Moments That Matter

A week and a half ago at church we had a lesson in Relief Society on the General Conference talk by Dieter F. Uchtdorf called "Of Things That Matter Most". This is probably one of my fave talks of all time! I especially love the way it was summed up in a Mormon Message called "Moments That Matter Most".

If you have any extra time I would highly, hiiiiighly recommend going and reading the talk. Or if you just have a couple minutes then watch the vid down below. Either one leaves you feeling like you can take on life with better perspective.

Sometimes we get so caught up in the stresses of life and the busyness and the stuff that we don't take time for what really matters. Take time everyday to enjoy life in some way or other: seeing something beautiful, hearing a great song, eating some really good food, accomplishing something, laughing. Whatever it is helps you feel happier. It brings more peace and meaning to life. Who doesn't want that?

My favorite quotes from the talk are:

"There is a beauty and clarity that comes from simplicity that we sometimes do not appreciate in our thirst for intricate solutions."

"We would do well to slow down a little...focus on the significant, lift up our eyes, and truly see the things that matter most." (this was also in the video)

If I could quote the entire talk I would. It's so good!

From the video I liked these quotes that were used:

"Moments are the molecules that make up eternity."

-Elder Neal A. Maxwell

"It is not so much the major events as the small day-to-day decisions that map the course of our living."


Now go out and enjoy that life you live!

Four (Semi) Quick Takes

1. So, yesterday I was going to finish doing permanent resident paperwork stuff (well, finish what I can - I still have to wait for a police certificate to be mailed and to go to a medical exam in two weeks :/ ) by making copies of stuff at Staples and getting two more passport pics taken at Walmart. 

The workers at the photo place said they had to lighten something or other on the camera because "my face was tan".

My face was tan. 

That's probably the only time in my life anyone's said I'm tan. I told them this and they said, "well, everyone we take photos of is Canadian so they're pretty white".

That was pretty awesome.

2. Also, yesterday was the first time I went driving around in Calgary by myself. Okay, it was only for a couple blocks and I still got a bit turned around, but I DID IT! (as nephew Rocky would say :)

3. Since I've been here and not had a super pressing sched to attend to I've been doing a jog/walk thing most everyday...about 4 or 5 times a week. I didn't want to get lost so I stayed pretty straight then turned on a street I recognized and then went to another corner I recognized and turned again until I did a big circle and got back to the house.

Yesterday I found out how long my jog/walk circle was.

3.3 miles. 

Okay, don't laugh if you think this is nothing because it's really good for me and if you're impressed then Thank You!

4. After going to Walmart and Staples yesterday I saw Petland and decided to go in and check what animals they had inside.

Not to buy one. Just to make me smile.

Do you ever do this? I think it's awesome.

Mark has realized there are a couple ways of cheering me up - let me look at kittens or puppies, but esp kittens and get me something sweet (ex: chocolate, ice cream, chocolate). He did this when we got back to Calgary after being in BC and the reality of the move set in and I was having a semi/full on melt down. My husband took me to Petland to look at kittens. He totally gets me.

Anyway, so I went to Petland and they had these little kittens in the back you could see through the windows. They were almost three weeks old. There were six from one litter and they were all playing with each other and it was so cute. I smiled. I laughed. It made me think of the kitten I used to have. My rescue kitty. Dinah. She now lives with my brother and his wife because they love her and I was moving around too much. She needed a stable environment.

Here are some pics (sorry for the overload - you might not find these as great as I do) of her when she was a wee one. These are actually the first night I had her. By her size and the way her eyes looked she was probably around two to three weeks old.

Fierce. 

A bit older.

Eyes went from blue to copper.

She loves climbing in plastic bags and wearing them.

She's def a Halloween cat. Almost all black.

Okay. Probably everyone has seen this, but it just shows how cute kittens are. Now go get lost on youtube watching kitten vids.

Labour Day

I know, I know. Two blog posts in one day. Too much! Oh well.

To finish off the weekend on Monday was Labour Day (yes, they have labour day in Canada and they put a "U" in it) and we got together with Mark's mom, Dave, Tanessa, and Mercedez who were watching our nephews, Crew and Rocky, while Chelsea and Steve were out of town.

We went to Peter's Drive In. It's near downtown Calgary and they have burgers, hot dogs, fries, onion rings, and (what I think they're best known for) milk shakes. You can get a shake in probably almost any flavor you could want. Oreo, please.

Then we went down to where this old mall is. It's not too huge and a little ghetto. We were mostly walking through until we saw a cool little store and stopped to check it out. Crew and Rocky didn't think it was as cool as the escalator, which they rode up and down until everyone looking in the store was ready to go.

Then we went to this nice park that was outside the mall and walked around. There was a river by it that the boys loved throwing rocks into. It kind of felt like a mini Central Park because we could see all the big buildings from downtown right next to the park.

Left: Rocky saying "cheeeeese" / Right: Crew going down

Mark isn't throwing Rocky over the side. He's showing him the ducks.

Okay, now I have to stop wasting time and go work on permanent residency stuff.

Faces of Doxy

This past weekend Mark's sister, Chelsea, and her husband, Steve, went out of town and asked us to stay at their place to watch their dog, Doxy (I'm not sure if this is how they spell her name, but it rhymes with Roxy so I just figured...).

She's an Old English Bulldog and even though she looks full grown she's still kind of a puppy, which means tons of energy. 

She also makes funny noises like a mix between a growl and a whine.

She has many looks. There's the underbite with both fangs out. There's snaggle tooth with just one fang out. When she's been running around and playing a lot and gets tired her tongue becomes super long and hangs out of her mouth like car-azay! Then one of her funniest faces is when she's relaxed or tired and she sticks her tongue out a bit. It never got old.

Her coloring is really pretty. Black/brown with gold highlights.

At the dog park.

Running around/jumping with Mark at the dog park.

After dog park. See -- very tired.

Upside down vampire teeth.

Relaxing.

Hope your weekend was as fun as Doxy's.