On the Sabbath we're reminded of the true meaning of our existence....

 " Use what talents you possess; The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best." 

                                                                                        -Henry Van Dyke-

 My singles ward is so full of incredibly talented women...and men I'm sure. But I spend one full hour every Sunday blessedly basking in their glory. Today our lesson was on developing our talents. I felt so inspired. Each of us are talented...sometimes we just don't recognize it.  I love this quote:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

a return to love - marianne williamson

Some talents are ones that aren't always familiar to us...here's some that we came up with:

Patience

Kindness

The ability to ask

The ability to weep (I'm really good at this one)

The ability to make people laugh

The ability to ponder

Personable

Amiable

The gift to not pass judgement

The gift of caring

Complimenting

The gift of not gossiping 

The ability to use words to uplift

The gift of hugging

Enthusiasm

Joy

The gift to imagine

The gift to create

The gift of optimism....

 

All of these are just a smidgen of the talents made available to us through the Lord's love and mercy. I'm so thankful for that. I remember thinking awhile ago when I was at the Zoo in Salina, KS, how talented and creative Heavenly Father and the Savior are...I received this inspiration while looking at a Giraffe....what a magnificent creature. If we are Heavenly Father's children we have the capacity to create. To invent....to be curious... 

Life is an adventure and we should make the most of it. Use what we've been given to bless the world. 

Speaking of talent...I went to a School of Rock concert this weekend with my good friend Lyndsee Hansen. She's amazing. I'll blogspot her later....but here are some fun pictures of us!

We also went to Chipotle and had delicious food. The best part though was just having a great night talking with a good friend. Those are the moments that really define what is important...

A loyal friend laughs at your jokes when they're not so good, and sympathizes with your problems when they're not so bad.  ~Arnold H. Glasgow

A friend is the one who comes in when the whole world has gone out.  ~Grace Pulpit

Cherish the friend who tells you a harsh truth, wanting ten times more to tell you a loving lie.  ~Robert Brault

In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out.  It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being.  We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.  ~Albert Schweitzer

“Friends are God's way of apologizing to us for our families.”

I am so incredibly blessed to have amazing people in my life....

They are my Thelma and Louise
 to my Bonnie and Clyde.....

Minus the smoking and romance.....

   

WE SHOULD ALWAYS CHOOSE FRIENDS THAT LIFT US TO A HIGHER PLANE...

                                                                    That is what I've done

“Friendship is born at that moment when 

one person says to another, 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one”

C.S. Lewis

Part of my blog is going to be me bragging about the incredible people in my life who are so talented. I have a plethora of unique friends. They deserve their day....I hope you grow to love them as much as I do!

Elder F Enzio Busche of The Church of Jesus Christ

I love this video with all my heart! It's so inspiring and I have the Van Komen's to thank for it! Love you!

Catch Up!

I'm such a bad blogger that I'm always playing Catch Up! I heard a funny joke the other day
If tomato is a fruit does that make Ketchup a smoothie? ----Think about that one!

Well anyway I promised to let you in on Danali Days!
    Danali is a uni-name for Dan and Ali. Kind of like Bennifer or Brangelina but so much cooler....I mean way cooler!
This is Dan:

That's me making the face in the back.
This is Ali.....
drumrolllllllllll

.....Larter. Who Dan wishes was his best friend! hahahaha
But he gets someone even better....Ali Webb

Who wouldn't want me as their best friend...for reals.
        Well one day Dan and I learned we both had Memorial day off so we planned our big adventure. The Great Danali....this would involve doing just about anything we could think of....We spent the day together. We even bought matching star wars pajamas at Walmart. This also involved me wearing a pirate flag cape...and Dan a hippie style head wrap.... We had a 30 rock/Arrested Development marathon. We ate our weight in food. We went to the gym. We went to Johanna's for breakfast. We laid around all day. Had the weather been amazing we would have laid out by the pool. We went shopping and I helped Dan realize his true potential in bright colors. We ate at California Pizza Kitchen and planned our way of getting the hot waiter and waitresses to fall in love with us. We then wrapped up the night by watching more Tv. We accomplished so much! If you have any serious doubts about our greatness then you can speak to our witnesses, or view the pictures such as this one...
exhibit A:

That is Danali Fuel in Dan's hand.
        -Shortly after this adventure I realized that I'm not as young as I once was...and too much fun for 24 hours...I can barely handle....Later that week we had Danali Day part 2 with guests....we pretty much just laid by the pool with our friends and got sunburned! Yay!

