Girls Camp 2012

Girls Camp

If you haven't put two and two together, I'm LDS. And that means that I go to Girls Camp every summer. The first six years you're being bossed around, having a blast. The next years you're being bossed around watching other people have a blast. No, I'm totally kidding. I love girls camp. Girls camp gave me a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ that I couldn't have gotten any other way. So, here's my week in pictures with a few explanations. Ready, steady, go!

This is girls camp preparation. See, when you're a picky eater like I am - you sort of adapt to your own personal needs. It's not that I'm a picky eater..moreso that I want to make it myself. So, this is what I survived on for six days.

Now, these are my girls camp hand outs! The first is a testimony quote. A "Polish your Testimony" handout. Pretty cute, yes? Next is simply an "Arise and Shine Forth" handout. I really wanted to fill a lightbulb or lantern with some lemon heads. But, these jars were the closest things I could find. And finally are my glow sticks. We typically have a super awesome PJ dance party - glowsticks included. So I attatched glow wands to a Thomas S. Monson quote "If you want to give light to others, you have to glow yourself". I thought it was pretty crafty.

Now these are my decorations. 3rd Level were the grooooovy sixties:) Since we were the only cabin, I wanted to really go all out. Apparently there are only seventies decorations, though. So I had to hand make these babies. Took all day in a house full of nine kids. But, the girls loved them :)

The next are a few pictures of things that happened throughout the week. In no particular order.

Chiggerex PLUS! This little baby would've been marvelous had I not been allergic to it. But, alas, this shows a serious aspect of camp. Bugs!

Mairyn, one of my super awesome girls chipped her tooth. I was just really glad I wasn't a part of that happened, because I would have felt horribly!! It was just a baby tooth, though. Because Mairyn is 14 and still has her baby teeth...hahahaha :)

Oh my heavens. This woman was literally a Godsend! I couldn't have survived my week without her. And how rad are these outfits?!

BEKAH! Gahhhhh, I love this girl. She has grown up to be the most amazing individual I've ever known. She is so amazing, and an inspiration to me every single day! I want to be as kind, sweet, smart, lovely, and awesome as she is when I grow up.

And this, ladies and gents, is my girl Sarah. And I honestly feel like the picture says 1000 more words than I could ever possibly attempt.

Our rad couples picture. This lady. I'm sweaty back because I miss her so much. I'm salty. For those of you who are like "ummm...what the heck?"...I thought that too. Apparently it means "pissed off" or angry...hahahaha. Sweaty back!

GAAAAH. My Syd and Savannah:) I love these little ladies. Two of my Youth Leaders that were assigned to help in my cabin. Miss those crazy girls already:)

And this is Shelby. She has my heart. I love her. Also, I love her hair. This was during the getting ready process for her hair...

And the after...



Look at them ladies. So awesome.

My little seeeeester and I at the new camp!

Can't forget the gorgeous view. Sunsets on the water every night!



See, we moved from our home camp to find a new camp. The transition was pretty difficult, but this made every night a little easier. I mean, who wouldn't want a view like that?

And so, my dears, camp was a success. And now I am signing out.

Peace, love, sparkles and glitter.

I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

I know who I am

I know God's plan

I'll follow him in Faith

I believe in my savior, Jesus Christ

I'll honor his name

I'll do what is right

I'll follow his light

His truth I will proclaim 

And that's all there is to it. Plain and simple, this is what I know and who I am. If you don't like it, that's your problem.

Recently I was put between a rock and a hard place. (That's the phrase, right? I think so.) Anyways,  my Religion was accused of being a cult. And that happens regularly. I mean, I'm a Mormon. People have heard so much nonsense throughout the years and all the facts get blurred with the past and the rumors get smudged in there too. Suddenly, when I say "I'm a Mormon" people think all sorts of nonsense.

No, I don't have six moms. No, the Sister Wives are not of my Religion. No, no, no, no, no. I always find myself saying no. So, instead of saying no, I'm going to say Yes. Yes, these are my beliefs. Yes, this is what I know and live by. Yes, this is my life. And yes, this is fact. You can count on it.

These are called the "Articles of Faith". They are literally 13 facts of what I believe. They're in the back of the Book of Mormon. Here goes nothing. Keep reading, figure out what I believe, go on enlightened, and do not spread negativity about something that brings me peace. This religion is nothing but positive. This religion is the foundation of millions of families across the world. Look at the statistics, we're doing something right.

