:00

One thing that I love SO much and wish that I was naturally great at is art. I have always loved going to art galleries and looking at all of the beautiful pictures on the wall that so many talented people have drawn and one of my favorite things to do is try to imagine in my mind what objects could symbolize in the picture or what might have influenced the artist to draw it in the first place. Although I have only been to a couple art galleries in my life I often think back to the times that I went and I just feel so happy.

I am such a horrific drawer...I can't even draw a dog its that bad. I took an easy art class growing up and I had so much fun... but never became great at it. I can always see the images so vivid in my mind but can never put the image in my head on paper with my hands. But while I was nannying a while back I was upstairs with the baby and looking at an image hanging on their wall. I had noticed it plenty of times before and have always loved the colors and just the way that it looked... but for the first time ever I had noticed on the bottom right hand corner it had the name of the "artist" and it said Callum. Callum is the 4 year old boy that I was watching at the time and it was so surprising to me!! I never would have guessed that he had painted it. It was just a bunch of random lines and colors and TOTALLY something a child would paint but for some reason I had never looked at it that way before cause I thought it must had been a famous painter.. but it was in that moment that I realized that even though I'm not pro at drawing.. I don't have to be to make art. It gave me a whole new outlook! I looked up the definition of art and it said: "the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance." I really like that it uses the word EXPRESSION. We as people are all so different and express ourselves in different ways. Not that one is better than the other, but just that we are different. I guess it just helps me to realize that your art can look like this....

or like this....

And no matter how it turns out it will have its own style and beauty to it which will also reflect YOU. How cool is that.

2011-02-20T14:56:00.000-08:00

Brady started a webisode series a few weeks back with his friend Charan. It's called "The Last Man(s) On Earth" They post survival tips each week on how to survive 2012! It is such a funny series and I have loved so much seeing him doing the things that he loves most which is to act and also edit videos. They just filmed another episode which will be coming out in 2 weeks which is called "How to decapitate Zombies" So a couple friends and I offered to be the zombies in the video! Special make up artists came out to do our make up and it was crazy to see just how freaky we all looked! I just thought I'd post some pictures for all to see the art! :)

2011-02-15T16:35:00.000-08:00

Although it is the day AFTER Valentines...I figured it still isn't too late to post 14 reasons why I love Brady. So... HERE I GO! <3

1. His sense of humor is PERFECT for me. He makes me laugh harder then I've ever laughed before...
2. I love his selflessness. He is always wanting/willing to do ANYTHING for me... and in literally every single situation. I don't know how he does it, but he is truly incredible.
3. Brady has the most CONTAGIOUS smile ever. It's so big and cute and when he smiles he gets the cutest wrinkles on the sides of his eyes and it just brings happiness to my soul.
4. I love his tender heart. He is always so caring towards every single person that he meets. It is adorable.
5. I love his dashing good looks... he's so sexy.
6. His spiritual side is my favorite. He has so much knowledge about the gospel and it just blows my mind when I hear him share his thoughts about it.
7. I love how talented that he is in EVERY thing that he does. He could choose anything in this world and excel at it so easily. It is so amazing to see and I'm so lucky to be his wife.
8. I love his love for people. He is always wanting to make others smile and laugh.
9. I love how optimistic he is. In our whole year of marriage I have never once seen/heard him focus on the negative in something. He is always trying to be happy and it is AWESOME.
10. He is the most understanding person I've ever met and the best listener as well.
11. I love how thoughtful he is. Not just thoughtful in doing sweet things for me every day but he is always full of thoughts. I love his deep side.
12. I love his singing voice and how he always manages to fit my name in every song that he sings :D
13. I love how supportive of me he is. He always wants me to do whatever makes me happy and he is always willing to sacrifice whatever he needs to make it happen.
14. I love his facial expressions. He is always so lively and outgoing... he seriously is the light in my life.

I could say soo many more things about this amazing man. I know that I am SO lucky and blessed to have him as my husband. He has the best heart and amazes me more and more every day. I love you so much Brady and can't wait to see what the rest of our lives hold for us! <3 Happy Valentines Day!

Innocence

2010-11-09T16:21:00.000-08:00

My mind has been obsessed recently. Not with anything bad or evil, don't worry. Well... actually, it is "bad" and "evil" themselves which I have found my thoughts wandering to. It is easy to see that our world is on a slippery slope when it comes to media and society being filled with filth and lasciviousness. It becomes harder everyday for me to just sit down and watch TV because I will always end my couch potato session offended by something that is shown or said. These feelings I have and I know others share are what the world looks down upon, instead of the evils themselves. If a person wants to turn off "the tube" or get up and leave the theatre when the presentation is below their moral compass, everyone around them seems to look down upon them or think they are over-reacting or "different". But who are really the "different" ones? That is what my mind is investigating within itself.

