Family Pictures Near the Beach

Thursday Night Activity

When I was in the 7th grade my teacher returned a book report back to me on my desk with a poor grade. As I looked closer at one of her comments I felt even worse. As in most book reports, I had to draw a "stupid" picture (as I would have referred to it back then because I hated drawing). I gave the work a solid effort. Anyway, her comment was "Please try harder. A second grader can draw better than this." Ever since then, and even before, my desire to draw has been stranded. I occasionally will draw with the kids but never continue.

On Thursday night, up by myself and holding down the fort while my wife is at OCMCO (Orange County Mormon Choral) I had a desire to create or build something. I don't really create or build but I really felt like it. I decided I would draw something. I went on Youtube and put in "How to draw a car".

I was then educated for the first time (or least I think it is...I could have forgotten) to the horizontal line 3D triangle. It guided me on how to draw in perspective view. It helped. The picture you see is my attempt. I drew more but these are the only ones I did in my little notebook. The one on the lower half had its front change mid way through because it just worked that way. It was kind of an accident and I just went with it. So...I am drawing. I picked up the pencil today and spent 20 minutes or so drawing with Callie. Not sure how long I will keep this up but it was nice to resurrect something I should have enjoyed as a kid...unmolested from the critiques and criticisms of others.

Shotgun Morning

I am an Eagle Scout. You would think as an Eagle scout that I would be able to survive in the wilderness for months with a shotgun, a roll of string, and the clothes on my back. This unfortunately is not the case. I am likely one of the least prepared Eagle Scouts that you will meet. This is because I did scouts out of obligation and not out of my own desire. I had some good times and some bad. Overall, of course, now that it is in the past I am glad I did it. That doesn't change the fact that I am ill prepared to take care of myself or my family in dire wilderness circumstances.

The whole point behind this entry is to confess that I have never used a shot gun or even gone fishing. The shooting part I took care of this morning. I woke up nice and early, sneaked into the closed state park in Santiago Canyon, drove up to the upper half of the mountain, parked and shot. I say "I" but it was really Ryan who got me to do all those things. Ryan Nicholls a good friend and a person a lot different from myself.

To summarize my shooting experience:

• My shoulder and middle finger hurt
• I hit some targets and, I believe, I hit the orange saucer Ryan flung one time
• I like watching the shells pop out of the gun when I unload
• I enjoyed it. Did not love it but enjoyed it. I did it and that is what is most important. I tried it.

Movember

This is the second time I have sported a mustache. The first was in June and was not well received by most. This time I have not received as much ridicule because there is a greater purpose than my want for facial hair variety. This year I decided to participate in the charity cause that started in Australia 12 years ago. It is, I believe, the largest Men's Health charity event in the world. Much like pink for breast cancer, the mustache is to create conversation and fundraising for men's health issues, such as prostate cancer, depression, etc.

To donate whatever funds, no matter how limited, to Movember please visit the link below.

http://mobro.co/Justinstorm and click "Donate to me" under my picture.

If you would like to find out more about the programs funded by Movember you can visit:

http://us.movember.com/about

I also want you to know this is a more flattering picture of me with a stache. Maybe it is the suit but I did not look this good yesterday. I guess the attire makes it look a little more classy than the hat and casual clothes of yesterday.

I am reading in "The Greatest Thing in the World" book from my great grandfather again and thought I would share some additional insights.

I love this comparison of Paul's explanation of love with the workings of a prism:

"As you have seen a man of science take a beam of light and pass it through a crystal prism, as you have seen it come out on the other side of the prism broken up into its component colors - red, and blue, and yellow, and violet, and orange, and all the colors of the rainbow - so Paul passes this thing, Love, through the magnificent prism of his inspired intellect, and it comes out on the other side broken up into its elements."

The broken up elements being Love suffereth long, and is kind, etc. Pretty cool huh. I will share my favorite bits of soul and mind provoking elements:

"Love is patience...is passive; not in a hurry; calm; ready to do its work when the summons comes...understands, and therefore waits"

"Where Love is, God is. He that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in God. God is Love. Therefore love."

"Humility - to put a seal upon your lips and forget what you have done...Love even hides from itself. Love waives even self-satisfaction."

There are nine elements in all.

Three moving thoughts for your day. Love is so big and so encompassing that to understand it is understand God. I don't know if we will ever really get there in this life. It surely has levels. The deeper we go into it the closer we will feel to our Heavenly Father.

