Sunday, April 29, 2012

My Favorite Art

There are some religious paintings that Dave and I love.  Here are just a few:

Christ and the Wealthy Young Man, by Heinrich Hofmann

O Jerusalem, by Greg Olsen

Christ at Gethsemane II, by Carl Bloch

Christ in Gethsemane, by Harry Anderson

The Sacred Grove, by Greg Olsen

Jesus at the Door, by Del Parson

The Gleaners, by James Harwood

I think that all of these are pretty self-explanatory, except for maybe the last one.  I like the symbolism of this family gleaning the field together.  Missionaries are told that the field is white, ready to harvest, but families need to be involved in missionary work together. 

What are some of your favorite religious pieces of art?

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

It's All about Perspective #2

Remember this post? I decided that it was time for a little repeat blogging about perspective. There were two instances where perspective brought me down a little bit in the last 2.5 weeks.

First, Dave and his co-workers decided to enter the Mega Millions jackpot before the drawing on March 30th. I mean, $656 million is a LOT of money, and we could really have used it.  Haha!  Just kidding, we had no illusions of actually winning.  But several of his co-workers wanted to enter, there's a greater chance of winning if you purchase more tickets and share, yadda yadda yadda.  He put in $2 toward a total of 8 tickets I think. The office was all talking about what they would do with the money if they won.  Basically all of the office went in on it, so if they had won, no one would have shown up to the court on Monday.  And of course the idea of all of that money brought up some questions that Dave and I discussed about how to handle windfalls like that and how to not let money corrupt your soul.  We decided that if we were to win, we'd set up a trust where we could never touch the principal.  It would  be set aside for specific projects and endowments and things, and we would only have access to the interest.  And that interest would be about $200,000 A MONTH!!!  Okay, maybe I was thinking that there was a chance we'd win.  I mean, we were talking about it so rationally.  :D

Right about this point in the week-long conversation, Dave and I were talking about the possibility of finding new jobs and what salary a new job would have to offer in order for him to accept.  And that's when perspective bumped me back to reality.  I had actually been dreaming about having $200,000 a month and then we were talking about accepting a salary of less than $**,*** A YEAR.  And that is when I stopped thinking about the lottery, because I just knew that it would never happen, and that it would never do to have my dreams focused on something so unreal.  Don't worry, I'm now back to dreaming of much smaller things.


Then today Dave and I were eating lunch together.  I had The Kings of Convenience's song "Sorry or Please" stuck in my head and it was starting to annoy Dave (because of course I was humming it aloud during our entire lunch).  So Dave turned on the computer to play a new song so I could get it out of my head. He chose Fun.'s "We Are Young".  This song is so much fun to jam out to!  We got up in our living room and danced!  It was super fun and as I was driving Dave back to his office after lunch I was wondering why I felt so good.

And then I realized that it is because of the lyric "We are young."  That song is good because it makes me feel young.  I don't know yet if this realization has ruined the song for me.  But I hope not.  It's a great in-your-living-room dance party song.  :D

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Man, I Just Lost the Game!

And you just did too!  :D

If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out this Wikipedia article about it.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

April Goal: Doubletake

Yeah, my meditation last month did not go so well.  I think that it can be beneficial, but getting the habit started is kind of hard.  So I am trying again.  And I am determined to at least do it this month!  If I don't like it and think that it's not worth the effort to do it 4 times a week, I can stop after this month.  But I am going to make it happen this month, dang it!  :D

Sunday, April 8, 2012

And what's Easter without a little...

Killer Bunnies!

Today in church we talked about how bunnies, grass, eggs, etc., represent new life.  Well, Dave and I had to play Killer Bunnies to mix in a little death with those symbols of life!  :D

Here is a picture at the end of the game:


A close up of my carrots and bunnies:



A close up of Dave's carrots and bunnies:



Yeah, Dave was totally kicking my butt.  But, because Killer Bunnies is cool like that, I still won!  Haha!  That's right.  I love this game.


Another cool feature of the game: I always go first because the rule is that the person whose birthday is the closest to February 12th goes first (I'm one day before that).  :D

Thoughts on Easter

I have felt so, so grateful for my Savior this week, as I have prepared for Easter.  We participated in several church activities and gospel discussions.  I was reminded of the reason why Christ rose on Easter Sunday: because he suffered and died for each of us so that we could become better and so that we could overcome the sorrows of the world.

We have been given a precious gift, and it is ours to have if we will take it.  We take this gift by choosing to follow His example and lead lives that testify of Him--by taking upon us the name of Christ.


And His Name Shall Be Called...
Advocate • Almighty • Almighty God • Alpha and Omega • Beginning and End • Beloved • Beloved Son • Bread of Life • Bridegroom • Christ • Christ Jesus • Christ the Lord • Christ the Son • Cornerstone • Counsellor • Creator • Deliverer • Emmanuel • Eternal Father • Eternal Head • Eternal Judge • Everlasting Father • Everlasting God • Father • Father of Heaven and Earth • Firstborn • Founder of Peace • Fountain of all Righteousness • God • God Almighty • God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob • God of Israel • God of Miracles • God of Nature • God of the Whole Earth • God’s Anointed • Good Shepard • Great and True Shepherd • Great Creator • Great I Am • Great Spirit • Holy Child • Holy One • Holy One of Israel • Husband • Immanuel • Jehovah • Jesus • Judge • Keeper of the Gate • King • King of all the Earth • King of Heaven • King of Kings • Lamb of God • Life and Light of the World • Living Water • Lord • Lord God Almighty • Lord God of Hosts • Lord God Omnipotent • Lord Jehovah • Lord Jesus Christ • Lord My God • Lord of Lords • Lord of the Vineyard • Lord Omnipotent • Lord Our God • Maker • Man • Master • Mediator • Messiah • Mighty God • Mighty One of Israel • One • Only Begotten of the Father • Only Begotten Son • Physician • Prince of Peace • Prophet • the Propitiation for our Sins • Redeemer • Redeemer of Israel • Redeemer of the World • Rock • Savior • Savior of the World • Servant • Shepherd • Son • Son of God • Son of Righteousness • Son of the Most High God • Stone • Supreme Being • Supreme Creator • True and Living God • True Vine • Wonderful
Jesus Christ

For more information about the life of Christ, or to share your own feelings about Easter, visit mormon.org/easter or lds.org/bible-videos.