Copy Cat Idea--COMPLETE

In a past blog post I shared my copy cat pinterest craft. 

It is complete. I like it. 

Thanks to my sister, Kami, letting me take this frame from her that she wasn't using. 

Yay! I'm so happy to have this finished!

Pinterest-- Really cute! Let's be honest, better than mine....

 Mine--

The 'H' Didn't turn out the color I had first planned (a brighter/lighter turquoise) but I still really like it.

Success in my book!

Something Good

I wanted to post something that I didn't agree with and that annoyed me.... 

But I decided to post something that I do agree with and makes me happy instead. 

This guy is cheering me on for making a good decision. Thanks guy.

 

This is share-worthy.

I have read a few blog posts from Greg Trimble's blog and liked them all. This one was really good as well! 

I like what he says about "The Real Fight"--It's something I've been also thinking. People lately seem to be getting caught up in contention. They are fighting each other or arguing things that are not important. And in doing all of this--someone looking in from the outside, I would think, wouldn't see what the Gospel message is all about but instead would see what Satan is trying to accomplish-division, hate and negativity. 

So, stop fighting. 

Stop talking about the negativies and start talking about the positives. 

Don't bring to light the bad, but show the good. 

Those are my thoughts.... Below are his. :) 

 

"Why Mormons and Evangelicals Should Be Friends" 

-Greg Trimble Blog

March 27, 2014 By Greg Trimble 

 

" If you’re reading this article, it’s either because you’re Mormon or Evangelical…or you’re like one of those kids at the school yard that is surrounding the two kids yelling “fight, fight, fight”. Honestly though, the endless rhetoric between Mormons and Evangelicals about faith and works or other points of doctrine should be laid to rest so that they can join hands and fight the real fight. I’ll tell you what that real fight is in a minute…

Let me see how accurate I can get when summarizing how many Evangelicals feel about Mormons. I may be way off but I’ll give it a try anyway…

[Theoretical Evangelical] –  A lot of Mormons I meet are really nice but I feel sorry for them. They are so misguided. They’ve been led astray by a false prophet named John Smith. And oh my goodness, their missionaries that ride around on bikes and knock on my door right when we’re about to sit down for dinner are so annoying. They think there is only one true Church and that they are it. They think that everyone else is going to hell if they don’t join the Mormon Church. They have their own Bible and don’t believe in the same Jesus that we do. But they do really take care of each other… and their families are really important to them, and the one’s I’ve met have been really nice.

[My Mormon Answer to this Theoretical Evangelical] – We don’t have another Bible. We love the Bible…and we also love the Book of Mormon which is an ancient record that was buried on the American continent. It was discovered by a man we consider to be a prophet and his name is Joseph Smith…not John Smith. Trust me when I say that I know there are a lot of annoying Mormon’s… including missionaries…but heck…there are annoying people in every religion right? The reason we knock on your door sometimes is because we really want to share something with you that we don’t think you’ve heard in it’s entirety. We don’t want to take anything away from your faith. We just want to see if we have anything to add to it. We don’t think you’ll go to hell if you don’t join the LDS Church and we believe in the Jesus that is found in the New Testament. If you don’t like what we have to say then we hope we can be friends!

Then somehow the discussion changes into a Bible quoting debate about faith and works, the nature of God and the Trinity, and whether Mormons think they can become gods or not. But seriously… Mormons and Evangelicals may disagree about some various points of doctrine, but by and large, they are really not that different. They love God, and love their families, and try to help people at every opportunity. If we contend against each other harshly, then the adversary will gain ground on all of us. He knows that if he can distract all of the God fearing people for just a moment, that he will be able to assemble an army capable of destroying religious freedom worldwide and in the United States. If that happens, we won’t even have the freedom to debate with each other. 
We’re all on the same team and we really need to remember that. 


I hired a non-denominational Christian guy by the name of John Rowa (he said he doesn’t like to be called Evangelical) a couple years ago and we’ve become great friends…at least I think so. It was one of the best decisions I’ve made in business. I see him bumping the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in his office. He calls it “Mo-Tab Monday”. We talk religion all the time and have a bunch of fun with it. I listen to 89.7 KSGN and Air 90.1 (Christian radio stations in Southern California) almost exclusively and probably half of my music collection is Toby Mac, Switchfoot, and even a little bit of Kirk Franklin. My kids have grown up singing along to Mandisa and Matt Redman instead of Katy Perry. Like Matt Redman, we also have 10,000 reasons to glorify God. We go to the skating rink on “Christian” night to be around fellow Christians. We love them all for their desire to worship God and glorify Him. We just happen to believe in a few additional theological ideas. I don’t see any reason why those additional ideas should put anyone at odds with each other. Especially when Christ said,