We are all wanting to feel this Love. We are all thirsting for this Love. Whether it be through our friendships, spouse, family, music, movies, books, drugs, sex, food, etc. We are wanting to feel that deep feeling of something in our soul. I find that it is not automatic or easy to achieve. It takes work and it takes knowing yourself. Each of us is unique and, I believe, feel love through different things. Love is somewhat customizable to the individual. Although there are underlying principles that apply to all. The goal for all of us is to understand how to achieve this Love for ourselves. Once this is achieved, at least to a small degree, our second goal will be how to help others experience it.

Yes Love is simple but not really. Love is a lot more than what I think it is. Probably certain elements of Love are simple but to truly understand and feel it takes a lifetime of concentration and awareness.

That is my philosophical thought of the week. Let us all Live it, Feel it, and, of course, LOVE it.

The Greatest Thing In The World

A continuation from my last blog post...I am reading this book that was gifted to my great grandfather "Bishop J. Ray Smith from Heber J. Grant". He served as bishop for 15 straight years I am told.

So this book "The Greatest Thing In The World" is half pamplet and half book. Kind of like a long talk given. The picture above is a close representation of what the book looks like. Anyway, as I was reading this one phrase really hit me:

"Then Paul contrasts it (love) with sacrifice and martyrdom...remember that though you give your bodies to be burned, and have not Love, it profits nothing --- nothing!"

I have spoken with some of you about my personal shift in the way I am approaching my relationship towards God and religion. The above statement along with a few others I have found deeply impact me. My whole life I have approached religion primarily out of duty (I say primarily because their are other reasons...fear, love, to look good, get blessings, etc.). Love is my new goal. I want love. I need love. As this shift has slowly started to take place I have noticed a significant change in my relationships. My life is more real...more me. Others feel it and I think I feel it too.

Anyway, how cool it is that today I am benefiting from a book that was given to my great grandfather nearly 80 years ago. Truth is eternal. Truth knows no time and is pertinent to all.

Jeduthan Averett - My Great, Great, Great Grandfather

I was looking at some stuff that I took when my grandmother died. It really touched me to see these photos of my ancestry and my ggg grandparents. I thought I would share a little bit about the first ancestor to be baptized in the church of Christ in 1833 in the state of Alabama. He served in the Mormon battalion. I kind of wish I named my children after some of my ancestors. Oh well, maybe I can convince my kids someday to do so.

Averett, Jeduthan, a member of the Mormon Battalion, Company D, was born June 12, 1816, in Chesterfield County, North Carolina [South Carolina]. He was baptized about the year 1833 [1843] in Alabama by James Brown and emigrated to Nauvoo, Ill., after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith, having presided over a branch of the Church in Alabama for several years [It was actually not so long as that.] Traveling westward in 1846, he enlisted in the Battalion on the Missouri River, suffered considerably with sickness on the journey, but was healed from being in an insensible condition when about four hundred miles on the way. He wintered in Pueblo, and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in July, 1847. He afterwards went back to the States, resided five years in Kanesville, Iowa, and returned to the Valley in 1852. He worked for Pres. Brigham young for six years and then moved to Springville in December, 1857. Bro. Averett was always known as a quiet but busy man. He died in St. George, Utah, Jan. 12, 1885. [Actually, he died in Springville, Utah, 2 January 1902.]

Source: Jenson, Andrew. LDS Biographical Encyclopedia: A Compilation of Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City, UT, USA: Andrew Jenson History Co., 1901. Volume 4, p. 729.

Kids...everyone should have them

Mariah's First Lost Tooth

Emerson's 1 Year Old Birthday Party

I was reading a book here in my loft, listening to music on my phone, and, in the silences of my music listening to Jannah practice her choral music. She is pretty loud and, apparently, keeping the kids up. I saw a little body moving out of the corner of my eye and it was Norah mischievously looking through the stair posts at her mom. She then saw me, took a quick step to towards her room, saw my smile, put her finger over her lips to tell me to be quiet and sneaked back to her bed (where she was supposed to be of course).

I have had a several of these moments today. Moments that have touched me and caused me to reflect. So here I am again wanting to share these things with Lindsay (my faithful blog follower :)) and the few others who will read this blog. We all went to the beach to see the sunset this evening. Kids played a bit in the water with their Sunday dresses. It was beautiful. In fact, one gentleman stood behind them and took a five minute video because it captured so much of what is wonderful about childhood. The sunset was soft, gentle, and placid.

Back to the title of this blog entry...eveyone should have kids. I have been feeling so much joy in their presence lately. I can't imagine life without them (I know...sounds generic). Each one of my four children add so much personality, flavor, and funness (yes...I mean funnes and not fulness) to my life. I love their giggles, kisses, and childisms. I am so grateful I have them. Yes, it can be hard, but I tell you what, I don't hesitate about our decision to have four. It is up there with the best decisions I have made in this life. Thank you God for encouraging me to have these great little people in my life.

