Guns and Gems

More than a year and a half ago, on Thursday, September 12, 2013 the guy I had been dating for about a month was leaving to head back to college. We had been spending a lot of time together so he asked what was I going to do with myself when he was gone. I am a pretty literal person and often forget to think about other peoples feelings before I speak. My response was simple. I was going to go gun shopping with Derek, he had a ton of guns and said he would help me pick it out and make sure it was a good deal. I had wanted to buy a pistol for about 6 years and was finally going to get one. Being socially inept and not recognizing that my boyfriend might be upset that I was immediately going out with another guy to make a large life decision/purchase, I was quite proud of myself and excited to go shopping. His response was snarky, but now proves to be prophetic. "You're going to marry Derek Brown aren't you." I responded with a "Possibly" and a shoulder shrug. I realized pretty quickly that was probably not the most tactful response, but my honesty often times sneaks right through my kindness filter.

So September 14th comes. I meet Derek at Sportsman's Warehouse. Due to my honesty, my office mate Holly, my recently departed no longer boyfriend, and Kristi Perry substitute and matchmaker extraordinaire, all knew I was swooning over this man named Derek. However Derek did not know, he thought I had a boyfriend. We went in looked at guns, walked around the store, contemplated buying a gun, decided and went to purchase a gun, went back home because I forgot to bring all the right ID to purchase a firearm, met back up at Sportsman's and I bought a beautiful compact 9 mm Smith & Wesson. I loved how small it was and how it fit nicely in my tiny hands. Then afterwards I had a football game to go to with my friends, and I had an extra ticket for someone to go with me. I invited Derek and the day turned into a date. At the end of the night we say goodbye at the door, he tells me that it had been one of the top 5 days in his life. Great it went well, I am swooning. Next, .enter in the good night affection. Nope. All that happened was the most awkward hug known to man. Really though, it was rough. It was a bro hug pretty much. I spent the next few months hoping one of those Brown boys would ask me out. I thought I had already made my move and was going to  wait it out. So I waited. The continuation of this story can be found here. It chronicles how we eventually came to dating. I will say that on date number two we really hit it off, and we have spent pretty much every day since then together.

Yesterday, Derek and I return to Sportsman's. He is headed to the Grand Canyon for a school trip and led me there with a rues of having to pick something up. We were going to meet my mom at Costco afterward for a hot dog because she was heading home from visiting Alison in Utah. I didn't know for sure but I was hoping he was going to ask me an important question. He has been looking for a gun safe for a long time and we always go through that department and open up all the gun safes because its fun and we think we are cool because we know the secret code. He said his mom had also told him that they had safes on sale. We go through and push the buttons on some, but they are not plugged in and don't light up. We head to the one that is always plugged in. I press the code, several times but it is not working for me so I tell him to go ahead and give it a try. He is strangely insistent that I do it. Eventually he makes me open it up and in there is a small pretty box and a dozen roses (that happen to match my nail polish color exactly-which is a big deal because I am wearing 4 different colors at the time.) He got an his knee and said his adorable and romantic shpeal and I responded affirmatively.  His parents had been hiding in a duck blind recording it all so we walk around the store to find them. My mom had also been hiding out in the store and we meet up with her as well.

At dinner afterwards I made a comment about how 'we started there looking at 9 mm and ended up looking at carets.' The one request I had for my ring was that I wanted a ruby as the stone. Derek had done a lot of research and shopping to make that happen. All without me. He corrected me by telling me that rubies, like my rounds of ammo, are also measured in millimeters not carets because their weights vary.  I am not sure what millimeter my ring measures in, but just like my 9 mm it's beautiful, and fits nicely on my hand.

How do we come to know Thee?

I am giving a talk today and have really enjoyed studying and writing it. I posted it below, mostly for my Mom. Enjoy reading! 

In John 17:3 while giving the Intercessory Prayer the Lord teaches his disciples: “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.”

As members of the church and disciples of Jesus Christ our goal and purpose it to seek out and obtain eternal life. While there are many steps we must take to obtain exaltation what does it means to “know thee, the only true God” as we pursue ‘life eternal’. One could restate or logically follow up this question by asking “How do we come to know God?”  

In my home growing up the major portion of our religious instruction was done by singing primary songs. The Children’s Songbook is carefully crafted together and is broken up into 8 sequential parts. The first of these sections is titled “My Heavenly Father.”  Many of you know the very first song as it is a favorite, and it often sung. I am a Child of God. The first thing we must come to know about our Heavenly Father, is our relationship to him and with him. Thankfully many of us remember this song and hopefully this principle is firmly rooted in our being and within our testimony. The next two songs establish the plan of salvation and that the Father lives. What follows after these first three songs in this section are of statistical and spiritual significance. The next 32 songs are about prayer. 90% of the songs in this section are reminders to pray, examples of prayer, and the promises associated with earnest prayer. However this section is not titled prayer, it is titled “My Heavenly Father”

The answer to the question “How do we come to know God” is—Prayer. Life eternal is accomplished through meaningful and sincere prayer.

