My Week of Reading My Patriarchal Blessing

As a weeker I decided to read my patriarchal blessing every day. To find out what a Patriarchal Blessing is you can CLICK HERE.

Every day for 7 days I read it. And by the end of the 7th day it was pretty well memorized. I do have a gift of easy memorization, but none the less it was so wonderful to have that amazing blessing stored in my mind. I actually continued doing this for sometime after the weeker was done, because it was so profound to me. I seem to take these spectacular gifts in my life forgranted, and through reading my patriarchal blessing I was able to see more clearly how incredible it is to have this loving guide from my Heavenly Father to help me remember the purpose of my mortal journey.

This was probably my most profound and favourite weeker, and I challenge anyone that has theirs to do it as their weeker.


Heaven's slice is patriarchal blessings.

The 4 Year Difference

Photo credit: Meghan Holt Photography

Can you spot the changes in these photos?

Heaven's slice is looking forward to what the next 4 years will bring!

He Sees Your Try

Quite a few months ago I heard something that really touched and encouraged me to finally change my view.

I was in relief society, and as a discussion was commencing on a certain gospel topic there was a comment made from another sister (sister is what we call each woman in the church, as we believe all people are children of god, so we are all essentially brothers and sisters) She had stated that she tries to read her scriptures first thing in the morning before reading or perhaps even doing anything else. She went on to talk about how God has stated that he is a "Jealous God" and that '"Thou shalt have no other gods before me" and how by reading her scriptures first that it is like a sign she is giving to Him. This may not be exactly what she said, but that is what I took from it.

I'm sure I've heard this many times before, but this is the first time I actually listened. I always had this prideful kind of way about my morning hatred. I've purposefully not read my scriptures in the morning because I've felt like I'm not really alert enough to understand all what I'm reading. I'd get more out of it by doing it at night, or so I thought until now...

I took this into my life almost the day after I heard that comment. I began putting scripture reading as one of my first to-do's in the morning. Before any screen-related scrolls, I made sure that I had read my scriptures first. If I hadn't read them yet, I'd only watch gospel-related videos until I did. There was much effort and attention at first to place this habit into my life, but I now find I crave that symbolic gesture in the morning.

That sign I give to my Heavenly Father that I want to put him first in my life. 

I've found that since doing this, I've become more inspired this year than ever before. I feel a more frequent closeness to Heavenly Father and even more personal revelation given to me. I see lights at the end of tunnels, and dreams becoming more strongly known. I am also feeling more desirous to change faulted behaviours of mine. I feel that he has seen my try and he is blessing me for it.

Heaven's slice is putting God first.

Family Photos

I'll never get that photo of the 3am snuggle.

I'll never get the photo of the first time she told me I was her bestest friend in the whole wide world.

I'll never get the photo of the playful teasing banter of my husband and I have as we prep supper.

I'll never get the photo of those ordinary extraordinary moments in life that burst your heart. That create memories deep into your soul. Those moments where you are fully present and aware of the precious gift you have before you. For those moments are too special to photograph. They are sacred, and only for me.

...

But the photos I can get are worth every single penny! Amongst wind, short attention spans, and a friendly clingy kitten was a photographer talented enough to take on the challenge. It was so fun to get our precious family all dressed up and have an evening out playing at a kind neighbour's farmyard (I consider a neighbour anyone within a 10 mile radius, is that weird?. She created gorgeous poses and beatified our images in such a dreamy romantic way. I sure do love her style!

Huge thanks to Meghan Holt Photography!

Feast your eyes upon a few of our family photo treasures!

Heaven's slice is this precious family of mine.

Shooting Stars

Because of my love of this photo I decided to centre a post around it!

This photo is one of my absolute favourites. It not only has one of the loves of my life in it giving the face and outfit of ultimate coolness, but also Shooting Stars - my favourite flower. We were picking wildflowers right where I use to pick them growing up, and I couldn't help feeling nostalgic. 

Our lives are full of miracles, tender mercies, and beauty. If we have eyes to see them. 

A hands ability to artfully produce masterpieces. The sight of a perfect new bundle in your arms. A mountain's peak. An ocean shoreline. The diverse individual capabilities and talents of each and every human being.

There is wonder and there is good in the world. We have that handful of shooting stars. We all have that potential to dream. To soar. To reach. To change. To become.

But, there are also weeds that surround us. Under foot they tarry. They multiply. They challenge our focus. They entice us to look down instead of skyward.

If we're not careful about where our vision lies, these weeds will close our eyes to our dreams. Our handful of shooting stars.

We must look to the good. We must look up. We must find gratitude. We must find joy.

We must cling tight to our handful of shooting stars.

"God is eagerly waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as He always has. But He can’t if you don’t pray, and He can’t if you don’t dream. In short, He can’t if you don’t believe." 

- Elder Jeffrey R. Holland 'This, the Greatest of All Dispensations'

Heaven's slice is believing.

My Week of Wearing Dresses

I chose to do a week of wearing only dresses or skirts. Why? I don't really know, it just kind of fell into my head one day as an idea for a weeker. I do, I feel, have a lot of really cute dresses and skirts, so I guess may be I just wanted to put them to good use too.

So, every day for 7 days I wore a dress or skirt. I chose a week where there wasn't any camping, beaching, or riding involved, just kind of a chill week. Though I must say, picking a thousand beans from my garden and taking a recycling load to the dump wearing a tutu skirt did make me feel a little impractical...

The overall results from it?

I loved it!! Here's why:

1. I saved so much time and energy.
I loved not having a ton of choices on what to wear. I didn't have to spend all that time on the dreaded question "what do I wear today?" And I also didn't change in and out of clothes second guessing my choice. Dresses especially being a one item choice was particularly wonderful. I've been reading and pinning a lot about minimalist wardrobes or capsule wardrobes, and I think this kind of gave me a taste of that freedom. It was so refreshing to not have to exert all that effort in deciding a top and bottom from hundreds (slight exaggeration) of clothing options I have.

2. It made me feel pretty.
How can you not feel this way when you're wearing a dress? I have so much more to downsize in my wardrobe, but as far as my dresses go I feel they are totally minimized for the time being, AKA I only have dresses/skirts that I love and feel pretty in. So, I wore stuff every day that I loved and felt pretty in! It brought about an ambiance of class to my life.

3. I matched my daughter
She loves wearing dresses, so when I also chose to wear a dress she was overjoyed! We both loved matching each other.

4. It was comfy.
I forgot how comfortable maxi skirts are especially. They are a perfect lounge about ensemble.


I'll probably do this weeker again I loved it so much.



Heaven's slice is wearing a pretty dress.

Stronger By The Weeker

That wasn't a spelling mistake.

"Weekers" - are my 7 day to-do type goal. They're kind of like my candy goals. They give me a taste of what doing that daily would be like without the full commitment, so I can take it or leave it and trial more things into my routine(not that I really have a routine). It's kind of the change up for fun thing I do at least once if not 4 times a month.

You can read more about my "every month a new year" by clicking this sentence <---

They've actually been pretty fun. Here are just a few I've done so far:

No Facebook
8 glasses of water
Reading my patriarchal blessing
Yoga
No sugar ( I won't be doing it again unless I become deathly allergic to sugar and a doctor orders me to stop...)
Cleaning/tidying the house after the kids are in bed
Wearing a dress or skirt


I've continued implementing some of these on a more regular basis without even really trying/meaning to as they've become a sort of joy to do. I'd strongly recommend weekers for whatever goal you want to taste, but not fully commit to just yet. Stay tuned to future posts on some of the results of mine!

PS the photo has nothing to do with this post.



Heaven's slice is self betterment, and changing it up every once in a while!