A Speacial Day; TEMPLE Day!

So, almost two weeks ago (at the VERY beginning of March) on a Saturday, Ria told me, "It's been a while since we've been to the temple. We should be going to the Temple today! Saturdays are Temple Days." I was very happy to hear such a thing, but had to respond, "Well, today isn't a Temple Day because you have a birthday to go to and we're going to spend the day together as a family after that (Jess was scheduled to have the whole day off, but actually ended up going to work in the evening).

So, when I told Ria that we would be going to the temple this Saturday, earlier this week, I was expecting some joy about the subject. I was not disappointed. She was very happy to have that as our plan for Saturday. :) Then, this morning, at about 6:30am she was in the van ready to go, we were waiting for Daddy to come out from locking up and she said, "It's been a very long time since we've been to the Temple. I'm so glad to go to the Temple today!" I, of course, agreed with her. Then, she suggested, "Would you sing I Love to See the Temple with me while we drive to the Temple? As you would probably imagine, I happily agreed. And we started our trip with that song.

The whole morning was really nice. Jess slept on the way, as he usually does. Kat was up a lot longer than normal, but did eventually konk out. Ria was up the whole time. I actually listened to the radio on the way because I was very tired, needed the help to stay awake, and didn't have any tapes with us. It's really funny about that... ALL of the songs I heard held a really specific message, even spiritual message, for me! For instance, one song told me about the uselessness of thinking about "what ifs". This is a biggie for me lately because I had this dream about a guy I haven't thought of in ages and I've been wondering about him a lot this week. So, that song really spoke to that issue! Then, there was a song about a guy going to ask his girl's Dad for her hand in marriage. And basically this guy realized that he was stealing Cinderella from her Daddy... and that's totally how Jessie feels about his girls dating. He totally doesn't want to think about it or anything. Not to mention marriage! Yikes!!! Another song, one of my favorites, reminded me that I need to prepare a letter to future boys in my girls' lives. It's a song about the main thing the singer remembers from his high school years being the talk a Dad had with him about his daughter, the girl this singer was going to take on a date. The Dad had a shotgun he was cleaning and was talking about how wonderful his daughter was. One of my favorite line is, "She deserves respect, that's what she'll get, now aint it son? Go on and have some fun. I'll be here when you get home, CLEANIN THIS GUN!" heeheehee Well, I love this because I can totally see Jessie doing this. And, quite frankly, I hope he does! I know my family knew I was strong and stuff... but I always wished a little that my Dad and brothers were more protective of me! *sigh* Back to that other song, right!??? :) Anyway, that last one gave me this really overprotective wonderful idea for a letter that I will prsent to the boys that want to date our daughters. Now, mind you, I'm going to be totally cool to them and receptive and welcoming. The letter is going to give them clues on how to be considered respectable by us or NOT. And, based on their behavior, we will know what kind of guy they want us to think they are. Anyway, it's a lot more in depth than that, but that's the gist of it! I know, most of yall think "WOAH, Tori, that's a bit overprotective, don't you think?" And I'll say, "Yes. But I don't think there's a bit wrong with sheltering one's children. There is enough in life to teach them the bad stuff. I don't need to shove them in to it!!!"

My own Temple experience was really wonderful today. I'd actually wondered last night if we should NOT go today and wait for another day next week. I just kept having this icky feeling about going today. I really had a VERY difficult time discerning whether the icky feeling was because of my overwhelming apathy as of late, or because we really should NOT go! I did pray about it a lot and finally got the strong feeling that we SHOULD go. So, we did. And I totally felt, while I was there working, that there were a few reasons I needed to be there. Two reasons were two ladies I had interactions with. One was just so full of sweet, joyful, peaceful LIGHT and the other had the smallest hint of an Australian/New Zealand accent. I asked her about it and she did actually grow up in New Zealand. They were both really strong women, but the lady from New Zealand was a VERY strong spirit. I felt comforted and joyful and so very very grateful to have been in their presence. And, of course, my testimony of Temple work and my faith in my own spirituality was fortified! What a wonderful day!

So, I've been working on some more pieces inspired by Heidi! One she suggested directly, the other is a sort of off-shoot. I'm only going to attach one picture. If you want to see more, you'll have to look at http://torimade.etsy.com/ I'm honestly too tired to sit here much longer. Sorry.

What a great potential Mother's Day gift, huh? Just in case you won't check it out, I have to share that this particular piece was inspired by Heidi, my Mom, and Evelyn! :) Heidi actually told me to make one of these. My Mom... because she's my MOM! duh! Also, because she always seemed to love the flowers we brought her even though she would tell us she liked them in the ground so much better (I actually do this, too, without even thinking about it!!!). And Evelyn because I know she used to be sort of gahgah over sunflowers. Don't know what her favorite flower is anymore, but I was thinking about her anyway! :)