Sunday, June 20, 2010

Learning To Breathe

"So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I'm still trying to figure out how that could be."
I think that quote pretty much sums things up.

We had Stake Conference at 10. You would think we could get there on time considering how reasonable of an hour 10 o'clock is, but no. We are the Homers. Good news is, once we got there things were okay. One of the general authorities said a few things about my old Young Womens leader who is the current Stake President's wife. I've always really liked her and thought she was just a flat out good person. It was nice to hear such good things said about her from someone with such prestige. I've been really interested in temples lately since I got to go do Baptisms in the Nauvoo Illinois temple. That was a neat experience in its own right, but not a story for right now. Anyways, i was reading about temples on my iPhone and learned some very interesting facts. I got these off of the official church website, not just some random guy making things up.

1) The Logan temple is the second oldest temple still in operation, with St. George being the oldest.
2) The Manti temple is built on land that the BOM prophet Moroni dedicated as a future temple site.
3) The Vernal temple is built from bricks that were donated from a local homeowner who was planning on razing his house.
4) The Nauvoo temple is one of the only temples that faces west and has a westward facing angel Moroni. (It faces the Mississippi River)
5) Something I probably already knew but never put together is that all 3 BYU campuses (Provo, Rexburg, Hawaii) have adjacent temples.

If you don't trust me, check out the site below. You can click on the name of the temple to find out more fun facts.
http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/chronological/
Anyways, I enjoyed getting to know more about a few of the temples. And the Conference talks were good too.

When we got home, it was time for me to take a nap. I've been incredibly tired lately. I slept through lunch at girls camp and a devotional or two. It was only early afternoon when i fell dead asleep on the couch. Anyways, I woke up a few hours later to my entire immediate family minus Brent, who was on his way over. I realized today how blessed I am to have all my sisters still live so close, and of course Brent. It's great to be able to see them weekly and of course I love seeing Kaden & Avery (nephew and niece) grow up little by little. We spent some time in the front yard checking out new cars and eating some crazy good apple dip stuff that Kristi made. Then we went into the living room and had all the Dads open up their Father's Day gifts and shared some memories. It was funny to see full grown men shoot foam balls at each other from plastic guns.

Next was the famous family fire. It seems like we always put one of these things together whenever the family is over. We have a fire pit in the backyard and we gather round for flame roasted tri-tip probably at least monthly. There really is something great about a fire. Once I had my fill of meat, someone started singing the song "All Star" by Smash Mouth. Slightly ghetto, I know. So I pulled out my iPhone because I have an App that has the top 100 songs of the last 50 or so years. Whaddya know? It was the #15 song of 1999. Naturally, we had to listen to quite a few other memorable songs. And that inspired Brittny to pull out her iPhone and look up one of those "You know you're a 90's kid if..." lists. I never realized how much I still remember from the California days, which is weird considering I was only 7 when we moved here. It really was fun to sit with my siblings and just reminisce around the fire about our childhood. It's those kinds of moments that make all the fights, tantrums, misunderstandings, short comings and generally negative points of family life worth it.

I really do love my family. And I hope they all know that. Because I would never ask for a different one. We ARE weird. We sing broadway musicals at random times, we quote movies and tv shows as part of normal conversation, we buy and sell cars from each other, live in each others houses, more than half of us share an employer. We can NEVER arrive on time to ANYTHING, no matter how much notice we have. We even sing 90's songs at the top of our lungs in the backyard for father's day. But we are a family. I'm part of it. They're a part of it. I'm theirs and they are mine. We certainly aren't perfect and imperfect people can't make up a perfect family. But we ARE a family. And to me, some part of that seems perfect. To keep with the theme of quoting my second favorite book, I think this is pretty accurate. Especially today.
"As much as I don't understand my mom and dad and as much as I feel sorry for both of them sometimes, i can't help but love them very much."

As for the title of this post, it's the title of a song by Switchfoot. As my previous post mentioned, i've grown a lot lately. And growing pains come with growth, go figure eh? I've found my coping mechanism to be music. Not playing it or writing it. I have about negative zero musical talent. But when it comes to listening to it and really feeling it. Well I could do that for the rest of my life. I've found that song to be one of my favorites and the lyrics really hit home for me. The title of my blog comes from the song by Pearl And The Beard by the same title. I don't know why I seem to be able to find comfort in music when I really know nothing about it. But it works for me. If i mention a song in my posts, i'll try to include a link to a video or the lyrics so maybe it can work for you as well.

In conclusion, I love my family. I might not always like what each person does, but i'll always love who they are. They are mine. Not perfect, but i don't need perfect. Just them. I hope everyone has had a good Father's Day in one way or another. I know there a few friends of mine lacking a father figure who have been on my mind today and I hope today hasn't been too rough on them. Luckily, I know that they know of the Father who really counts. And as much as I love Keith Clark Homer and as much as i believe he loves me, I'm glad to know that there is a Father whose love for me is as endless and unconditional as that great Mississippi which the Nauvoo temple faces :) See what I did there? I tied two parts of the post together! But really, my Heavenly Father has been on my mind a lot today and I am so incredibly grateful for the outpouring of love I feel from him each and every day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_szOi0fQ5bM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHBsO3jHLfo
First one is for Switchfoot, second for Pearl & The Beard

"Always do right; this will gratify some and astonish the rest."

3 comments:

  1. i love your family too :) do you have access to our bowman blog?

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  2. I. LOVE. perks of being a wallflower. def in my top 10. love love love

    ReplyDelete