Miriam

I see her in their faces
though lacking lines from years still to come
framed in heavy hair
not as white or wispy soft
Mother's movements look so familiar
the way she softly taps the table with her hands
just as she had done
just like Miriam

As they retell her stories re-retold,
passing them from mouth to mouth, reverently
as one should handle one of her precious quilts
I see her in them

The stories form bit by bit
pulled from each memory
sometimes interjection
correction
on the particular wording
she may have used
even so,
the morbidity
of Big Clause and Little Clause
or the shocking lack of mentality
of dear lil' Epaminondas
is clearly communicated

there's laughter at the accuracy
then tears at her memory

I cannot yet recite her words as they
and my youthfulness does not reveal much resemblance
but I see her
in that ancient skirt
its unusual style for these times
but my favorite to wear

I see her
in my desire and attempt
to sew patches of random old projects
into something to keep someone
warm and comfortable
much time is spent
and every stitch says "I love you"
I'm beginning to understand her

She called me "friend"
and I become my own
friend
as I begin to see her in me

I'm the luckiest girl in all the world

If I were only able to be allowed to be thankful for two things in this whole world, they may very well be:

This is my family.
I can be with them forever.


You might want to click on the picture. It'll show you in detail how beautiful and attractive they are. But then, that's a requirement to be a Francis (or a Lund in this case).

A tribute

to a great fictional character
and a fan-freakin'-tastic muggle.


I saw Harry Potter on Saturday, and thought they did a really good job with it. It's amazing how those books and movies can pull you in, until invisibility cloaks and sorting hats feel like the norm.

Yesterday I saw nazzju, and she informed me that I'm going on a mission at the most perfect of times. You see, the 6th movie came out shortly before I'm going, the 7th movie will come out a few months before I get home, and the last movie will be out a month or two after I get home. So as far as Harry Potter is concerned, it couldn't be more perfect! And as far as I'm concerned... same thing. :)

I'm loving her and her shirt too. "The Guitar is a Horcrux". :D

♫♪ "I want to be a missionary now...

... I don't want to wait til Sep-tem-ber...." ♫♪


I'm sure there are good reasons for me having to wait to enter the MTC for another 52 days, but sometimes I feel like I'm going crazy!! I know the mission will be tough, I know my Spanish isn't even close to good enough for me to survive on my own out there, I know I have more preparing to do. But I won't be alone. I have faith that if I am willing, the Lord can use me to be His instrument and convey the message of His good news, despite my many shortcomings. It's amazing how anxious I feel to go where I've been called to go: to be anxiously engaged in the best cause.


I have a testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. Through diligent study, we can find many lessons which are applicable to us. It speaks of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who loves me and you so much, that He chose to take our sins, weaknesses, pains and experiences upon Himself, suffering and dying so that we can live eternally. Our Heavenly Father manifests His love in everything we have, even our own breath, and especially in the act of sending His Son to fulfill the atonement. God knows each and every one of us by name. He knows our fears, problems, worries, joys, ponderings, and our hearts. Knowing these things brings me joy.

Everyone deserves to know these things too, don't you think?

PS: Speaking of missions... check it out.

"Honeydew you wanna get married?" "Sure, but I cantaloupe."

The cantaloupe was really tasty this morning. And then I looked over at the counter and saw this.
"They were three for a dollar! I couldn't help it!!" -mom

Shoot! I dropped my knork!

Got this off of Jenae Walker's facebook profile. It reminds me of this, randomly.

"...not Louisiana, Paris France, New York or Rome!

But Gary Indiana Gary Indiana Gary Indiana, my home sweet home!!!!!!!!!"

On Google Anayltics you can see how many hits your blog or other website(s) gets every day. There's also a map feature which shows where these hits are coming from. Sometimes I get random hits from random places. Hence my friend whom I named Stan from Bangladesh. He looked at my blog probably just once, and probably by accident. He probably meant to google "Disney face" since that makes so much sense.

Anyhow, I was just posting this because I was recently in Indiana visiting my favorite oldest brother for 2 and a half weeks, and every time I saw the word "Indiana" I started singing that song from the Music Man ("Gary Indiana"). And then I saw three hits from Gary on Google Analytics. I was pretty psyched! Three hits is no mistake. :D

I think all the hits from Bloomington represent me blogging from Indiana, plus all the awesome support I get from Jason and Marcie. :)

I'm also randomly getting a lot of hits from St. Petersburg, Florida. Weird. ;)

Feelin' a little artsy...

This morning I saw an envelope in the trash, with a used liberty stamp winking at me. Before I could suppress the left side of my brain, I instantly thought, "What could I make with that?" visions of collages or cool art projects with used stamps came to my mind. So I clipped it out to save it for later.

The other day I was trying to get my room presentable for some relatives who are staying over (Del and Marylou, Julia, Fae) and as I looked through all the fabric I have left over from different projects I've done, I instantly thought, "Quilt!!" My deceased grandma Ellsworth made hundreds of them throughout her life, and I've wanted to make one for a while now. The best thing is that the fabric I have doesn't match or correspond, which makes my future quilt random, but that's how many of hers were.

It is such a wonderful feeling to create. I love this talk by Elder Uchtdorf, about creating and the satisfaction it brings.

