What Up, Montee?

Montee is always cold because of his mutation. We even have a heating pad in his cat bed to keep him warm. We also bought him this cat sweatshirt to keep warm. Okay. Not really. We bought him the cat sweatshirt because it is just so cool and makes our cat look like a thug.

"Gotta have faith" -George Michael

Recently, I have been asked to work with the12-18 year old young ladies that go to my church. In accepting this responsibility I plan and participate in uplifting activities with them once a week, help them plan and accomplish spiritual goals as well as build and enhance their talents, get to know them, and give a lesson on various religious subjects once to twice a month.

Today I gave a lesson on faith and more specifically having faith in Jesus Christ. A broad subject for sure, but probably the most important subject to discuss and learn about not only for youth, but for every single person. We discussed a lot about how faith is an action word and how it requires us to do something in order to receive, maintain and increase our faith.

In preparing, I came across a speech given by Richard G. Scott, one of the 12 apostles in The Church of Jesus Christ of later-day saints. Since the Mormon church is literally the same church that Jesus Christ created when he was on the earth, it follows the same organization Christ established, including having 12 apostles.

The speech touched on many of the principles of faith I wanted the girls to understand and practice in their own lives and the above quote said it all.

A few weeks ago I saw a quote on my friends blog, I loved the quote but I also loved the design. So, because pretty things are so much nicer to look at, I took the faith quote I liked from Richard G. Scott's speech and modeled it after the design of the quote on my friends blog to give to the girls so they can remember and apply what was discussed during class into their lives.

Best Friends 4 Ever

I have this best friend. Her name is Meghan. She moved to my small town of Moraga, Ca when she was in 7^th grade. She was so cool, with her baggy jeans and east coast style. Everyone wanted to be her friend, including me. However, it was not until our final years of high school that we became inseparable. Wherever Meghan was, I was, and vise versa. This even continued throughout college where we experienced everything together, including her joining the Mormon Church and a life changing car accident. Everything we have been through together has made our friendship a binding force that can never be broken. Since getting married we are no longer with each other 24/7, as life has moved us a continent apart. However, I quickly learned, this past weekend, that our friendship will never end as Meghan made a huge sacrifice to be with me and my family for my grandma’s funeral.

Having Meghan come to Bay Area was just like the good old days. It felt perfectly normal and just right having her be a part of our family activities over the weekend. After all, we all consider her a part of the family, regardless if she is “blood” or not.

And that is just it, calling Meghan my best friend is almost not even an appropriate title. To me, she is my sister, in that our bond will never end regardless of what life throws at us. We will always come back to each other and never skip a beat.  Even though we do not share a common family, we share life experiences that will forever unite us.

It was great having her there, even though much of the weekend must have been a complete bore. I cannot thank her enough for coming. Thanks Meghan!

Fentons Tummy Aches

The evening of my grandma’s service my family went to get ice cream at an old diner that holds a special place in all of our hearts from all the fond memories we hold dear from childhood.

My dad was Scout Master when we were kids. Each year they would hold a “Malt Drinking Contest” where the scouts would try to drink the most malts (thick milkshakes) at this diner. In order to win the Malt Cup Bronzed Trophy you had to drink the most malts without throwing up in the restaurants. Grossly enough, many did not make it outside the doors.

Even though there was no malt drinking contest this night, it was still fun trying to eat all the ice cream we were given. I have to admit I barely made a dent in mine.

Family Togetherness

With all my siblings living in different parts of the country, it is not often that we can all get together. It is even a more rare occurrence that we are able to get together without our spouses and kids, in fact I don’t think it has ever happened except for this past weekend. Even though I missed Pat like crazy, it was so great to bond with my siblings with out the stress of kids and in the simple unit we experienced as children, just the five of us (minus Kim’s husband Sean who always livens the mood).

Even though each Storm child is so different, we still manage to get along with all our unique attributes. Us all being so different actually adds a lot of dimension to each of our gatherings, I wouldn’t have it any other way.