And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us. And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us. (Luke 9:49-50)

I don’t believe at all that there is anything wrong with a healthy theological conversation about points of doctrine and interpretations, but when you become so angry at another person because of their beliefs, you’ve really got to evaluate where that spirit of contention is coming from. Respectfully disagree if you need to, but come together in the end.
Many years ago the LDS prophet Joseph Smith said,

“The Saints can testify whether I am willing to lay down my life for my brethren. If it has been demonstrated that I have been willing to die for a ‘Mormon,’ I am bold to declare before Heaven that I am just as ready to die in defending the rights of a Presbyterian, a Baptist, or a good man of any other denomination; for the same principle which would trample upon the rights of the Latter-day Saints would trample upon the rights of the Roman Catholics, or of any other denomination who may be unpopular and too weak to defend themselves.” (History of the Church, 5:498–99)

More recently Billy Graham stated on the “The Hour of Power”,

“I think there’s the body of Christ which comes from all the Christian groups around the world, or outside the Christian groups. I think that everybody that loves Christ or knows Christ, whether they’re conscious of it or not, they’re members of the body of Christ. And I don’t think that we’re going to see a great sweeping revival that will turn the whole world to Christ at any time. What God is doing today is calling people out of the world for His name. Whether they come from the Muslim world, or the Buddhist world, or the Christian world, or the non-believing world, they are members of the body of Christ because they’ve been called by God. They may not even know the name of Jesus, but they know in their hearts they need something that they don’t have and they turn to the only light they have and I think they’re saved and they’re going to be with us in heaven.”

Mormon’s believe that there will be many religions on the earth during the millennium and that it is important for us to support each other regardless of the specifics of our doctrine, which brings us back to the beginning of this article.

What is the real fight?

Right now as we speak…governments, groups, and coalitions are combining together against 
religious worship as a whole. Not against, Mormons or Non-Denominationals or Baptists or Catholics but against religion as a whole. If we fix our time on contentious arguments among believers, and lose sight of what is really important, we may not have the ability to express our beliefs in the future.

Dallin H. Oaks, an LDS apostle just stated about a month ago that people of all faiths should  ”insist upon our constitutional right to the free exercise of our religions,” and that “we need to support the coalitions of religious leaders and God-fearing people who are coming together to defend our nation’s traditional culture of belief in God and the acknowledgement of his blessings.”

I personally love to hear what other people believe about God. If you hear someone express their belief, it’s ok to question them…but always respect them and “instead of raising your voice…improve your argument”. Reasoning from the scriptures and talking about Church history can be fun, and if you can do it calmly and respectfully, it will help others understand where you are actually coming from. The more we know about each other and our faiths, the more we can come to love each other…and we will need that love and unification if we are going to be able to stand against the monster that is coming our way. "

MK Nature Center- CHECK

Last night Cade and I had FHE plans and then we ended up making new plans spontaneously. 

Don't make fun of us. We went to the MK Nature Center dressed up as if we were going to the temple. 

Because...that was actually the plan.

We wanted to walk around the Temple grounds--and even for just walking around the temple grounds I knew we didn't need to get this dressed up, but had us all do it still.
This confirmed: The temple and temple grounds too, are closed on Monday. So, that was sad. We thought it might be closed, but we also thought, "nooo, the temple grounds will be open, it's just the temple that is closed on Mondays...."
So, like I said, I felt like maybe we were getting a little bit too dressed up for just walking around the temple--but we were DEFINITELY way too dressed up for the MK Nature Center. We went anyways, because, when you go to Boise from Nampa for something, you don't turn around to travel 5:00 traffic back home. And the MK Nature Center kind of sounded fun.. We went. And even though I felt like a goof, it was still fun!

Don't let this look fool you

 

Squirrel! 

Last year

Last year when we took Aleah we saw a deer there. Since we didn't see any deer this time, we took a little drive.... And we found some! Up in the foothills. We also saw a wolf. Don't laugh at us... Haha. Okay, because we sound like dorks claiming we saw a wolf when it was probably just a coyote--We saw a coyote. But, I still think that's cool. I had never seen a coyote before.

When we turned back to head home we found a herd of deer off the side of the road and in the lot of a house that was being built. So we pulled over and showed Aleah the deer. 

 I like spontaneous little adventures. Deer might not be exciting to someone who seems them often, but 

1. Everything is more fun when you are showing a child something new

and 

2. When you don't see deer too often, it's kind of fun.

WOLF! :)

A good family night! 
Next time we will try to dress more appropriately for the adventure.

