JESSE

I have always admired my cousin, Jesse Bushnell. She is solid in the Gospel, smart, beautiful, incredibly talented, has a wonderful sense of humor and is immediately liked by all know her. I admired her so much, that when I was a little girl, I named my favorite doll, Jesse! (To this day, my family and I lovingly refer to this doll as, my Jesse doll.)

My childhood memories are flooded with images of Jesse. When we were six, we liked to pretend we were twins. We both complained to the other about piano lessons and wondered if we would ever be as good as our dear Grandmother. Jess and I would spend hours at the kitchen table drawing pictures of our dream homes. She and I traveled together to Europe, alone, at age 12. A favorite memory is sitting in our hotel room in Florence and "helping" each other pass the art test our Grandmother had prepared. (Nana wanted to be sure we were actually learning from our countless museum visits.) As little girls, we fantasized about our future and believed we could do anything!

Jesse's first love and passion has always been art. I was 11 years old when Jess first told me she would grow up to be an artist. When she found herself at BYU, Jesse headed for the art department to cultivate her talent. She studied hard and has lived in New York, served an LDS mission in Fiji and traveled to Ghana. Sketching and painting along the way.

Yes, I admire many things about my fabulous cousin. However, one of the things I admire most, is the fact that she is living her childhood dream. She is an artist. She persevered and made it happen. Her art has been showcased in various arenas and has most recently been featured in the July issue of the LDS magazine, The Ensign. The full text Jesse's experience in Ghana can be found here on page 40.

I love Jesse's art and a few years ago, she gave me the below painting of Christ as a birthday gift. It will always be among my prized possessions. Not only does the image remind me of the love my Savior has for me, but it causes me to think of Jesse and her quiet example. If she can fulfill her childhood dream, so can I.

HAPPINESS

I have always admired Dennis Prager and completely agree with this. Take five minutes and watch.

KEYS

After my visit to Williamsburg, I decided to stop in Richmond to see my dear friends, Brittany & Brian Richman. I met Brittany in my last class at BYU, Basic Food Prep. (I'm still working on those cooking skills.) She and I then worked and lived together in Las Vegas on the 2004 Presidential campaign. We both eventually made our way to Washington DC and the White House. I lived with her a little over two years and my DC life wouldn't be the same without her.

I was a little distracted during our visit (Britt shared some very BIG news) and I accidentally locked my car keys in my trunk...Ooops! Darn Baby Chuck!

We called someone to break into my car so we could simply pop the trunk and get my keys. A fourteen-year-old-looking guy arrived and was able to get into the car through the passenger door. Yay! Only problem was, when we tried to pop the trunk, it wouldn't open. By this time...the car alarm was blaring and my car and gone on the defensive!!! (Sorry neighbors!) Apparently little Heidi (yes, my car has a name) was able to sense that someone was trying to break in and maybe even steal her! The fourteen-year-old-looking guy shrugged his shoulders and said, "Yeah...um...I think you guys need to call a locksmith to make a key for the trunk."

Round two: We called AAA and a very nice man, who rolled up in a somewhat shady looking van, proceeded to make a key to get into the trunk. Only problem was, none of the FOUR keys he made worked! The nice man then drove his shady looking van to his boss' workshop where they made one last key.

Three hours later, my car looked like this and we finally got into the trunk and retrieved my keys. Also, the alarm stopped going off every time we opened the door.
When midnight rolled around, I was finally heading back to DC. Although the night turned into quite the adventure...I was happy for the delay. I love spending time with Brittany and Brian. They're two of my favorite people!!!

DUCK BEACH

If you are LDS, single, and live on the East coast, Memorial Day weekend is a big time of year! Going to Duck Beach in the Outer Banks of North Carolina has become a yearly tradition for many people. For more details of this extravaganza, read this article in The Washington Times or this commentary from a friend. Both will give you a better understanding of all that is Duck Beach.

I have spent a Memorial Day weekend at Duck, and decided to skip the "main" activities this year. Instead, I drove to the Outer Banks, early Monday morning, in hopes to avoid all the riff raf, er, I mean crowds. No, really...all I wanted was a few relaxing days at the beach. North Carolina is beautiful! I always enjoy the drive.
Here I am with my beach buddies T. Liu, Steph and Joni. We had such a nice day sitting on the beach. We talked, read, listened to music and went on walks. However, the highlight was when I met two guys from Pittsburgh, PA. My little brother is serving an LDS mission in Pittsburgh, so I had to ask if they knew Elder Segura. They did! They play basketball with him each week!!! Yes, the world is, indeed, that small.
The weather turned cold and rainy, so Steph and I decided to head back to Virginia Wednesday morning. First stop on our little road trip? Sonic! We could have made our own commercial!I have always wanted to visit Williamsburg, Yorktown and Jamestown. We drive right by these settlements on the drive from NC to VA. Steph has already been to the historic triangle, but agreed to stop for a quick visit. We wandered around, had lunch and were asked twice if we were sisters!I had the BEST turkey sandwich at The Cheese Shop, downtown Williamsburg. Honestly, it was amazing!! Be sure to stop here for lunch if you're ever in the area! Oh, and if you order a turkey sandwich, ask for the house dressing. Yum! (Okay, enough about my lunch.)

theWAREHOUSE

ETIQUETTE (noun) rules governing socially acceptable behavior

I'm a huge proponent of good manners. You know; saying please and thank you, writing notes, taking off hats when indoors or for a prayer, offering to do the dishes when someone else makes dinner, not interrupting or speaking over others, men opening doors and standing up when a woman enters the room, having a napkin on my lap at every meal, saying, "bless you" when someone near me sneezes, waiting to eat until everyone has their meal, etc. My list goes on and on. In fact, I'm a big fan of this. Although, a little out of date...President Washington has some excellent words of wisdom. However, I wish he could have foreseen the technology of today and give me a little advice...

Question: What manners are expected in the wonderful world of blogs and Facebook? How do you say, "thank you" when a person leaves a thoughtful comment on your blog or says something complimentary about a photo on Facebook? I want to tell people, THANK YOU, for saying such nice things...but, how do I do it? Do you comment on the same blog posting? If so, how do you know the person you're thanking will see your words of appreciation? The same is applicable to Facebook.

Not sure how I feel about all this "indirect" communication.

Am I silly? Maybe a little...