Los Corazones

Today I was on Facebook (Oh, the wasted time!) and realized that I have probably a trillion pictures I've put up, and a majority of them are of me, and a majority of those pictures of me are taken by me, as you can clearly see by one extended arm in every one. And suddenly I felt very vain, a little ashamed, a little humbled. Let me try to explain this silly behavior. I'm not super photogenic, so when a picture of myself satisfies me, I get really excited and, naturally, put it right up on the internet. But with how many of those I've put up, that just continues to show us how much more time is wasted taking all these pictures, assuming most never make it to facebook or the blog, and are deleted. Or some are taken for ransom, and not deleted, which makes me upset. You know who you are.

While looking through these albums of Narcissism, I realized that I pretty much have one and only one pose: I like to make a quaint little heart with my hands. I also realized that this pose is struck occasionally in front of something that one wouldn't naturally be showing love to. Let me show you some examples.

"It's ok if you rip my head off, Mr. Lion. Because I just love you so much! You have such long, sharp, pretty nails! My friend Suzie has about a gazillion (mas o menos) bottles of nail polish. Before you kill me, maybe come over to her house with me this Saturday, and I bet she'd let you pick out a nice color. Not implying you aren't manly...er... " Hmmm. Good thing that conversation never happened. :)
One time a teacher of mine ran into a moose on a highway somewhere in Canada. The results? The top of the car was rolled up like tin foil, tiny bits of glass were embedded in her skin (which she still continued to find after months had passed), and the moose's gargantuan stomach plopping on her mother's lap. That story would be something nice to have for all those "get to know you" games.
In truth, this picture was taken to honor our friend we call Moose.Um... caption? ? ? Hmmm. Maybe a contest. Come up with a caption for this picture, please. The winner gets a hand-hug.

***EDIT***

This made me think of Honduras, and how I'll be seeing huge spiders.  I'm even excited about the spiders!  Can you believe it?!  (Interrobang.) If you're really nice to me, I'll name a tarantula or a bat after you. :)

******

And in conclusion, I found a heart shaped blueberry. :)

...


And in real conclusion, I think it's super ironic that I started this post feeling bad for all the pictures of me everywhere, and then posted more pictures of me. Wow Dianey. You really are ridiculous.

Craig's house

*NOTE* This is meant to be a poem. Hooray!

Dusk.
air pleasantly warm
reminding us of a sun-baked day
steady creak of the porch swing
keeps time for a soft orchestra
of crickets
distant highways
and subtle wind
whispering wisely to ancient trees
your sharp intake of breath*
indicates the first sighting of a firefly
They ignite!
And gradually the field is a vast galaxy of stars
which live but a moment-
just long enough to fascinate
then, stifled out
one by one
in Night's thick blanket.
Darkness.
like nothing happened at all

*Alternate line: "you squeeze my hand/[indicating]"...
which do you like better? Please comment. :)
PS: The title does not imply a romantic relationship with "Craig". Just so you know.

brainstream inspired by a warm summer evening

*NOTE* This is not meant to be a poem. It's just pure randomness.

mosquitoes
heard one doing a free-style trumpet solo
expected his attack any second
if he had already had his fill, he'd have his mouth full
his mouth, which is, coincidentally, his trumpet
as I hear the strains of "oh, when the saints come marching in" I imagine he must be alerting the others of the upcoming social event of the evening
carnival with my blood as the most popular concession
I don't know much about the economy of the insect but I imagine them selling this rusty nectar for much more than its worth--it being so available
if not me
than perhaps another of the 5-point-something billion unsuspecting humans on this planet
I suppose they'd have to charge for all the trouble some brave or stupid soldiers go through in collecting the blood
after all there is the slightest chance that they will be smashed by my flying hand slapping skin
splattering thick life-juice upon my arm and new white t-shirt
leaving me with small white bumps
quickly becoming welts due to the lack of discipline in my scratching fingers
leaving the mosquito fiesta with one less participant

Showers, Presidents, and a Love List

I wish I had a computer in my time machine. I don't know how I could control for fogging up the screen, or water damage, but it would just be nice, because that's the place where all my best blogging ideas come. Usually with the time it takes to get out, get dry, get dressed, and run over to the nearest portal to this pseudo world, I've forgotten many of the things I wanted to say.

Sometimes when I read over past posts that I've written, I feel like this blog naturally has a negative or critical feel to it. I don't mean to apologize for things I've written, as I often feel them necessary in representing what's behind my smiling face. I just hope that people who read my blog, or people in general don't think I'm fake in my enthusiasm when they talk to me in person. That reminds me, it is said that one time someone accused Abraham Lincoln of being two-faced. He replied, "If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?" I've always liked that. :)

Anyway, who cares what people think about me?! [Interrobang.] I think I'm as happy as I seem, and I also think about and sometimes must vent about things. Just like anybody.

Today I love:

Maná (a Mexican band)

running with Suzie (it's an almost-miserable experience without her)

pot o gold cake*

fireflies

driving fast with my arm out the window

my shoes that velcro for no reason

kisses on the cheek from small children

kisses in general ;)

*this amazing flour-less chocolate cake with a layer of cheesecake cooked onto the top. We had it last night for dessert, and Paige left most of it in her bowl. Jason said, "If you don't like that, you're gonna hate heaven. The streets are paved with flour-less chocolate cake!"