A simple statement, Prayer has the power to grant us exaltation. For many of us though it is a struggle to consistently pray with that amount of power. We know that prayer has power but what can we do make our own prayer powerful. I would like to outline some elements that give prayer that strength.

 Address and Communicate to our Father

As we pray it is important to remember that we are actually conversing personally with our Heavenly Father. Heber J. Grant had several opportunities as a child to sit in family prayer with Brigham Yong. He described the experiences by saying:

“Upon more than one occasion, because of the inspiration of the Lord to Brigham Young while he was supplicating God for guidance, I have lifted my head, turned and looked at the place where Brigham Young was praying, to see if the Lord was not there. It seemed to me that he talked to the Lord as one man would talk to another.”

When we pray, our Father is essentially kneeling next to us listening. Recognize that he is near and express your thoughts accordingly.

Avoid Repetition

With texting and emails have come a different way of communicating. I often find myself sending quick texts saying I am on my way, I’ll call you back in just a minute, or even a simple I love you. Sometimes a cool picture with a caption might be sent. However considerate, funny, or thoughtful these texts might be, they are not usually personal and it is not how I would talk to the person face to face—a deep, meaningful and lasting relationship cannot be fostered simply on these quick texts back and forth. Consider what you are saying when you speaking to the Lord as if he were present. Similarly to my texts there are often repeated phrases we use in our prayers that are just as about sincere as replying to a text with “LOL”. The use of these phrases are not usually said to be purposely informal, in fact the opposite may be true.  We often use these phrases in an effort to sound respectful and proper in prayer; however it is hindering the actual expression of thanks and what we need. While we frequently ask for food to ‘nourish and strengthen’ our body, consider looking for new words and thoughts that will nourish and strengthen your prayers. Richard G. Scott stated, “Don’t worry about your clumsily expressed feelings. Just talk to your compassionate, understanding Father. You are His precious child whom He loves perfectly and wants to help. As you pray, recognize that Father in Heaven is near and He is listening.”  There are many times when it is appropriate and appreciated to offer a quick prayer text of thanks for a tender mercy you have received. We are taught to pray always and these brief expressions of our heart are part of the constant communication we can have with God. However, said prayers texts should not be your only source of communication to your Heavenly Father. Take the time morning and evening to have a unique, personal and significant conversation with your Father in Heaven.

  

 Eliminate Pride and Submit our Will 

In the most powerful and emotional prayer ever given, our Savior took upon our sins. It allowed mercy and gave us the opportunity for eternal life. From that prayer we know of but few words he uttered, part of that being “nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.”

If we want to obtain the eternal life granted by that atoning prayer, we must speak similarly in our prayers for forgiveness and help. This means offering to Him our will and accepting the life he has planned for us.   Submission of will is key to understanding and coming to know our Heavenly Father. Neal A. Maxwell said the following in regards to man’s submission, that it “includes all of our heart, soul, and mind. The mind must surrender to God too. It is my impression, looking about the world, that there are comparatively more knees bent in reverence to God than there are minds bent in reverence to Him. Such human stubbornness tends to show up in terms of our unwillingness to submit our minds to Him.” 

How often do you kneel, pray, ask for help, and repeat ‘if it be thy will’ but close off in your mind, believing there to be no other conceivable option but your own.  Remember that we do not just pray with our knees but with our heart and our mind. Or as Russell M. Nelson put it so eloquently “Physical position is less important than spiritual submission.”

Be Honest and Specific

Submission of will does not mean you cannot be specific in asking for what you want. In fact as you submit your mind, you will often find your prayers become more specific as you are prompted by the spirit to ask for particular things that you need. He will tell you how to improve and what you need to ask for to get there. Henry B. Eyring spoke about the spirits role in our prayers saying: “In the sacramental prayers, God promises to send the Holy Ghost to be with us (see Moroni 4:3; 5:2; D&C 20:77, 79). I have found in that moment that God can give me what feels like a personal interview. He brings to my attention what I have done that pleases Him, my need for repentance and forgiveness, and the names and faces of people He would have me serve for Him.”

As I teacher I have encountered many children and parents that test my limits when it comes to patience, knowledge, and love. I have found that as I pray, specifically naming the person and what I need, I have been blessed with many a miracle as I respond to different situations.

It is okay to ask for something that you want and it is okay to be answered with a “No”. This does not mean that your desire is necessarily unrighteous, it does not mean that your God no longer loves you, it just means NO.  A prayer with a denied request does not mean it is without power.  Elder Nelson recounted, “When the Prophet Joseph Smith was held in Liberty Jail, he pled for relief. His prayers were answered with an explanation: “All these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good” Consider the power, strength, and knowledge given after this request in the words recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 121. (Which happens to be one of my personal favorite sections of scripture.) 

