Living For Eden

I received an email today from Ryan Shupe & The Rubberband about there being a benefit concert for Paul Cardall. After reading the email I looked at Paul's blog, and wow, he is truly an amazing person! If anyone would like to take a look at his blog, here is the address, http://mytricuspidatresia.blogspot.com/, it is amazing! I also got the following informaiton from the website.

Kurt Bestor, Peter Breinholt, and Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband, along with other talented artists will perform a benefit concert for Cardall on Monday, April 6 at Cottonwood High School. The “Living for Eden Concert,” so named in honor of Cardall’s 3-year-old daughter, will get underway at 7:30 p.m. A silent auction will precede the concert beginning at 6:30 p.m.

“It is a rare opportunity to see these three popular artists on a single stage,” said Jeremy Barron of the Baron Group, another friend of Cardall’s who is producing the concert. “I have produced a lot of concerts, some of which have been benefits. Never has a concert hit so closely to home as this benefit concert. Paul has helped a lot of people through his music, benefit events and work with other musicians. I think I can speak for all of us involved when I say that we are honored and excited to help one of our own.

"Cardall, who was born 35 years ago with a severe congenital heart defect, has been on the waiting list for a heart transplant since last August. He has been limited in his ability to support his family and to meet escalating medical expenses during his prolonged illness. Seeing their friend’s condition, Cardall’s colleagues decided to do what they do best – make music and use their talents to benefit Paul, his wife Lynnette and their daughter Eden.

“Each of us wanted to do something to benefit Paul,” said Peter Breinholt. “Coming together as we are is our way of paying tribute to, as well as helping, one of our own. A hundred percent of the proceeds will go to help Paul with his mounting expenses.”

"I’ve known Paul for many years,” said Ryan Shupe, “and we are honored and excited to help him in his time of need, not to mention we get to share the stage with some other incredible musicians. It’s going to be a great night!

"Tickets for the concert are available online at http://www.livingforeden.com/ beginning Wednesday, March 11th and they can also be purchased at the door the day of the concert. The cost will be $12.00 per person, while those buying groups of five or more tickets can get them at $10.00 each.

Pay It Forward

Okay, I saw this on one of my friends blogs, and I was surprisingly one of the winners, so I thought I would give it a try. And see who actually responds. So the first three people to comment on this I will either make you a treat or try and come up with something creative, I will also try and get it completed this year. So good luck!

The Rules}

1. Be one of the first THREE bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me - something crafty or yummy, who knows?!

2. Winners must post this challenge on their blog, meaning that they will Pay It Forward, creating a handmade gift -anything!- for the first THREE bloggers who leave a comment on their post about this giveaway!

3. The gift that you send to your friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember: It’s the Spirit and the Thought That Counts!

4. When you receive your gift, please feel free to blog about it, sharing appropriate pictures and comments! If you are not one of the Top Three Commenters on this post, you can still play along. Go ahead and start your own Pay It Forward chain, and encourage your blogging friends to do the same!

SO, REMEMBER...Pay It Forward!!!

Finding the rainbows in the storm

I had a really good friend tell me today that you can always find the rainbows in the midst of the storm. She told me this as she handed me a rainbow colored pin wheel. And the more I have thought about that today I have realized that it really is true. You really can find the rainbows or the good things in the midst of a storm, no matter how hard it is. It doesn't matter how small that "rainbow" is, it can be the hug from a friend, a cherished friendship, a mug of chocolate milk, a simple smile, or the love that your family can have for one another.

The last couple of days I have been very grateful for the friendships that I have. I really truly have been blessed with some amazing friends! I want all of my friends to know how grateful I am for them, and I especially want my family to know how much I love them. I have also been blessed with an amazing family! I really could not ask for a better one! I realize that I take a lot of this for granted, when I need to stop myself and let those around me know how much I appreciate them! I feel so loved and I hope that I can always be there for those that I care about.

