Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Messes and Masterpieces

I've been thinking a lot about messes lately.










And I've come to the conclusion that messes almost always prelude a  masterpiece.














Even though some of these things I thought to be messes, were actually my 1 year old's masterpieces.

Creativity is a messy business, though it always seems to be worth it.

This amazing, awkward, awesome, awful mess of mortal life we got going on is just the dirty work to result in the masterpiece we are to be in the life after.

And although sometimes the mess is seemingly unbearable, every stroke will be unparalleled to the majesty of the final painting.



Heaven's slice is messes turned masterpieces.

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Beautfiul Bodies PART II

My personal 'beautiful body' story.

I've got to be honest here - Pregnancy ruined my self-image. My body went through so many drastic changes over the course of my pregnancy and is still seemingly a forever changing thing. This whirlwind of body transformations ruined my self-image... and  replaced it with an even better one.


This is where my beautiful body image really started. I say 'really' because I've had sparks of experiences throughout my life where I've loved my body and saw it as beautiful, but sparks are not really a flame. My pregnancy with our first child really forced all the sparks into the flame it is today. My mind shifted from seeing all that was negative, gross, uncomfortable, awkward, and worrisome to see what was in fact a miracle. This miracle subtly and yet forcibly gave me the deepest of gratitudes for my body. I saw myself as beautiful because I started to finally understand what I should have remembered all along - my body is a gift from my Heavenly Father, so it is and always was beautiful.  My rise to a better self-image is not at the bonfire stages for me, but the flame's been yet to be extinguished over the past 2 years thus far, so I'm counting that as a win.

Perhaps one of the biggest scams of this world is this idea implanted within that we must find as many flaws in our body's appearance as possible. The ironic thing behind this scam is that it was conjured up by someone whose never had nor ever will have a body of their own. This person is so envious of this mortal body that he wants everyone with this precious bodily gift and experience to be as unhappy as he is. You may have guessed who it is, but just to be clear - it's Satan's scam. Even as I type this post a part of me wants to somehow incorporate that I am far far from having the perfect body... which I guess I just did... DANG YOU!

My journey to self-esteem has been a roller-coaster ride, but I believe the major drops are long behind me. I feel my body is beautiful because it is deeply rooted on the foundation that it is a gift from my loving Heavenly Father and a means by which to get back to him.

There are however some personal trivial practices that I engage in to protect myself from the adversary's attempts to shake my confidence:

Food: I've taken a personal interest in my own diet in what makes my body feel normal instead of relaying to me that death is near. Taking control of my diet over the past couple years has reinforced a love for my body instead of a hatred. I found what works with my body and it's made a world of difference. It's my own personal opinion that not every person can nor should have the exact same foods or food type of intake. Just as people have a love and hate for different tastes our bodies do well with certain foods that may cause adverse effects in others. I really dislike when people tell me what I should or should not be eating - it kinda grinds my gears - so I try to tip toe away from those conversations as best I can. I will say hypocritically however, that eating every few hours has really taken away most all and any guilt issues with food, which is amaze balls for self esteem. (and yes it also boosts your metabolism blah blah blah...).

Exercise: I personally hate feeling like I'm exercising for looks - as in trying to sculpt a better-looking body. It just makes me feel bad, like I'm telling myself, "you ugly." (I'm aware I overthink things a lot... I'm working on it.). So, really I only do "active" things for 4 reasons - fun, solidarity, strength, or an energy boost.

Weight: I try not to weigh myself much, it just doesn't matter, really it doesn't. Even if I hit a super low weight, if I continue to monitor it then that now becomes my new normal and I feel like I now have to be lower every time, which is just straight up dumb. I try hard to never divulge my weight or size, as to me there's never a good enough reason to do this other than if a healthcare professional asks. When someone states their weight frequently in conversation I feel like they just whipped out a name tag sticker, wrote their weight on it and smacked it onto their shirt. It CLEARLY says "Hello, my name is:" Very odd thing for a non-illiterate person to do...You are not a number!

Photos: Seeing a bad photo of myself where it doesn't match how pretty I thought I looked kinda ruins my day. So... I take a lot of photos and delete any I don't like right away. I also try to put up photos I love and think I look good in inside my home (and probably online too...).