The 13 Articles of Faith


 

Jesus Christ, my Savior and Redeemer

1. We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.
   
2. We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression.
   
3. We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.
   
4. We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
   
5. We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.
   
6. We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.
   
7. We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.
   
8. We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.
   
9. We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.
   
10. We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.
    
11. We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.
    
12. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.
    
13. We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

To put it simply, in my own words, which is to say my words and mine alone:

I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is more than “just a man”. I believe that we were given Agency and Accountability before coming to this World. We are responsible for our own choices, and will be held accountable for what we do. I know that by living this gospel, and spreading the Good news, through Christ sacrificing himself, I will be able to live again with my Heavenly Father. Through obedience, I will be given the chance to go back to my Heavenly Father. My gospel is not complete without faith, repentance, baptism of water to be forgiven (by the proper authority), and receiving the Holy Ghost (once again, by the proper authority). That authority thing? Yeah, it’s important. You don’t just get to decide that you have the authority of God. That authority was lost to man, and then given back to man. That authority lies with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I believe in the same setup of the original church. I believe in prophets, who speak for my Heavenly Father. I believe that the prophet can speak for my Heavenly Father because of prophecy, revelations, visions, etc. I believe that this man truly is a Prophet of God and is a mouthpiece for Him. I read the Bible the same way you do. There is no “Mormon bible”. There is the Bible, which goes along hand in hand with the teachings of the Book of Mormon. Don’t believe it? Read it and you’ll see. I believe that Jesus Christ came to the Americas and that he will return, a second time, to the Americas. He will reign upon the Earth, and it will be perfect. I will not bash your religion, please do not bash mine. I believe that you are free to worship however you may, however you want, whenever you want. Believe whatever you want. But allow me the same courtesy. I believe in following the laws of the lands, which means adhering to the governments that are set in place. And finally, I believe in being Christlike. That entails, honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, in doing good to all men, and searching after anything virtuous, lovely, of good report, or praiseworthy. I believe in being the best me that I possibly can be. I believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I believe in his restored Gospel, on the Earth that is available to us today. I believe in the blessings of forever families and eternal happiness. I believe, I trust, I know.

Plain and simple.

If you don't like it, don't get it twisted. Go spread positivity or keep it to yourself.

Hugs and Cuddles,

 Lynz

Red Mahogany, My new favorite color.

I'd just like to start by saying

Red Mahogany is my new favorite color.

That's right, this once red-loving gal has officially made the switch. Kind of. You see, I pretty much decided you're allowed to have different varieties of favorite colors. As in, my favorite color is bold, bright, in-your-face red. But, my favorite furniture stain color is officially red mahogany. And if you're thinking it's only my favorite color because of how fantastic the outcome, you're totally right!

See, I have this problem. (Who am I kidding? Every woman with a pinterest has this problem) I get on my Pinterest and pin all day long. And then I never follow through. I have so many DIY projects that I have never even really thought about long enough to figure out how to do. But, I'm not exactly a plan ahead kind of girl. Which must be why this DIY project worked out so well.

Here's a step by step story of my super fantastic, very first time ever, DIY upcycle of an ugly old dresser.

1. First, I'd like to apologize to anyone who likes light wood. I think it looks cheap, tacky, gross, etc. Also, sorry for the junky iPhone pics. Swear I'll get a memory card soon so my awfully expensive camera can be put to some actual use.

So, here I am driving over to a family's house (For those of you who need to know, I'm dog/house-sitting while they're away. It's a mutual arrangement we have. I love it). So, here I am driving down their street when I see this yard that is full of gross, old furniture down by the street. (Also, I'd like to point out how annoyed I was that this stuff was out by the street days before trash-day). I was driving, and I found this junky old dresser that was banged up and pretty ugly. But, I am a hopeless romantic for a lost cause. Besides, it had some potential with the carvings in the front. So, I had my super strong, super handsome, super wonderful, fantastic, awesome husband grab it and throw it in the back of my moms truck.

Meet my dresser, pre-makeover.

See? Nice carvings, right?

So these people I guess got some new furniture and were like "We should just chuck this nasty old stuff" which works for me, because I am a poor newlywed and free furniture is great.

So I found it, and I decided to dive headfirst into a pinterest DIY, staining a dresser.

Here's a step by step of how we did it, pretty much.

1. We took out all of the drawers and sanded the entire thing down. (Also, Matt got this super handy sander that's like the cutest little thing. It's a whole other world inside a home improvement store...)



 2. I assume that you probably are supposed to put some pre-stain stuff, or paint & stain remover over the wood. Maybe some wood conditioner to get it nice and perfect before staining. But, newlywed budget, I just skipped that step.