DEAR FUTURE MOM | March 21 - World Down Syndrome Day | #DearFutureMom

This video is so sweet! I was on the verge of tears before it even started, I knew it was going to be good. I fought them, I fought those tears!

I hope you watch this video and love it.

A happy Down Syndrome Day to my sweet Sister-In-Law, Autumn. (Friday. Because I started this Friday and am now trying to finish it.)

This is a little story about how I got to know Autumn. It's also mine and Cade's love story. 

Oooh, you are in for a treeeat! :)

I can't be too sure when I first saw Autumn and I'm not sure when I first saw Cade either. I might have seen Autumn around stake activities when I was younger. Autumn is only about a month and a half younger than me and one grade below.

And Cade I probably saw first at the church playing basketball. I was either a freshman in High School or
somewhere around 7 or 8th grade. I was at the church basketball games a lot because my Dad was the Stake Athletic Director, sometimes I would help run the scoreboards. (I had zero complaints about those Thursday nights by the way.)

But I remember one night, Cade's parents and sister came to a game and I observed Cade with his sister.
That might have been the point I decided I liked Cade a little bit. I know I definitely kept my eye on him my Freshman year in High School. He was a senior when I was a freshman--even though he graduated with my
sister, was somewhat in the same circle as my brother who was one grade older than me.....and even though I remember getting in on a conversation he was apart of with one of our mutual friends.....He to this day can't say he ever noticed that I existed in High School. Story of my sad and awkward high school life--It's okay little Breanna, life gets soo much better after high school!

Anyways, back to Autumn. When she was freshman and when I was a sophmore, I was a peer tutor in one of her classes. I was so excited about getting to know her--well, and yeah..I thought her brother was cute too.... I was only in there for two weeks and then I got a different room assignment.

Cade went on his mission and came back two years later, I graduated high school...Cade dated, I dated....(not each other)...but during this whole dating scene, he has now mentioned, this is when he noticed my existion (that is not a word).

In August of 2009, on a Sunday, at a friends mission homecoming we officially met. Met--as in, I already knew who he was and he was near me so I just started talking to him and he wasn't freaked out that I already knew his name.
No pictures in the chapel rule? Oops. Took this picture to send to my brother who was still on his mission. But, it's kind of a permanent part of our story now....so, sorry to everyone in the picture who never wanted to be apart of our love story this much. Ha.

The next Sunday Cade walked in to church (a singles ward I had been going to and one he was checking out) with one of his friends at the same time and we sat by each other.

Later in that week, Autumn came into my work. I was working at a daycare and she was in a transition program that allowed her to go to a job site and help out for a few hours. Coincidence? Seriously, the timing... It was crazy. Cade and I were dating not long after. Autumn would come in two times a week and I would steal her to be in my classroom and she would tell me cute things Cade had said to his Mom about me. It's possible he didn't actually say those things, but I ate it up.;) I got to know Autumn really well that semester and missed her when she got switched to a different job site.

Autumn is always so sweet. She teaches me lessons all of the time. 

She taught me somewhere between 1-2 years ago about being quick to forgive. That was humbling. 

And a few weeks ago she told me that she was tired and said, "It's a good
tired though". With a confused look on my face and wondering, can being
tired ever been a good thing, I asked her what she meant. She said it
was from being so busy with church stuff and family things. "It's a good
tired". She is so positive. She knows how to count her blessings and that life is not to be taken for granted, even when it's tiring. 

She is special. And anyone who is
blessed to have a spirit like hers in their family is beyond lucky! I'm
so glad she is my sister!

2010 Buddy Walk

2013 Buddy Walk

Autumn speaking at 2012 Buddy Walk

I went in to labor with Aleah just a few hours after the 2012 Buddy Walk that Autumn spoke at. We like those buddy walks. And that Autumn.

And then holding Aleah the next morning before church

Our First Home

Our first home..

September 2013

It has taken me awhile to post about our new home. I have wanted to share it here for awhile, but not until recently did we get two extra seats at our dinner table and extra sofa's to help our one sofa look a little less lonely.

Aleah's room didn't seem necessary, so I'll leave that out. Also, the extra room is always messy and it's just an extra boring-kind-of-room, so there isn't too much to show of that one.. And our bedroom is in need of some night stands and organization.
So this is what you get!

Before "New" Furniture 

Now, our extra room that we use for the tv/computer/play room has a couch in it too and we don't have to do this (blankets and pillows on the floor) to have a movie night. :) By the way, this picture is deceiving...she doesn't sit anywhere for more than two seconds. We just got the picture quick enough.

 And After "New" Furniture

Our living room with our new (to us) sofa, love seat and "over sized" chair..:)

Don't be surprised though if you come over and our sofa looks more like this though. I mean, isn't that really what these things are for? Holding laundry that is waiting to be folded.