Make-up and Mirrors: Back when I was around 13 it was relayed to me once that a pageant-type head figure would make herself look as beautiful as she could in the morning primping in front of the mirror, and then she'd forget about herself for the rest of the day and focus on others. That notion really struck me because I feel a lot of time can be wasted amongst other people while I wonder how I'm looking and thereby paying little attention to the needs of those around me. So, I've implemented this in my life - I play with my hair, makeup, and clothes (which is actually kinda a fun part of my day) in front of the mirror till I feel pretty oh so pretty then I forget how I'm looking for the rest of the day. I may look like a train hit me by the end, but in my head I look exactly how I last saw myself. Also, if I have in fact been hit by a train I avoid mirrors like the plague.

Alone time: I am an introvert anyways so may be this one is just me, but I honestly feel most secure and beautiful when I'm alone to myself or with the hansome hubs and darling daughter. I'm not sure why, but I require a lot of this time alone to be able to gain enough stamina for it to last around others. It's like filling my self-esteem tank up. Being alone is where I can view the big picture more clearly and not get caught up in all of life's details.

So there you go, a positive little self-esteem/self image talk from yours truly... and I didn't even have to post a nude photo! (if you're confused - read my BEAUTIFUL BODIES rant).



Heaven's Slice is seeing your body as beautiful.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Happy Father's Day

First a little Father's Day video to put you in the mindset for this weekend's awesome holiday ahead:

CLICK for Father's Day video

Such a great video right?!

I must say, the older I get the more I've come to not only appreciate, but deeply admire my Dad. It seems that Dad's don't often get the credit they deserve, but I feel like even when they do they seem to deflect the praise when it's given anyways and gear the praise over towards the mothers... which makes me think all the more of them!! Humility in the fatherhood calling and the upmost admiration for motherhood seems to just come naturally to the best of dads, and o how I love that! Tis truly a Christ-like attribute that I just adore in them.

So for all the Father's in our lives and in our hearts, let us take time this weekend to let them know how important they are and how thankful we are for them.


I can't believe how fortunate I am to have the awesome Father I have and that my little girl get's to have the best Daddy ever!

Just look how adorable they are together!!












Heaven's slice is Fathers.

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

June Bride



Once upon a time  
there was a beautiful young girl and studly young man who started dating. Both knew extremely early on that the other was the person they were to spend their forever with. Of course neither of them wanted to scare the other off by divulging this, but the studly young man(SYM) let it slip one day while shopping with the beautiful young girl(BYG) something along the lines of 'ya you should buy it, it's gonna end up in my house someday anyway.' The BYG acted as though she didn't hear correctly and later that night decided she should further investigate this under-breath comment SYM had made. She boldly asked "do you think we're gonna get married?" SYM confidently said, "yes" though shyly he then asked "do you think we'll get married?" BYG smiling said, "Ya!" The months to come were secretive wedding planning amongst themselves. BYG had 1 stipulation (+10 more) They had to get married in the month of June...

So, beautiful young girl and studly young man did in fact get sealed in the temple for time and all eternity in the month of June.

One of my favourite movies is Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. It's an old western musical and it's just darling! There's a song in it that has stuck with me ever since I was a little girl - June Bride

Here - Watch the Youtube clip of it!

For they say when you marry in June, you will always be a bride. 
-June Birde lyric



June Bride lyrics:
Oh they say when you marry in June
You're a bride all your life.
And the bridegroom who marries in June Gets a sweetheart for a wife.
Winter weddings can be gay Like a Christmas holiday.


But the June bride hears the song Of the spring that lasts all summer long.
By the light of the silvery moon Home you ride, side by side
With the echo of Mendelssohn's tune In your hearts as you ride

For they say when you marry in June, You will always be a bride. The day a maiden marries is a day she carries through the years
The Church is full of flowers, bridal showers all passé

The groom's waiting at the altar, here comes the bride,
They're each promising to love and obey.
There's madness celebrating
Every bridesmaid waiting Just to see which one of them will catch the wedding bouquet.

For they say when you marry in June,
You will always, always, always, be a bride.







In November, the snow starts to fly,
Piling up, ankle-high.

Come December, it's up to your knee,
Still a bride's a bride-to-be.

January, higher still,
To the parlor window sill.
February finds a drift
And the storm that seems never to lift.

March comes in like a lion, what else?
Still the snow never melts.
April showers will come, so they say.


But they don't, and it's May.


You're about to forget the whole thing,
All at once, one day, it's Spring.

(And lastly - my serious pose)


Heaven's slice is the month of June.