Shameless Plug: Shelf Reliance Giveaway

So, I hate to do this to you all, but check it out: Modern Molly Mormons is doing a giveaway for Shelf Reliance's THRIVE Q food storage line. (Yes, I feel like a little old bitty for discussing food storage on my blog, but seriously, better safe than sorry, right?)

Here are the deets (AND ROLL SHAMELESS PLUG):

The THRIVE Q is a monthly pay-as-you-go program that allows individuals and families to build a customized food storage plan to meet their specific needs. With the THRIVE Q, customers can now set a monthly budget and receive monthly shipments tailored to their specific taste preferences and nutritional requirements. The THRIVE Q can conveniently be paused or stopped at any time and you can edit your plan as needed. Additionally, your budgeted amount can be easily altered to adjust to changing circumstances. What’s more, the THRIVE Q comes with no contract or obligation. Shelf Reliance knows that a lot of people feel the need to build a food storage plan, but that buying a full food storage supply at once doesn’t work for everyone.

The THRIVE Q helps people to set goals that work with their homes, families, and finances. Here’s how the THRIVE Q works:

• A family or individual creates a customized food storage plan through the Shelf Reliance website (www.shelfreliance.com/Q).
  
• The THRIVE Q “Pay As You Go” payment option is selected.
  
• A monthly budget is determined.
  
• The plan is then divided into monthly shipments (based on the determined budget) that ship automatically to your home.
  
• Monthly shipments and billings are automatically generated until your THRIVE Q plan is complete.
  
• Plans can be paused, altered, or canceled at any time.

The THRIVE Q is great because it promotes the concept of continually preparing while responsibly staying out of debt. It also allows families and individuals to completely customize a plan to their preferences. This isn’t a one-size-fits-all program, which makes Shelf Reliance’s concept incredibly unique. With the availability of the THRIVE Q, Shelf Reliance believes that every family and individual can now build a customized food storage plan at their own pace.

To start your THRIVE Q, visit www.shelfreliance.com/Q. Also, to celebrate the launch of the Shelf Reliance THRIVE Q, you can receive 10% off your plan! To take advantage of this offer, simply enter Q10 into the reference code box located in step 3 of the THRIVE Q Settings page.

(AND END SHAMELESS PLUG)

So, there you have it, folks. In all honestly, food storage is a really great thing to start building, and the giveaway has sparked an interest for me on this Thrive Q thing. Their tagline says it's like Netflix, only with food storage. I wonder how the prices compare to the LDS Cannery's? Anyways, now I can get an extra five entries in that giveaway, so it's all worth giving up some blog space and spreading the word. Check it out!

Miss me?

* No, this picture isn't recent - don't I wish! It's from last March's trip to San Francisco. Oh, how I miss that city. Sadly, I wasn't blogging yet, so I never got to tell the tale of this amazing vacation, but it was pretty much one of the highlights of my 2008. Especially the morning this pic was snapped. So lovely!

So, I know that I'm always saying that I'm so busy - but, seriously, things have been even more hectic in the last month! How I could get busier than I was, I don't know.

Actually, I do know - I cut out a lot of my blogging and Facebook time in favor of pushing hard on some work projects, adding PR for OCMCO into my weekly routine and making progress in some offline life stuff. I wish I could blog half of the stories I have for you, but, well, let's just say they're just not appropriate for the general public. (Oooooh, that sure sounds leading, doesn't it?)

But in the meantime, I'm hoping to get back to the blog later this week. It's on my massive to-do list, which also involves cleaning up everything on the floor that's blocking my closet (so that I can actually use aforementioned closet instead of rifling through the ginormous mountain o'fashion at the foot of my bed on a daily basis) and setting up my spiffy new iMac. Which is new to me, not new in general - a lovely hand-me-down from a generous aunt and uncle (thanks, Tom and Shauna!!!). I'm pretty stoked.

And there you have it, folks. Real posts to come in the near future, but in the meanwhile, keep enjoying the springtime sunshine!

P.S.: Can you believe it's been more than a year now since I started the blog? That Susan Boyle post was on my one-year blogoversary, but I didn't realize it. Wow, what a year. So much has changed, it's mind-spinning! Which seems to be the case every single year. That's just life, I s'pose!

Never judge a book by its cover

Okay, you HAVE to go check out this clip on YouTube (sorry, but they disabled embedding). It gave me goosebumps - thanks, Christina, for sharing!