To be completely honest, I did buy some of the paint & stain remover. However, I didn't even open it.

3. After sanding, I pretty much just...opened the stain and got straight to it? Matt bought this super nifty sheep's-fur applicator thing, which I loved loved loved. And I just started spreading the goodness all of the dresser. First the top, then the sides, then the front, then the drawers. Totally covered all of them in stain, only one coat.

You should know a little bit goes a very long way with Stain.

Also, excuse the nasty blonde in my hair. I need to get it done, bad. Also, I look terrible. Don't judge me.

I covered the carport concrete with a super ugly sheet that we had lying around so that it didn't stain my concrete and leave big ugly marks. After staining, I left it to dry. But in this NASTY NASTY NASTY humidity, it took like 2 days, and it was still sticky. So I had Matt just bring it inside to dry in the AC.

4. After that, we just added some really nice coppery-gold handles to the preexisting holes for lovely handles and knobs, or the terminology of your choice. Also, I had to fill in some holes from extra preexisting handles (the handles they had were really weirdly sized, and there were no handles that matched in size). I probably should have used wood filler, but I really like the roughed up look for furniture. So, I just used my spackle. Yes, I know, that is dumb and not ideal. But I love spackle and will use it for anything. It's like WD-40. You can use it for so much. I just stained over the spackle. It's a little darker, but the new handles mostly cover those holes anyways. So I think it still looks pretty decent!

And, voila.

Sanded, stained, and handles applied.

One brand-spankin-new dresser.

All from someones ugly old leftovers.

And so I apply my new motto.

Your trash could be my treasure.

Who's ready for an after picture, after all that rambling??? You are? You are?? You say you are? Okay. Let me show you!

BAM. I mean, seriously, BAM. Is that not so gorgeous?

Also, did I mention, the red mahogany color I stained matches PERFECTLY for the big dresser I got (for 30$ off Craigslist - BOOYAH) Seriously, this was just too good to be true. First DIY upcycle - SUCCESS.

Just look at that. Sigh. Okay, thanks for reading the ramblings!

Hugs, love, sparkles and glitter!

Lynz

Welcome

Hello out there!

This greeting is to those of you who've taken a leap of faith and started reading this blog. And if you're wondering why, I say leap of faith because I'm not exactly easy to follow, nor am I the ideal informat for the things I'll typically be informing you lucky lads of.

And so it begins. Once, for a Creative Writing course (led by an educator extraordinare, by the way), I wrote a poem entitled "My Thoughts are Nothing but Incessant Chatter". That's pretty much what this blog reminds me of. My incessant chatter, going on inside my too busy brain, getting out there for someone to read and possibly relate to. So, here it goes.

For those of you who do know me, I apologize for the all too thorough introduction. If you don't like seeing people talk about themselves, close the window now and proceed to Pinterest or Facebook, the poison of your choice. For anyone else out there, who may not know me but is, once again, taking that leap of faith, here we go!

1. My name is Lyndzie A. And I am a paranoid, anxiety ridden, jumble of fun. I was married in January of 2012, although my drivers license still reads Lyndzie F. (Yes, I know, procrastination is no bueno. You do what I do then tell me you have time to go change your license). Also, yes, that is really how I spell my name. And in response to your comment on the spelling, I say to you, I had nothing to do with it.

2. I am an English Major at the University of North Florida, an animal lover, and a Dr. Pepper addict. No, really. Without it I get migraines. It's bad. I am not a "Grammar Nazi", more of a Punctuation Person. Also, spelling. Get your spelling straight. I am the epitome of hopeless for animals. I adore them, love them, can't say no to them. Sigh. So cute.

3. I am a Latter Day Saint (or Mormon). It is my life, my light, my strength, and my joy. I have strong convictions to go along with my beliefs, but I will not push my beliefs on anyone and will try not to as much as possible within the walls of computer screen/my blog posts.

4. I am married to the man of my dreams, Matthew. (Who, by the way just interrupted me for a kiss. He also tried to read this blog before it was finished. Sorry babe! You'll see it with the rest of the world!) He is my whole world. My best friend. The love of my life. Here's a super cute picture of us on our wedding day.

I know. We're cute, right? Back to it.

5. I have a Generalized Anxiety Disorder. I also have battled with severe depression for years. I am open about it and will answer any questions gladly. You should know, I am unforgiving when it comes to insensitivity of Mental Illness. As long as you know that, we're cool.