Also, this last week or so I have been helping one of my friends at work with a project that her sister is doing. I have been typing up Bible studies from some prisoners that are located in Texas. It has really been touching to read some of them while I have been typing them up. It has been amazing to me to see how these prisoners have been able to apply the stories from the Bible into their lives and how we can find the love of the Savior in all things. My friend forwarded me this message that her sister sent to her and this is just another little "rainbow" in my life today.

Dear Sister and good stewards for the Lord,

Praise be to God...for this is the day the Lord has made. Ladies, I must tell you that my heart is full and blessed by the work you have done! Please know that I lift you in prayer and and ask for the Lord our God to pour out of the heavens abundantly into your lives.

I hope that I will always be able to find the "rainbows" in my life especially in the midst of a storm. I also hope that I can always be able to show those around me how much I care about them.

Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirates Life For Me!

For those of you that didn't know, my job is awesome! I love it! I love the people I work with, I love what I do and I have the world's coolest bosses! For Christmas one of my bosses gave us all the present of hosting a Pirate Murder Mystery Party. It was so much fun! It was on Saturday night, my character was Gurgglin' Uma Scarr, the galley wench. And Nick was a retired pirate. Here are some pictures from the party.

Memories in the making

On Friday night after I had gotten off work me and Nick went over to my parents to hang out and also to play with Tyson and Nichole. They are some of the cutest little kids in the whole world. While we were there I was recording Tys and Nichole, because they were so funny! My mom got Nichole a stroller from the D.I. and she would run down the hall and run into Tyson and then he would fall down and he thought it was the funniest thing in the whole world. Here is just some of what I recorded and also some cute pictures of them together.

I love these two so much! I'm so glad that they are my niece and nephew!!!

They are so cute together!

After we went to my parents we were going to run to the store really fast, the weather on Friday night was so cool! There was crazy thick fog, as we drove by the temple it looked gorgeous so we decided to stop and take some pictures of it in the fog. I love living so close to the temple!

My Grandpa, My Hero

So, for those of you that don't know, me and Nick live in my grandpa's basement. It has truly been a blessing to be there, not only for me and Nick but for my grandpa as well. He is so much fun to spend time with, whether it be eating dinner with him, making his dinner, watching a movie with him, playing a song for him on the piano, or just being in the same room with him. Over the last three months my love for him has grown so much for him! One of the greatest blessings of being there is that we are able to hear him if he falls.

A couple of weeks ago, we decided we would surprise my mom by going to her ward instead of ours. Her ward starts at 11 and ours starts at 1, so after we got done with her block we went home to take a nap before going over to Nick's parents for dinner. Well, we fell asleep for about an hour or so when I woke up to my phone ringing and it was my grandpa telling me that he was in the garage and he had fallen. So me and Nick jumped up and ran up the stairs to help him up. It was so hard for me to walk out into the garage and see my grandpa, the same grandpa that would throw me in the air when I was little, and push me in his tire swing, and push me on his bike; lying there on the floor and not being able to get up. Luckily we were able to help him up and get into the house. It was of those times where I was so grateful that we were living with him. I got the overwhelming feeling right then that my grandma was also grateful for us living there with him.

I love my grandpa so much, he really is my hero! He is so strong in so many ways. I have always been my grandpa's girl, and I think I will always be that, no matter how old I get. I hope that he will always know how much I love him!

Brothers

I have the worlds most amazing brothers, I really truly have been blessed with Matthew and Steven! I have such a great love for them! Last night before I went to bed I got 2 phone calls, one was from Matthew, he had won his first basketball game of the season! And the reason they won was because of him! I was sad that I couldn't be there to support him, but I can only imagine how well he did! And then after I got off the phone with Matthew, I got a surprise call from Steven. He was on his way home from work and he just called to see how I was doing, I don't think he realizes how much that meant to have him call. When I got off the phone with Steven I just started to cry because I had an overwhelming feeling of love for my brothers! I hope they know how much I really truly do love them!!!

I love you guys!!!