Comment on Family Pictures.....

Last month my parents were in Pocatello for Jenna's graduation from ISU (go Bengals!!). Since we were all going to be together my mom thought a great idea would be to take a family picture. This means my dad hauls out his camera stuff and takes the pictures for us. While this sounds like a great idea and all, it really wasn't because Gayle (my mom) had forgotten to mention this to me, or DJ, and she had mentioned it to Jenna but she forgot. The problem was that my mom wanted everyone to wear white shirts. Nobody has white shirts. So I'm in Old Navy the night before I was going to Idaho with a dying cell phone trying to figure out what kind of shirt Jenny would want (easy) and what Jenna would want (extremely difficult and painful. I may have let a swear word or two slip out).

Aside from white shirt issues, the weather was also a problem. Since May in Pocatello is fraught with snow and rain, it was hard to find a sunny day to work for us. We kept pushing picture day off hoping for better weather until we were down to crunch time on Sunday. Unfortunately this was the worst day out of all of them. It was freezing and wouldn't stop raining. When we finally had a break in weather my  mom said maybe we should go do it. We were all grumbling then we decided maybe we should wait. And then Jenny started hollering around about how she did a facial mask that morning and so there better be pictures. Since Jenny never hollers (she's learning though) we decided fine. We'd go.

Here are the results:

We started out at Bartz Field until we got rained out. Jenny didn't realize my dad was using her to focus his lenses.



Puppy was being wrangled and didn't want much to do with me.



We were cold. It started raining. Let's be honest.

We went back to our house to take pics on our covered deck. Some of us recommended that earlier in the day but some people didn't think that would be a good idea. 

Dad was wrong-it was the perfect place to take our pictures. And I guess the white did look pretty good.

Of course we had to bust out the hat. I tried to tame my hair so I wouldn't look so much like Slash from Guns'N'Roses. Did it work?

Dad didn't quite get DJ's vision of his hat picture but you they still turned out good for the young lad

Jenny posed like a professional. It's as if she was supposed to be in our family or something....

Jenna is always flawless-it's hard not to hate her.

Kody-a man and his step-dog.



Sisters! Also you probably haven't been able to tell but it was pouring rain behind our pics.


That's all for the Mills Photo Shoot 2011. Apparently we're doing another one at Christmas.
We're all supposed to be wearing white shirts and khakis.
Seriously?



Comment on my change in attitude......

So I have yet to blog in 2011.

And now it's June.

I'm a few months behind.

I got a bad taste in my mouth for blogging due to reading other people's blogs and getting into that bad habit of comparing myself to others. Also some blogs are just plain annoying and I KEEP READING THEM which then causes me to get more annoyed which I then reacted to by shutting my computer off altogether.

But I'm over it now. Oh, I'm still bugged by some blogs but it doesn't affect what I have to say. I still have comments that I need to throw out there... I just can't stop myself anymore!

Comment on why I believe......

So I've been feeling that I should write this post for a couple of weeks now. I don't really mention religion on my blog, I don't know why-I consider myself to be a religiously spiritual person. But I'm mentioning it now so that's all that matters.

I've been a member of the Churc of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints since I was baptized at the age of 8. I was raised in the church because my family belonged and their family belonged and so forth. I have chosen to remain in the church because I know this is the only true church on this earth that contains the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the proper authority to perform all of the ordinances necessary to become like my older brother Jesus Christ and return to live with my Heavenly Father after I die. I also know that the Book of Mormon/Bible/Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price combined with the continuing revelation received by our Prophet and his counselors and apostles helps me be prepared to receive those ordinances. I also know that it's through the ordinances I've made that I have the gift of the Holy Ghost or the Spirit which is God's way of communicating to me things I need to be taught or what I need to do in this life.

It sounds easy when I write it down in a few simple sentences, but living the gospel is hard. If it was easy everyone would be doing it and we'd all be perfect and we wouldn't learn anything. I have a hard time trying to align myself with the teachings of Christ. I'm not perfect by any means. I forget to read scriptures, I gossip, I swear, I complain, I don't do nearly as much service to others as I should, and there are tons of other things I struggle with, but I know that Jesus Christ provided an atonement for me so that I can repent of these things and strive daily to be better. I hold myself up to a high standard, that of becoming like Christ, but I can't imagine a better person to want to emmulate. I realize that it's a lifelong process but I'm in this for the long haul so I've got to work on it.

Because this is a lifelong process I haven't just prayed one time to know if the church is true, or to know if Thomas S. Monson is the true Prophet of God, or if the Book of Mormon is true. Every time I read the scriptures or listen to the words of the Prophet, I say a silent prayer that I will know that what I'm learning is true. I have consistently felt the Spirit let me know that it's true. It's all true. If I didn't believe it was true than I would be out partying and sleeping around and doing whatever the 'world' says I should be doing. But time and time again my beliefs, my testimony if you will, are/is renewed by the Spirit that what I'm doing is right.  

So when those times come (and they frequently do) when I feel completely alone in what I believe, I pray, and the Lord lets me know that He is aware of my struggles and He lets me know that what I'm doing is right for me, and that I'm not truely alone because He is with me.

And that's why I believe.