No? Not at your house?...oh...

The night Cade, with his Dad's help, (thank you Father-In-Law!) brought home the couches, he had just rolled his ankle playing a basketball game at the church. Oh church ball....I have mixed feelings about you... 

We are breaking in the couches with plenty of dorky Hansen family pictures. 
You're welcome.

And then my sister let me take this cute little table off their hands. I love it.

I'm pretty stoked that I can now invite friends and family over and be able to offer them more than two seats in our kitchen to sit. Or one sofa to fit everyone on. 

Woohoo! This is exciting stuff.

But don't surprised if you come over and my house looks like this..... 

I can not clean a house as fast as Aleah can destroy one. :)
And well, to be honest, I'm not very organized myself.:(

In our backyard.

A year and a half old- next month? She looks so much older to me here!

Fun at the neighborhood park.

Taking a walk..

If you read my blog from a previous blog address, you know already, I didn't enjoy house hunting. I only loved two houses that we looked at and both happened to be in Nampa, this is one of those. 

I wanted a simple house in a nice neighborhood. Somewhere I could take my daughter for walks and not feel nervous. The above picture was taken while I was having one of those....."ohhh, this is exactly what I hoped for and it's happening" moments. Taking a walk in the back of our neighborhood, discovering cool spots.

We had six months on our apartment lease left when we started getting the itch (or push) to look for houses again. It's funny how things fell in to place, or didn't, and lead us here. 
And actually we did like three homes I guess. The last home that kind of brought us to this point was a town home. I fell in love with it. It was in our ward boundaries, cute, and in a safe looking neighborhood, in Boise... But we couldn't pull the trigger fast enough. We couldn't get a hold of the right people. I had a few questions on my brain that made me hesitate... And then it was sold. Thank goodness in the end though. 

I went back to zillow and searched Nampa homes. Probably just because I wanted to look at some cute houses in our price range. The homes are cheap here. And cute! Cute for cheap! But when you are looking for a home in the Boise/Meridian area, a lot of people will show their disapproval for Nampa and try to convince you that you don't want to buy there. Our realtor though, never tried to convince us to stay out of Nampa, if anything she helped me to consider it more. I still tried to avoid it. I didn't want to move here. But, after we missed the town home, I searched again and then I found two homes in a neighborhood worth just checking out. Not too far from a home we had put an offer on a year before (this was the first home I loved and was pretty bummed about being out-bid on). We drove to the neighborhood, decided we really liked one- (not this home), and another one (the home we actually ended up buying) was...at least still worth checking out. 

We went, I think, the next day with our realtor to both homes. This home, we went to first. Immediately, I LOVED it. I can't put my finger on one thing exactly, but it was perfect. I didn't need to look at the other house, I was already talking with Cade about the offer. We still went and checked out the other home that I had first thought I would like more. It was a short sale. It was bad inside. That was that. We made our offer that night on the first home and it was accepted not much later, maybe the next day or two.

Everything worked out in the right way and right timing. 

This home has been SO perfect for us. Our neighborhood is great! I love the area we are in. I can't speak for ALL of Nampa, I'm not familiar enough with the whole city, but where we are at is good. There has been some interesting crime activity near our intersection....but it really hasn't bothered me too bad.. I feel pretty safe here. Cade left for a month for work just after we bought this house and I never felt really too uneasy the whole time he was gone. A lot of people in our neighborhood are in our ward. And we are really close to shopping, restaurants and freeway access. I definitely have more positives to list about Nampa than I do negatives. I could even go on about how much I love the cashiers here. Seriously. Weird. 
Nampa is GREAT. 
Come be our neighbor, there are quite a few homes for sale or lots available!

And use our realtor.  

Sharon Walker <Link here>
She was GREAT!!!

Bullying - Stop It (+playlist)

 I really loved this video.
When it comes to being bullied, I never had that issue. But,
I know I was hurt a couple of times by some
things that people said and I know I said things that hurt others. I
still as an adult do say hurtful things about others. I said
something the other day and knew it was inappropriate and rude before
the words left my mouth; after I said what I had, I looked back at my
daughter and felt sorry that I had set such a sad example. It's only a
matter of time until my daughter picks up on those things.. That isn't
the example I want to share and definitely not the mom I want to be.

This video made me think about myself and the example my daughter has. It
made me think about my daughter and how I want her to be treated by
others. And it also made me hope that I can teach (but again, it comes
down to my own example) my daughter how to treat other people. 

This is a really good message for any person. 

And you NEED to watch it. :)

"The Merciful Obtain Mercy"
-President Uchtdorf