6. I am in love with Utah. It is my favorite place in the whole wide world. And not because of the overwhelming (which is really not as overwhelming as you think) number of Mormons. To those of you who know me, this may surprise you, I love the outdoors! I love the mountains, the fresh air, all of it. It's home. Even though I've only lived there for a handful of months. Sigh, I'll be back soon Utah.

7. My family means the world to me. I have three brothers and one sister, along with two sisters-in-law. Family is life. Love it. All day, every day.

8. I'm running out of things to say because I don't particularly enjoy talking about myself. Bleh. I like pictures, history, art, and lace. I love Pinterest and DIY projects. I am a baker, in a Winn Dixie Bakery. A cook, in the home of L & M. And a nanny to nine of the cutest children ever. Also, I love School. If I could be in school forever, I would be. School is where I belong.

9. If I could do anything in the world, I'd be an Animal Cop that owned and ran a No-Kill Shelter. I'd live on six acres with horses and a dog to sleep on my porch. My porch would face the West so I could watch the sunset. I would also drive a jeep Wrangler. And Matt and I would have 16 babies, that would all be girls. Well, not 16. But a few.

10. I have an old blog that you can check out here. It's old, but you can ch-ch-ch-check it out.

Anyways, that's it for the get to know me. So, here's an update of my life in pictures on what has happened recently. Get ready for cute overload, followed by sad overload, followed by happily ever after overload.

1. Right after my birthday in April, I found my dream kitten. I have always wanted an Orange baby. His mama lost him, I found him, and I raised him from a tiny baby bottle. Meet Oliver.

2. Shortly after finding little Oliver, I was contacted about fostering a mama cat and her four babies. World, meet mama and babies. My home was infested with cuteness for months on end.

 

 3. As the kittens slept all the stinking time, they went from weight about half a pound to about three pounds each before all finding new homes with friends and family of mine. Meet the crew. This is Froggie. He was so named because he had a leg deformation that made him walk like a frog. Also, he jumped....very very high.

  

Ah, sweet Oliver. Both Froggie and Oliver moved in with my cousin for her twelfth birthday. Yay babies finding a home together. My sweet green eyed boy, Oliver.

Ah, and this, my sweet readers, is Aria. Who found a home soooo spontaneously with a dear friend. She was such a pretty little girl. And the only girl, out of all five babies.

Ah, Rosco. Sweet, sweet Rosco. If I ever wanted a boy cat (which I dont, because I don't like boy cats) it is this little sweetheart. He slept with me every night. Sweet boy loved to cuddle. Cuddling, the way to my heart. Rosco.

And this is Eva M.J. Max Junior. Until about one week before M.J. left, we though he was a she and called him Eva. That must be why he was such a meanie. Once we realized this she was a he, M.J. became much much nicer. Max Junior was named after the family cat, Max, who we had as long as we've had my little sister :) Anyways, M.J. and Rosco went home with one of the families I nanny for. Nothing makes me happier than knowing that these two are with each other, safe and happy, in the arms of a sweet little girl.

 All of my babies went to their new homes as of June 29th. And then it was just L, M & Odie. My sweet cat. Well, not so sweet. But she was very sweet when the kittens first left because she was lonely. Super cuddly. Never wanted to let me go. (Insert totes adorable picture here).

*Her eyes are not always this big, she is much cuter. Also, she is a polydactyl. AKA, she has extra toes. Best. Christmas. Present. Ever. Except my Engagement ring. Props to Matthew for the best Christmas ever!*

ANYWAYS. All four kittens went to their new home, and the same day I took in four preemies. Recently, there was a pretty drastic rainstorm/flood. I'm thinking the mama got scared, went into labor early, and then threw up the dueces. A friend found these four babies and brought them to me, knowing I was the best chance that they had.

They were teeny. I mean, teeny teeny teeny.
July 1st, 2012. Lucky, Squirt, and Skinny Minnie all passed on.
I cried. All weekend.
I knew it was probable that they wouldn't make it. However, I was hopeful.
They were just too early. And they went on to live with my Grandma. At least, that's what I tell myself.

And Champion, a real trooper, is left. He's a fighter, a champ, a winner. He's fighting with everything he has to survive. He's loud, he eats a lot, and he's very wiggly. All good signs. With a whole lot of luck and prayers, he just might make it. And then he truly would be my little Champ.

Here's another picture of the little guy.

And that's what's up in my neck of the woods.

Welcome to my life.

Hope you'll come back by soon.

Hugs, cuddles, sparkles and glitter,

Lynz