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I don't know how I lucked out.

I don't know how I was so blessed to receive the parents that I did.

I saw this and I think one of my siblings wrote it.

Okay, not really, but I wish i would of.

This is my mother.

I recently watched the film:

THE TREE OF LIFE

its changed me. again... as any good worthy film should.

One day...maybe...

My dad's advice about falling in love.

A logo my graphic designer is working on.

www.samdemastrie.com

He is so great!

I loved this quote.

Even though I have a crush on a boy, I feel like I don't 

have walls to my heart.

I just don't know who to rebuilt.

I can build...

just not re build...yet

Confidence..... it has a long life if you're asking me.

Confession are usually always very good things.

We all should experience what Tom Hansen experienced.

Grinch Beat down

Grinch Beat down

____________________________

Even though my parents always spoiled us for Christmas,

We knew what this season was really about.

We were asked to give up some of our favorite presents so

others could feel the joy and love of receiving service.

We were giving gifts and serving others as we tried to 

de commercialize our own Christmas season.

These experiences allowed me to look 

for opportunities to serve on my mission.

Those experiences were very good, and after years away from that full time

service, today it was rekindled.

I flew home on the 23rd, and was greeted in Utah with a chest cold and 

17 degrees chill at night.

Christmas Eve, as my mother and I were making her homemade cheesecake,

OUR CHRISTMAS TREE FELL DOWN!

ha.

Later than night, my nephew and I were rough housing it and 

he fell on my face.

I woke up with a black eye and that  chest cold,

 overwhelming my ability to

jump out of bed.

But I did it anyways.

__________________________________

I went to church with my parents and little brother.

My father was asked to speak.

He is assigned as a branch clerk over the 

Wasatch Care Center. Assisted Care and or Rest Home.

As we walk in, we are embraced by very old smiles and those typical smells.

I feel bad for noticing the scent.

We set up chairs as employees wheel patients in, creating rows instead of pews.

The portable pulpit sits infront of a stone fire place.

The sacrament is prepped on a small round dinner table, where my Father lays the

table cloth out.

There is Christmas music playing from the television, its the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

I begin feeling the spirit, as I look around. There are more patients that visitors.

The T.V. is turned off and we are welcomed to the meeting by a member of the bishopric.

We begin by singing Christmas songs.

     Be near me, Lord Jesus, 

       I ask Thee to stay

      Close by me forever, 

      and love me, I pray.

    Bless all the dear children 

in thy tender care,

And take us to heaven, 

to live with Thee there. 

 My father and little brother prepare the sacrament.

The sacrament is blessed and two gentlemen begin passing it to the congregation.

One of them is an adult, with the mind of a 12 year old. Later my mother 

tells me how much he loves hugs. I wish I would have known that earlier.

I love hugs too.

Later, my father also tells me how smart he is.

The patients on the front row can't partake of the sacrament themselves.

In that very moment, the sacrament and it's meaning is magnified.

It's Christmas, and now it's meaning is magnified.

My father was always about us giving to others that could not give to themselves.

Christmas has always been about giving to others that cannot give to themselves.

And now its Sunday, Christmas. 

The Atonement is magnified in my heart as I watch an older grandmotherly woman helping others.

She gets up from her seat along the side of the wall.

Her back is bent a little, but she gets the bread for those patients who cannot use their hands.

She hand feds them the bread and places it in their mouth.

I think of the stories in the New Testament and

the Book of Mormon.

I think of the Savior,

I am full of emotion as this women feeds the sacrament to those who can't do it for themselves.

Even though this care center is located on the busiest east bench street in Ogden, 

I can't hear the traffic anymore, and I can't smell the 

aged perfumes and scents.

The sacrament ends and I'm overwhelmed by the spirit.

I simply want to cry.

My Father approaches the pulpit to share his Christmas message,

He begins by quoting 

"The Grinch who stole Christmas."

“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, 
stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.” 
― Dr. Seuss

There was more to his message, which was very good.

But today, I learned more about the Sabbath and Christmas,

and the relation that have to each other.

Weeks ago, my parents called me in Connecticut and

inquired what I wanted to Christmas,

and only one thing came to my mind.

I wanted a personal copy of my parents favorite doctrinal books.

My dad bought me Christ and the New Covenant by

Jeffrey R. Holland

And my mother bought me her favorite doctrinal books:

The best gift I received

was the very gift of opening my heart to

renew my testimony of the Savior, that He lives,

and through his teachings, I can return to Him one day.

