Building our own cathedrals...

"A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral."-- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

I stumbled upon this snip of thought the other day and passed it by, thinking it to be just another random quote that fills our life, but as I went on throughout my day it replayed across my mind when I least suspected it, after I thought it was long forgotten, and demanded a little more of my attention.

We all have rock piles, perhaps of different sizes but they're still there, made up of our fears, trials, losses, pain, and more. I realized that I didn't want my rock pile to be anything but that: a rock pile. Where would I keep my rocks if I didn't have my rock pile? Until we are given more of vision of what our rocks can be: beautiful cathedrals. Why have a rock pile when you can have something much more beautiful? I know it may sound so cliche but it's what I needed today.

We went to Brooke's basketball game a few weeks ago and we had just as much fun watching Logan as we did the game. Logan just learned how to say Tony's name. "Nnooo nie" It's so cute! I love it. Holly says that sometimes he will just walk around the house with his hands out like he's looking for something and says over and over, "Ere's Nony? Ere's Jajie?" We have so much fun with him. We're good buds :-)

YES this is real!

Ok, so we don't regularly take pictures of our patients feet but this was one of our exceptions. I've seen some pretty gnarly feet but it's been a while since I've seen any like this. I felt so bad for this little old lady.
Nobody noticed that her nails had gotten so long because she always left her socks on, and she never said anything. She had been keeping cotton underneath the nails because they were starting to curl around and grow into her skin. We should have taken after pics because we cut them back to normal lengths and she walked out much happier than when she came in. Sometimes I cut so many toenails in a day that when I close my eyes at night that's all I see! It's a good thing I like feet! But as bad as it sometimes is, I loved seeing how happy people are when they leave after having something like this taken care of.
-Jasmine

"Life is thickly sown with thorns, and I know no other remedy than to pass quickly through them.The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us."-- Voltaire

Joy in the Journey...Now!

"If you pile up a lot of tomorrows, you'll wind up with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays...." Professor Harold Hill

Just yesterday my dad repeated this quote in one of our conversations and so I've already been thinking this one over. I love the musical "The Music Man" and grew up with it as one of our familys classics, so I smiled today when I heard Pres. Monson recite it during his talk. And to hear it again reminded me of true it is.

My Favorite Season!!

So this month has slipped by so fast...no, the last two months have! I still feel like I'm trying to get used to it being July.

Summer is gone...but I don't mind too much because I love the Fall! It's my favorite season. Before we were married I had always wanted to get married in the Fall and have Fall colors. So when Anthony proposed in August, it was perfect (although cutting it a little close :-) but I got my wishes: The Perfect Guy and the Perfect Day.

You know, officially it's not Fall until Septepmber 22, but I don't care what the calandar says because it's not Fall until you can smell it. So usually about this time I start waiting for it to happen. I know it's getting close, but every day I keep checking and it's still not here. Some of you know what I'm talking about, but for you others, I'll let you know when it's actually here :-)

-Jas

Guilty Camping...

So at the beginning of July, my sister and Dad drove down to San Diego for a family reunion. My Uncle picked out a campground that his family has been going to for 3-4 years. It might not be the authentic camping atmosphere but it was fun. It had an outlet post at each campground (so yeah, we did have electricity) but what mattered was the family. The kicker though was one the first night Holly and I were puttering around, getting bedding ready for the night when our neighbor camper called out a hello and came to introduce herself. She neighborly offered any help we might "because her husband is an Eskimo" and she introduced her cat. She made us smile and was pretty interesting. But then she asked us where we were from and we told her and we asked her back. She said they were from California. I asked her if she came to the camp very often and was completely caught off guard when she told us that she lived there. Then she told us they had lost their house in the fires and didn't have any insurance at all. It was a little akward after that because the more we talked the worse I felt. Here we had driven 10+ hours to go camping at this campground and they were forced to live there. They couldn't afford the nightly fee so she volunteered at the campground cleaning the bathrooms. By the end of the vacations we'd gotten to know them a little better and I was grateful to know that they did have a house in Texas. They hadn't lived there for 20+ years and have been renting the house out since then. It's in such bad shape right now they can't live in it, and they're also saving on getting there.

So even though I felt guilty, I still like camping. And even though my home is not the way I'd like it right now, or completely finished, I can forget about that and just be grateful that I do have a house to go home to.

-Jas

Independence Day!

I went down to San Diego with my sister and Dad last week for an extended Family Reunion, and we were there over the 4th of July! We were camping, so when the time came, we just hiked over to the edge of the hill we were on and set our camp chairs down and watched a local fireworks display. I had my 18 month old nephew, Logan, on my lap and every time a firework would go off, he would spread his arms really big and say "Wooow!" (One of his favorite words). It was the best thing to watch! He was so impressed by each and every one of them. He can almost say my name (at least I pretend like he can). At first he'd point and say something that sounded like Daddy (one of the few words he can say) but now it comes out something like "Dajee". It's great :-)

Info Update: Tony's Aunt just moved to Meridian and opened up a Golden Spoon frozen yogurt shop! He's working there right now and has gotten to be a great swirler! To be honest, I've never heard of the Golden Spoon before this, but now I know all about it and am a new fan of the Fro Yo. So if you're ever in the area, stop by and say hi!

I love feet!

I guess it's sorta natural for me to like feet since I grew up with a Podiatrist for a Dad. Most people krinkle their nose when they find out what I do for work, but someone has to, right? Most people take their feet for granted and don't think about them until they start hurting, so I think there should be a national feet day or something along those lines, I'll take up a new cause and let it be known to the world. Foot Appreciation Week ;-p Fun Fact: From your hip to your ankle there are only 5 bones, but from your ankle to toe there are 28 bones! I'm amazed more and more each day by the human body and all the tiny details that went into creating us, and I'm grateful to our Father in Heaven who thought about where our feet will take us. So love your feet!

My New Favorite Quote

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us"
-- Helen Keller

It also reminds me of a line from one of my favorite movies, "The Sound of Music".

"When God closes a door, he often opens a window."
-- Rev. Mother to Maria

-Jas

Our 4th Year Anniversary!

Our Anniversary was last Oct (2007) but I'm just slow at posting. We've never really done anything big for our anniversary so this was as close as it's gotten.

I've always been a James Taylor fan so last year I bought one of his CD's. At first Anthony seemed a little doubtful and didn't want to listen to it because "he'd never heard of him", which was all the more reason I insisted he listen to my new CD because in my opinion, everyone should know who James Taylor is! Lets just say that from the first time I popped it into the car CD player, that it was the only CD we listened to for two weeks straight. He loved it! Every time we got in the car, we'd let it play.

Well, last October he came to Boise so we bought tickets. We were early enough to get 4th Row Tickets and it was so much fun! When James came running out on stage, everyone tood up and they all starting taking pictures. He said it was ok so we pulled ours out! I love the ones we have of him and they make some fun memories!

But one of my favorite parts was when Anthony moved up next to the stage as James came back out onto the stage for an onchor, Tony held up our tickets, amid all the other things that were being held up there, and James signed our tickets! I moved up a little later when there was a little bit more room and we both leaned against the stage and listened while he played another 1/2 hour. It was great!

It's true that not enough people know who James Taylor is, but that won't stop us from being fans. -Jasmine

New Year: New Life

For our New Years Resolutions this year, we decided to go with quality, rather than quantity. We'll see how it goes. :-)
-Jas

Is this thing on?

Testing....