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To quote the words of one of those 32 primary songs mentioned at the beginning.

“If with all your hearts ye truly seek me, Ye shall ever surely find me, thus saith our God.”

Our Heavenly Father loves us and wants us to obtain eternal life and live in his presence with him again. To do this we must be willing to create a relationship with him and get to know him while we are here on earth. We do this with pray. It is my testimony to you that he lives, that he hears our prayers, that there is power in those prayers that grant us peace, knowledge, and miracles in our earthly life and that through the priesthood and the prayers uttered as we partake of ordinances and make everlasting covenants we can have peace, knowledge and the miracle of eternal life.

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

For Lori- Arizona Summer Update

It's hot. That's all.

Just kidding. I have not blogged for 3 months and theres some updates I guess. This Tucsonan spent 50% of those 3 months sitting on a couch because I was on a non-weight bearing status for the first 6 weeks after my ACL reconstruction/meniscus repair/femoral condile micro-fracture surgery. Some interesting happenings in pictures.

Here I'm pretty high on medication but everyone loves me and came and visited and helped take care of me.

My class pet Spikes also kept us company and provided some entertainment to the bored and home confined. 

This is the giant black brace that makes your leg quite sweaty when worn in June in Tucson. 

I slept in the brace and wore it pretty much all the time. When out of the brace my leg was swoll, but not in the buff gym rat kind of way. 

There are a few benefits to not walking, shopping carts. I would take several trips to stores just to get out of the house. FYI, Target carts were the worst. My favorite stores to ride in were Sportsman's Warehouse and Home Depot. 

I had lots of little visitors at different times. They are cute but it was kind of a bummer because I couldn't get off the couch to play with them. 

I proud moment in the recovery process was when I could bend my knee past 90 degrees. Now I have all my flexion and extension back which is saying something because I have some nice joint hypermobility. 

I also just spent a good portion hanging out on couches spying out the window hoping for something exciting to happen. It never really did. 

In the second 6 weeks I did quite a bit. That will come a little later though.  

Almost Summer

Summer time is time for some fun times. For me this means hanging out all day while I recover from knee surgery so I did something to pep up my life. I GOT A HAIRCUT. A pretty short hair cut and I love it. Here's the before:

And the after

There are 2 more days of school left and I am excited to be done. I am also excited to hang out with my mom for a while as I am laid up for a couple weeks. Bonus for the new haircut is that it should be super easy to do while I am down. 

Color Addiction

We are going to start with my most recent addiction...Fiesta Dinnerware. I would say about a year or so ago, maybe it was only Christmas, I don't know for sure, I went shopping with my mom and we were browsing around Dillard's and I first saw it. I love kitchen things and for the past several years if I receive a gift it most definitely has to do with cooking or entertaining. I had just gotten a bunch of plain Corelle settings, and I love them. They are simple, durable and match everything because they are white. However, if you have ever had the pleasure to be in my kitchen you already know that it is, umm, quite bright. Which actually might be an understatement. When I saw all of the fabulous colors that Fiesta has I was in love and quickly remarked that, that was what I wanted next. Recognizing that it was much more expensive and not going to happen. My mom, in all her wise wisdom told me that they sell them in individual place settings, I could buy one a month until I had as many settings as I wanted. So last month I did. I started by purchasing the lemongrass and tangerine because I was excited and couldn't figure out which color to do first. I went to Kohl's to get it and had Kohl's cash that made the purchase reasonable. Then because that purchase was big I got some more Kohl's cash, then I got an extra $10 Kohl's cash in the mail that was for the same time as the stuff I already had which means when I bought my turquoise place setting today it was only $14.10. Then I had to set my table, despite not actually planning on eating on it. It's so much fun I know now why they call themselves FIESTA, because all I want to do is throw a party. 

While I am at it I will show you some other decorations I am proud of. I made this over Thanksgiving and have meant to blog about it. Once again I love cooking, baking, and eating. All of which is best when you are enjoying it with people you love. Hobby Lobby has giant wood letters, we used a couple coupons to get them. Then I modge-podged a bunch of pictures of me cooking with family and friends and spelled out FUN. The sides and back are painted, purely coincidentally because I didn't realize it until I started typing, the same colors of my Fiestaware.

One bummer about living in an apartment is there is not as many customization oppurtunities, I already illegally painted one wall bright yellow. The FUN wall and my yellow wall are opposite each other and then the sliding doors and my TV are on the wall joining them. I am still not totally happy with the wall, I think I am going to add a valance to the window to add some color, but I do like what I have above my TV. There is our family picture from last year (bright colors once again--I might have had my say in organizing our outfits.) a picture of the Sacramento Temple and then an individual picture of each of the great couples that make up my beautiful family.