I love New York City

bad listener

Proof I am an art nerd.

I love stuff like this:

A heart

A heart

Luke 21

Be patient with yourself.

don't demand things that are unreasonable.

But demand of yourself improvement.

Let the Lord help you through it,

He will make the difference.

Examples of Story Telling

I love a good story.

Especially new non-fiction stories.

I have always wanted to be 

a 

conversational artist.

I love people who embrace their own stories.

And they attract other people 

who have their own stories

He comes with something more than rap.

He comes with his story.

yummmm

My gratitude is growing, to understand better that true, real, raw competition isn't with others, but against the little voice inside your head that wants you to quit. Compete against your weakness. no one else can defeat it.

BEST MORMON MESSAGE EVER!

I'm grateful for my mother.

Perchè tu mi piaci (Because I Like You)

Perché tu mi piaci. from CRIC on Vimeo.

public

Lately i haven't really wanted to write anything for the public to read.

I wonder was that is.

I wrote 4,000 words on monday and have written everyday since.

not nothing public... until now..

here it goes.

__________________

Fall down nine times,

Stand up ten.

_______________________

_________________

People say life is short and you need to

live to the fullest, because you never know when you

are going to get hit by a bus.

What are the odds of that?

Make good and wise choices everyday.

Because most of you will have 50 years to reflect upon the

consequences of those choices.

__________________________

_______________

Gratitude to me

is simply

smiling

when

i

don't

want

to.

________

__________________

Recently, I have

been treated like a lady,

which helped

me see, I was never

really acting like

one before.

humbled

that I was

exposed to a gentleman

that demanded a lady

by his simple

presence.

___________________

__________________________

A acquire something new,

something you have never had,

You must do new things,

you must do things

you have never done.

I don't think I even really

know what it means

to do this things

with all I've got.

________________________

___________________

Let.your.past.make.you.better.not.bitter

What is love?

Q: What is love?

It is when you have someone in your mind.
~Caroline, age 7

Love is when two people really, really, really like each other.
~Olive, age 6

A hug and a kiss.
~Peter, age 4

I don’t know … umm i think it’s a duck.
~Lily, age 4

Go to sleep, wake up, and laugh.
~Layla, age 2

I don’t know. I just don’t know.
~Naden, age 9

Marriage, sweethearts, and Valentine’s Day.

~Brooklyn, age 10

Q: How do you know when two people are in love?

Because they get married! They love each other because they just love each other.
~Lily, age 4

Because my heart is growing.
~Evan, age 4

They go on dates. They are together a lot. A lot.
~Carly, age 6

When you like someone and they like you back.
~Avery, age 7

You have to kiss them and then they marry each other.
~Abby, age 4

original source:

www.ldsliving.org

My Dad is an Inventor.

A friend who hasn’t met my

dad, asked me if he had a long

white beard. With that imagery so

many thoughts came to mind.

You remember the father in the film

beauty and the beast.

Haha.

My dad is first a father

and then a husband to my mom.

With her support,

He has emerged great ideas and

that example resonates with me.

I look at each of my siblings.

Each of them have been developing 

their innate abilities to create things they love.

_________________________________________________

When were were little, I believe my Mom stumbled upon 

some purple lightweight fabric, or my dad told her he 

wanted to make a 12 foot kite.

Despite the details, this 12 foot kite was born,

It was two shades of purple and was about 5 feet high.

My Dad designed and my Mom put her amazing sewing skills to work.

We.thought.we.were.the.coolest.kids.in.the.neighborhood.

We actually still feel this way, and we still have this kite.

The kite was so big, it needed a strong string or twine or rope.

Who uses rope to fall a kite? Yes. It’s true, only the Hansens.

We headed up the streets to park where my dad flew this kite

as all 8 of us kids, watched it lift off and soar through the air.

We live very close to a mountain, and so this huge kite did

not need a lot of wind, and when it reached a gust, the rope

would break. and the kite was set free. 

We watched it sail effortlessly through the blue sky. It was only seconds 

after the kite was separated from us and the rope did we fear its destination 

to the ground.

Where was it going to land?

Were we going to be able to recover it?

Each time the kite rope broke, or the kite was damaged from the 

fall, my dad would reinvent the kite,

Soon our kite had stronger rope tied to it,

it was so much rope that it

had to be connected to an powered screwdriver

mechanism that allowed more power to wind or release

the rope, depending on the day, the climate, and

ultimately the weather.

