Calgary Temple

I am so excited for the temple being built in Calgary. I had the opportunity to go and sneak around the construction site the last time I was in Calgary. The temple has a beautiful view of Downtown Calgary and the mountains. I took a picture from lds.org of what the temple will look like finished.

Can't wait to go back in a few years and take pictures of the finished product.

http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/calgary/

summer time

It has been such a great summer so far. 

Here are just a few of the things I've been up to. More to come.

   

kill them with kindness

This is my niece Hattie. She is five years old, and has two older sisters and a younger brother. Being the middle child is rather hard for her because her older sisters are usually off doing their own things, and her younger brother is too little to do some of the activities she wants to do. One afternoon while I was at their house, Hattie came into the room in hysterics. Earlier her older sisters had left her out of a game they were playing on the trampoline. She felt absolutely devastated because her sisters were constantly leaving her out. Hattie, my sister and I went into another room to try to comfort her without the other kids around. Her mother suggested that Hattie does a special activity with her Aunt Amanda that none of the other siblings would be apart of such as painting our nails. Hattie, who was finally able to control her tears, took a moment to think about this proposition. Being able to have special time with her Aunt Amanda without her older sisters to compete for attention is a rare and special offer. She finally said, “No, everybody needs to do it. Because I don’t want them to feel the same way as I did”. I have never seen such kindness and profound words from a five year old. She understood the concept of kindness and didn’t want her sisters to feel or be treated the same way she was on that trampoline.

No act of kindness is ever wasted. 

You cannot do a kindness too soon. 

Acting kindly can change the giver and the receiver for good. 

This picture (I know its blurry, but who cares) was taken after this experience I had with her. Seeing a five-year-old act with such maturity and sincerity warmed my heart. 

I am so blessed to have her in my life.  

ajr

im sorry that i keep saying im sorry

Apologies. I hate apologizing for something stupid you've done. It is a horrible feeling to say or do something and immediately know that it was wrong or humiliating. There are countless times where I have let my big mouth get in the way and I say something wrong to someone. Apologizing is worse when you are saying sorry for something you didn't do. At least, you think it wasn't your fault, but in reality it probably was. 

apologies should grow like trees, 

only able to bear fruit if its root is planted 

in the soil of genuine sincerity

 I would like to first apologize to my mother and sisters, for being so quick to snap my tongue at them. This year, there has been a lot of different phone calls and discussions about a number of things going on in my life - and because of my bad temper, they end badly.

 

Second, I would like to apologize to the State of Montana. I have judged you and hated you for the past three years. We started off on the wrong foot. My first experience in Montana was horrible and it hasn't gotten any better over the years as I drive back and forth between Canada and the States. I decided on my way home from Canada last month, I was going to give Montana a chance. Instead of just booking through the state as fast as I could - I stopped and admired the place. This is what I found, and what a shame I didn't find it sooner.

ajr

with a little help from my friends

Even though time and different pathways have separated these girls, they are still able to meet and pick up where they left off. They have been friends since highschool, some even elementary. It was so much fun to take pictures of these lovely ladies in front of the Rexburg Temple. 

"It is one of the blessings of old friends 

that you can afford 

to be stupid with them."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

ajr

love thy neighbor

 

This is Alison. She is fabulous & I'll tell you why.

Ali is the sweetest and selfless girl I know. 

Doesn't matter what is going on in her life, she is thinking and serving others. 

Even when someone isn't treating her with well, she still loves them and does anything for them.

She takes "love thy neighbor" to a whole new level. I have so much respect for this girl and her incredible outlook on life. She is also hilarious. I absolutely love her sense of humor and what incredible fun she is to be around. Love you Alison.

ajr

there's a fire starting in my heart

My third semester in Rexburg I moved to a new apartment and was scared and excited out of my mind! I didn't know anyone in my apartment or in the apartment complex and was excited to start another year after a really hard summer. Lindsay was my roommate that semester and I have been so blessed to have her in my life. 

Lindsay and I have lived together for two semesters now and they have been two of the greatest semesters I've had in burg. Lindsay just recently got her mission call to Brazil and will be leaving in October. I am going to miss her so much! She has been such an amazing example to me and an incredible friend. Whenever I was having a bad day, she could walk into our room and immediately make me smile. I get to spend the next seven weeks with her this summer before she leaves for her mission. She is going to be a fabulous missionary and the people in Brazil are going to fall in love with her. I love you Lindsay. 

Here's an amazing artist. I love her. I love her music. I love her passion. Check her out.

ajr