This is a great reminder that appearances can be deceiving. Never assume you've got someone figured out just for how they look on the surface. More often than not, there's far more than meets the eye. Why is it so easy write people off, based on our snap judgments of them? It's so wrong, and yet it's the natural human tendency. I keep finding time and time again that people seem to be far more amazing than I initially give them credit for, once we take the time to sit down and really talk. There are definitely a lot of diamonds in the rough out there.

BYU to sell caffeine?!

Oh, BYU - back in the day, I'd make mad dashes to Subway or the Crest gas station for caffeine, since every soda on campus was of the decaf variety. Apparently those days are numbered, however, thanks to the economy:


Valley 3 News: BYU Brings Caffeine to Campus from Jimmy Newell on Vimeo.

Okay, obviously, this is an April Fool's joke - but a fabulous one! Hilarious! Check out http://www.provocola.com and give a shout-out to the creators. You can also see the "alternative" soda brand mock-ups there, which are so clever.

(Random, but I totally recognize four of the "students" they interview - I think those guys were in my American Heritage labs, or I knew them from the comms department. For the life of me, I can't remember which, but it brings back fun memories...)

Oh, Paul Anka, Paul Anka...

I love the Internet. You stumble across the most incredibly random stuff.

Like-ah so:



Ummmm... I kinda sorta LOVE this. Just because it's so absurd. No connection between style and substance whatsoever. Totally reminds me of when I went to the Experience Music Project in Seattle a couple of years ago and test-drove recording "Smells Like Teen Spirit" in the recording booth - actually singing it, with my Broadway-style voice. It was so ridiculous, I was doubled over, laughing at myself. Good times.

Ah, Paul Anka. The man can swing. Whenever I hear his name, it takes me back to my Humanities of the '50s and '60s class at BYU (thank you, American studies major, for the most random-but-freaking-awesome classes EVER!!!), where we watched this sketchy clip:



Okay, so the song was actually by Neil Sedaka, a peer of Paul Anka's. To-may-toes, to-maaaah-tos... It's just so awkward, it's almost kinda sorta fab. In a creepy, lecherous sort of way.

P.S.: What on earth is Miss August wearing?!

The Rewards of Creativity

A few days ago on Facebook I posted a great Julia Cameron quote on creativity:

"Creativity is God's gift to us. Using our creativity is our gift back to God."

Shortly thereafter, a few girlfriends commented on there that they're not the creative types. Well, today I saw this video that's derived from Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk on creativity from the October 2008 General Relief Society Broadcast. When I heard the talk six months ago, it thrilled me to the core - I just LOVED it. One of my favorite talks ever! So, of course, I just have to share the video with you:



Creativity is truly amazing. It spans so much - the possibilities are infinite and endless! There's nothing more rewarding than bringing about something of substance or beauty. It's thrilling. There's so much more to creativity than arts and crafts - like being able to stretch a dollar or cook up masterpieces, plant a garden or bring a smile to a friend in need.

As for me, well, I've been really into music lately - the OCMCO concert reignited my fire for singing that had been smoldering embers for a decade - and it's been such a delight, slipping into music nerddom, discovering and rediscovering certain composers and artists. Even music that's not new or unfamiliar to my ears has taken on a new dimension as my brain engages with it more musically, if that makes sense. I'm picking up stuff I glossed over before. I'm loving making up harmonies that interweave with the songs on my iPod. It's too fun.

Then I've also been working on a really, really cool project, and it's sooooo exciting!!! I'm LOVING having the creative juices flowing in a totally non-artistic way, too. It's amazing how when you find something you're passionate about, you're able to get creative with time and restructure your life to accomodate what really matters. I've been lacking in sleep because my mind's just racing a million miles a minute - I can't keep up with myself, lol! And my schedule was already just about as full as I thought it could be before taking on this project (which could easily be a full-time job in itself if I let it). Yet somehow, when it's something that matters, the Lord amazingly expands your capacity. Of course, I'm still in growing pains in that department (i.e. little sleep = emotions a little closer to the surface = leaving a doctor's appointment in tears because of yet more of Dr. P's insensitivity and inappropriateness - long story...) - but, hey, we're all works in progress, right?

Anyways, there is nothing more inherently fulfilling and soul-enriching than bringing into existence something that was not there without us, whether it be a meal or an artwork or, most of all, a child and family (I presume that's got to be the most fulfilling creation of all!). It's so rewarding to make a difference in the world, to better things within our spheres of influence. I love how, as Elder Uchtdorf says, the more we trust and rely on the Spirit, the greater our capacity grows to create. God has the ultimate creative power, and it's such a blessing that He shares it with us when we're working to help His children.

In what ways are you creative? How do you get the creative juices flowing?