Sometimes the boys in the family 

flew this kite late into the night,

and upon returning, would

discuss methods to add lights to 

our large family kite.

We even made a mini hot air balloon from the same 

fabric, alas, it did not last the way the kite did.

Do you know why?

It did not have a rope or string attached.

The kite had duct tape on many of its corners to 

reinforce the poles and protect it’s flight.

I wondered what would 

have happened

if my dad wasn’t there to help us, He taught us 

how much rope to release once it was up in the air.

I wondered what would have happened if we hadn’t

of reinvent and redone the rope to make it stronger.

Summers went by and we grew up.

Our kite sat in the garage.

It’s still there.

We moved on to a Parasail for our boat.

The commandments are like unto a kite string.

The Lord in his infinite love wants to bless us,

He wants us to feel His love and ultimately

He wants us to experience the life He lives.

Our experience in this life will be full of so many

days where we may not understand why the

“wind” is blowing so hard.

Some days we might not even be 

able to get our kite in the sky..

But remember,

Joy and Happiness are 

our birthright and

The commandments are given to us to

protect us from crashing into unknown and unsafe boundaries.

They are given to us to help us have a higher perspective.

Commandments are given to us to help us feel closer to

our Father in Heaven....

Sometimes we just need to “reel it in.”

As as child 

or even an adult

you may assume 

the kite string 

is holding the kite down 

and as you hold the string you can feel the kite tugging to be set free. 

You imagine that if you let go of the string, 

the kite would soar off into the atmosphere.

But in reality if you let go of the string, what happens to the kite? It plummets to the earth.

The commandments are like the kite string. They appear to others to be holding us down, keeping us from soaring, when in reality it is our obedience
to the commandments that allow us to reach our highest potential as sons and daughters of Heavenly Father.

We are the kite.

the commandments the kite string that

enables us to do and become who he needs us to be.

To the purple 12 foot kite in my parents garage,

Thank you.

To the two parents that some how knew

how much rope to let me ascend with,

Thank you.

To the Ultimate Master Kite Flyer,

Thank Thee For all 

these experiences.

The Parable of the Cannoli

Something happened to me right before

 I got into my first real car accident.

I live in Greenwich, CT 

right now. I have a really fun 

job and I love the area.

Two weeks after moving here,

I had been familiar with

the grocery stores,

the libraries and

the roads.

One night I was at the grocery store,

walking past the bakery..

And there it was starring me 

back in the face.

It wanted me to

take it home.

It was a cannoli

There was no one else around.

No cashier, no sales clerk.

SO MAYBE I DIDNT NEED ONE.

I wanted one so bad, I tracked someone down.

She had never worked in the bakery.

and didn't know the prices anyways,

how was I supposed to purchase it?

SO MAYBE I DIDNT NEED ONE.

She decided to give me a deal, but then she whispered and 

looked around alot, like this deal was a secret deal,

She said 2.50 and piled four into a carton.

And set one aside for herself.

I wondered the real price of these.

I wondered this for days, and soon,

I did not feel good about my cannoli indulgence..

hmm..symbolic.

So I headed back to that bakery to pay the difference.

No one sells a cannoli for 2.50

let alone 2.50 for 4.

As I approached the bakery counter the Bakery Manager came out with two of his employees and

listened to my story

as I explained that I needed to pay the difference.

When I asked him the price of one cannoli,

he said: 3.99

I was obviously in debt to them.

"how much do I owe you?"

"You came back to the bakery to

tell me you owe me?  Your honesty is your payment."

"are you sure? I questioned him.

Yes, he slipped into the back and his employee

asked where I was from.

Utah.

"oh, are you a mormon?"

"yes"

"Was it your mormon honesty

that brought you back

to the bakery today?"

"yes"

He gave me a free cannoli

and I left

repeating the experience in my mind.

Mormon honesty

Your honesty is your payment.

I did not want a cannoli as

payment 

I did not seek praises of man.

I seek honesty with myself,

with the Lord and with those around.

I'm grateful for the ushering of the still small voice.

For he reminded me, small things make a difference.

I have new friends at the bakery, that know

they can count of me for honesty.

This has heightened my sense of honesty.

and I don't buy any more cannoli(s)....

No because of the experience,

but because I don't need them..

This little parable,

this little stuffed shell,

holds a memory in my 

heart for

your honesty is your payment.