So that's my living/dining room. I like it, and will of course keep looking for ways to make it cuter. Right now buy purchasing some more place settings, and then probably a pitcher and some platters.

Oh, No.............ah! eh

Here's another update for you to enjoy and a movie review as well.

First, I had an appointment with the surgeon and I am scheduled for knee surgery at the end of May!
Second, I almost died Thursday night watching the Cats game vs. SDSU. Despite not being a sports fan Derek still loves me. We will see if he makes it through the next two weeks.
Third, report cards got finished just in time and I am ready for the last quarter to fly by.

Finally, LAST NIGHT. Morgan and Char Char Binks were in town for some paramedic class stuff with Spencer. We hung out, went and got fried cheese curds at Culver's and Eegees for dinner. They peace-d out so they could get home and sleep (apparently our friend Chuck has been doing that pretty well). When they left, we were at Derek's and his roommate and some friends were heading to go see the movie Noah. Give it up for me not even knowing that such a movie existed. We hung around his place a little longer and then decided we would join them. Being a typical Maroney woman I was going to fall asleep no matter where we were or what we did so we went ahead.

If you want to know the details of the movie read this. No joke that is what happened, he is not exaggerating. If you don't want to read it just know that the movie was straight up CRAZY. Who knew transformer type rock people aliens protected Adam and Eve when they left the garden. Not me because I fell asleep immediately and missed that part. I'm not quite sure when I woke up, probably about a quarter of the way through, maybe later on (the movie is SOOOO long). This is where it gets good. Derek handed me a bottle of water before we went in and it was just one of those run of the mill delicious but flimsy kinds. When I woke up I was parched so I unscrewed the cap. Then in my sleepiness knocked it out of the cup holder, I went to grab it but  in it's flimsiness my attempt effectively squirted all the water onto my crotch, right thigh, and seat. It was not subtle and we all laughed at the time. Haha, a story about Noah and I am covered in water. They however didn't realize how wet my pants were, or how much water spilled, despite me saying "and my pant's are wet" over and over again throughout the movie. The movie went on for 2 more hours.

That being said I was more comfortable sitting with drenched jeans, in a slightly chilly movie theater, for two more hours, while my skin chaffed from the wet fabric, than the rest of the crew I watched with. I was focused on my clothing issue, they had to actually watch the movie completely focused, with nothing to distract them from it's awful-ness.  

Don't go watch it, and if you do bring a water bottle. Or buy a soda, the stickiness when it spills might give added discomfort. Or maybe some chocolate milk, the movie is so long by the end you could smell like rotten dairy.

I actually really enjoyed my evening because I was able to recognize the comedy of it all as it happened. That and I got to spend time with my favorite people.

SPRING BREAK!

Mostly pictures this time around. I had a pretty great break this week and we are going to go backwards because that's the way the pictures uploaded and I am too lazy to fix it. Today my mother and I had lunch at the Tohono Chul park. While there this little fella decided to nest on the lamp right next to us. It was fun to watch, as well as watch and chat with others who came by our table to take a picture. Mom and I really enjoy eating out side and this was quite enjoyable. I had some prickly pear lemonade and tacos. They were both good but the best part was spending time and chatting with my mom. Last year she spent a couple weeks with me during jury duty. Although I am not looking forward to being laid up in bed after I have knee surgery in summer I think I will enjoy all of the time I get to spend with Mom. 

On Thursday Mom and I drove up to Gilbert to go to the new Temple. In Mom's words, "Gilbert reeks of Utah. Oh, man I shouldn't have said that." But you did, and now it is on the blog. She is absolutely right, and I don't mind because I got to enjoy this deliciousness...so did Charlie.

 

While Morgan and Spencer did a session we watched this adorable guy.





So smug. He thinks he is sooo cute. I can't disagree though, look at him.

 He is so funny as he crawls around. He loved exploring the park across the street.

On Monday I celebrated St. Patty's day by making corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, carrots and rosemary rolls (if you haven't made these, you want to. So easy, yet so tasty) at Derek's. I also headed downtown and picked up some butane fuel because I made, wait for it.......creme brulee. It was delicious and has to be one of my favorite things to make because how many desserts allow you to wield a blow torch. The best. I served it with some sliced strawberries, mmmhmm. 

To start the break off we went down to Sierra Vista, picked up Morgan and Charlie, went to the CAL ranch store, ate free popcorn, and brought them back to Tucson to hang out. Sunday morning we had fun playing and napping before church. Seriously can this guy get any cuter. 

Snuggle Buddy

Oh, and in case the world didn't already know, apparently my closet does now. I went to the store and bought two dresses. I took off the outer tags to wear them and noticed the name brand. That's right the brand is 'I'm in love with DEREK' Bonus!! Let's just say I didn't throw the tags away.