LADIES!!!! 
Dan is a really great guy. He's from Chicago. He's a video game designer. He is a great listener. He's single. He loves to Zumba. He also loves long walks on the beach and braiding your hair while listening to your stories about your poodle. His biggest fear is that he will go bald...or the government will ban Zumba. He's hilarious (not as funny as me though.) So if you're interested check him out or give me a note.

In other news this week I went to Lagoon with Heidi Freston! She's awesome!
Lagoon is Ghetto Disneyland for those of you who are not familiar with its awesomeness....
Here's a little sneak peek of Lagoon:
We ran into the cutest baby Kael Denboer...I love his mama!

I used to be terrified of Rollercoasters....not anymore!
I was super jealous of these little kids....I love fountains!

Ok...so who would really wear this...I will give you $10 dollars to admit it....I'm not really even sure where your head or arms go on this thing...

This is my partner in crime for the day! Miss Heidi Freston....and some lady with a really amazing green shirt!

I also had some really amazing spiritual experiences this week. But they deserve their own post. I'll let you in later!

Peace out Brussel Sprout...for now!

Summer!!!!!

I'M ABSOLUTELY A SUMMER GIRL!!!! What an adventurous time. I know its been ages since I've blogged. I'm back though....


So far this year has been insanely crazy. I had a semester of school where I got straight A's in all 4 of my classes....there is a first time for everything right!


   So many wonderful things have happened. 


I went to the Bahamas with our dance studio...they made me a mermaid :D and I got lots of sun and had a crazy time with Megan and John Southwick.....

I turned 25! Whoop Whoop!!!! My friends and I celebrated the Saturday night before with Pizza, Gullivers Travels, and homemade cupcakes by A.J. Anderson. It was awfully sweet of them! Love them....but the next day was amazing. Some friends and I went to temple square for my birthday. It was so neat to talk with the sisters down there and it made me miss the mission so much. Pablo came later and when he showed up he brought me flowers. They looked like the exact same ones as the ones planted on the temple grounds. I asked him if thats where he got them. He laughed and assured me that no they weren't sacred temple square flowers...just the ones from his mom's garden. They were beautiful. 

Caitlin Hafen and I with my flowers from Pablo's mom's garden. 


Also in March I went to Moab with some friends. We learned that I can be cranky if I don't sleep and the boys wake us up giggling like school girls at 6 am. My bad. I was better the next day! I had a blast. I love canyoneering. Repelling is my favorite. It terrified me at first but then I fell in love with the feeling!

I repelled off that arch....it was huge. That's Ervin and I. He's one of the greatest people ever to exist on this earth. Ladies......


WEDDINGS!!!!!!!
   Another amazing thing is one of my very bestest friends got married. I love her to death. Our friendship is strange and funny. Long story short I used to despise her...not really that's kind of strong...lets go with hate. Jk. Really I was jealous of her. But we later got called to the same mission and she became my solid rock and amazing confidante. She married a very awesome guy Ben. He's hilarious. So she got married and it was such an incredible experience. The things that were said were absolutely beautiful. I cried. So like me. She was beautiful. He was beautiful. The whole thing was simply beautiful. It reminded me that this is what life is all about. Beautiful happy things!


Here's how amazing it was!

I love all these wonderful people...I'm so very very blessed.


- "The Lord's love is often delivered through others as they respond to promptings of the Spirit. Are we hearing and following those promptings? . . .

"I fear sometimes we see the Lord's love only in the big events of our lives; we must also see His love in the smallest of things. Don't underestimate your ability to share His love through a simple, genuine gesture such as sitting next to another sister and making her feel welcome." -Bonnie D. Parkin-

So thats a little catch up for the year....next time I'll tell you all about the Adventures of Danali! They are epic...so stay tuned!