I'm a nanny right now for a little boy who is almost 4 and a little girl who is about 9 months. So the other day I was sitting in the car reading the book "Catching Fire" (P.S. The Hunger Games is such a GREAT series so far) while I was waiting to pick him up from school. I was distracted by the field in front of me where there was an older man and his son playing ball. I started thinking about how what they were doing would make such a great picture for an ad. They look like part of a family who is so genuine, loving and good. A father who puts in the time to build a relationship with his kids. In that quiet moment when I watched them, I was able to hear the sounds of the children playing at the pre-school playground. Voices, laughter, high pitched squeals... happiness. It wasn't based on something tangible like tv or a video game, it wasn't one thing in specific, it was just them being themselves and loving every second of it.

One reason children are so happy is because they don't recognize the evil and the bad that surrounds them in the world. They are innocent. Free of sin to bog them down. Free of past mistakes that have tainted their thoughts, minds and hearts. They are not filled with the knowledge of evil, but instead are filled with good. Children naturally assume the best, they are as King Benjamin said,"submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit... to (their) father." In fact King Benjamin, Christ himself and many other prophets have all counseled us to become as little children. Could this be what they are referring to?

So often people look down upon the innocent of mind. Judge them, thinking they are inexperienced or don't know how to have fun. What they don't understand is innocence isn't being below the knowledge of evil, but being above it. It is being filled with light and knowledge of good. That is why the people of Zarahemla replied to their King saying, "the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent... has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually." We must be cleansed from our "knowledge" of evil, forget about it completely, that we might become innocent and pure. That we might become like Christ. In this way, innocence is something that I hold on to, each and every day.

How much happier are those who focus on the bad in the world? Those who know dirty jokes or dirty meanings for things? Those who feast their eyes on the pleasures of man? Compare that to the little girl who laughs carelessly, enjoying her time swinging her day away at the playground. This is SIMPLE. This is PURE. This is HAPPINESS: to not have evil knowledge hovering over you and your thoughts. To have an innocence of mind and to think of only positive things... not only because you choose to but because you know life no other way.

Our baby!

2010-05-17T12:31:00.000-07:00

Brady and I went to Dave and Busters and had fun in the Baby making machine! Look at our son Kai :) Haha! We were surprised how cute he turned out... usually the babies on this thing look WILD! We love him! haha :)

Come unto Him

2010-05-10T16:58:00.000-07:00

Today I was reading in Mosiah chapter 5 and I came across verse 13 and it says: "For how knoweth a man the master of whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?" It really hit me after reading that verse that if I want to KNOW God, I have to be constantly serving Him and others, obeying His commandments and keeping up on my daily conversation with Him, prayer. If I'm not doing these things constantly how will I ever truly know God and how will my thoughts be on Him? I think it would be nearly impossible, especially with all of the distractions that we have in the world today. I just wanted to share this because it really touched me today. I love the scriptures!! :)

Happy Mothers Day!

2010-05-10T10:28:00.000-07:00

Happy mothers day to the best mom in the whole entire world! She has been there for me through it all. She's the reason I love peppericinis, the reason I learned how to tie my shoe, and the reason I am here today. Thank you for everything you have taught me so far in life and thank you for always being my best friend! I love you more than you'll ever know Mom :)

Time well spent!

2010-05-08T10:04:00.000-07:00

So last summer my mother in law gave me this book to read--I got through the first couple chapters but for some reason I just couldn't get into it at all. 8 months later, here I am reading it again and I am more than half way done! It is a really good book so far and I hang on to the authors every word! I suggest that you read it :) It definitely keeps me company with all of my free time! Ha!

A new adventure!

2010-05-07T12:25:00.000-07:00

Well, I haven't written on this blog in about 2 years! How sad is that! I figure since I have so much free time now, it would be nice to start up writing again.

Brady and I are living in the beautiful state of Minnesota for the summer! He is selling home security here in Maple Grove until August. So, I get to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the beautiful green trees, grass, and countless lakes!

I hope to make this summer a very productive one. I'm going to be reading a ton of books and hopefully pick up on a bunch of new cooking/baking recipes! I also hope to find a lot of new hobbies that I would have never before known that I would love.

I love being married to Brady and I love serving him everyday. Being married really has taught me how to be so much more selfless and I think all in all, it is making me a much better person! I'm very excited to be taking on this new adventure of marriage and living in a new state... and I hope that I make it the best summer yet! :)

Good old days..

2008-04-11T12:11:00.001-07:00

Rachel and Vanessa in the back with Tai and I in the front! We went on a field trip to the fair! I just love this picture because it was so long ago! But we are all still best friends! :]

Beetle bugs RULE!

2008-04-08T16:46:00.001-07:00

This is my favorite car! I know its not mine...but I had to take a picture with it anyways!! :)

The little sneaker. :]

2008-04-08T16:26:00.000-07:00

One day, Rachel and I decided to take a bunch of pictures, just the two of us. Karren was our photographer! We were naming off all of these poses we could do.. but ended up just doing what we did in this photo.. to our surprise, after we took it we saw JENNA doing it as well. What a little sneaker! haha. :)