Good feelings can come from Football...

I am sitting here on my couch enjoying the warm comfortable sun of the come from behind, back up quarterback, score in last seconds BYU win over Utah State. It is a good feeling. My heart is full, my stomach still has some butterflies flappin around, and endorphins are flowing. I am not going to summarize the game, for you can go to many websites for a recap of that. I just needed to share my joy with someone. I watched the game by myself (which I actually enjoy for convenience, speed, and focus). The downside of this is I don't have someone with whom I bump chests, hug, and celebrate. My emotional outlet, for the time being, is this blog.

Sports are like life. You put yourself in a situation where you will be hurt emotionally. There is no avoiding this. The more you try the harder you will fall. I have some of the sweetest and most hurtful memories when it comes to my high school athletic career. I have been responsible for team losses and wins in the closing seconds of games. Up to that point in my life the games that I lost were some of the hardest moments of my life. The games where I threw or caught the winning touchdown were similar, although more powerful, to the feelings I presently enjoy. I guess this thought stream is leading me to this thought...you won't be able to enjoy the deepest of joys in life if you don't put yourself at risk to experience the deepest of sorrows. Marriage, child rearing, and careers all follow this pattern.

Just a couple of weeks ago I thought, only for a second, maybe I should stop watching football because I don't like the way I feel right now (the raiders and BYU lost in the same weekend). This is a nice reminder of what is on the other side of the sports coin which is what is on the other side of most coins in life...excitement, happiness, adventure....the list goes on and on and on to quote Taio Cruz...throw your hands in the air :).

I love inspirational quotes. I love them but I hardly ever read them. The internet gives us some of the greatest nuggets of wisdom in seconds...but still I don't read them. Seems pretty silly. I wanted to have some on hand for those moments of, well, loneliness, despair, boredom, hunger. They are good any time but can be a real value when we need them most...I think. I thought I would share some of the ones that touched me most. Enjoy.

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase." -Martin Luther King

"Be the change you want to see in the world." -Mahatma Ghandi

"It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." -J K Rowling

"Little by little, one travels far." -J R R Tolkien

"In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different." -Coco Chanel

"To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence." -Mark Twain

"Life is meant to be a celebration! It shouldn't be necessary to set aside special times to remind us of this fact. Wise is the person who finds a reason to make every day a special one."
by Leo F. Buscaglia

"Imagination is more important than knowledge."
Albert Einstein

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is though nothing is a miracle. The other is though everything is a miracle."
Albert Einstein."

"When everything seems like an uphill struggle, just think of the view from the top"
Unknown

"Champions in any field have made a habit of doing what others find boring or uncomfortable"
Unknown

"What you become is more important than what you accomplish."
Unknown

"No one's happiness but my own is in my power to achieve or to destroy."
Ayn Rand

Breaking Free

I was just writing in an Egyptian journal that my sister in law gave to me over a year ago. This journal has been designated as a creative place for me to express myself. Unfortunately, the journal only has about 10 pages filled and it has been available for this purpose for well over six months. I have not allowed my creative juices to flow for quite some time. Anyway, I was listening to piano music through Pandora and was trying to listen to what my soul wanted. I read an ensign article and wasn't feelin it. I was wanting more. I then thought about a self help book I could read and still felt a little stagnant. All of the sudden I thought "Hey I should draw that lamp". So that is what I did. I got out a white piece of paper and then remember my green Egyptian journal. I drew the lamp. It was feeling right. I then continued on to write about the piano, then music, then writing. To just write creatively was something I have done in the past and enjoyed. I never made it a habit...too many other "shoulds" got in the way I guess. Well, as I was writing about this and how much I liked it I thought about my blog. I thought about how I would like to write some thoughts and just put them out there. It feels good to have other people read what you write but it kind of puts you in vulnerable place. I felt hesitant and had not really done much of it because I was too insecure I guess. I thought I was too good for it or something. I don't really understand all the reasons why but it is the same reason why I wouldn't date a girl younger than me in High School...I was above that or didn't need that. In reality, I think it was because I was too self conscious of what other people thought. Anyway, as I was writing I was trying to understand why I hesitated to write in my blog and I decided it was time for me too leave all of it and do it if I felt like it. So here it is, my first free blog entry. No scholarlyness behind it. There may be a little scholarly tint as I am trying to figure this ole J. Storm out.

Why Classics

I have returned from my slumber. I actually wrote most of this paper 8 months ago but failed to give it the attention it needed to finalize it. This is a peek into why classic literature is at the foundation of our our storm family education (as well as in Providence Academy...official homeschool name).


Why Classics