Divine by Design

The Indianapolis and North Indianapolis Stakes got together and put on the most fabulous Young Women expo.  It was held the night of the broadcast, so our young women and mothers could come enjoy the expo, dinner, and then stay for the yw broadcast.  What a night!  It was an amazing production and I'm so lucky I got to take part in all the fun.  

Divine by Design

The Purpose: To strengthen the self-worth of each young
woman. As she comes to understand more who she is as a Daughter of God, her
testimony of Jesus Christ will grow stronger, her confidence in righteous choices will
increase and her desire for a knowledge of “anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report
or praiseworthy will increase.

To achieve this purpose we will have a fashion show and hair show to show the YW
beautiful, modest choices in clothing and accessories. We will have booths with a
variety of topics that the YW will be able to leisurely roam through:

Personal Progress Online
Scarf's and Service: Make your own and one for the "Dress for Success" program
Hair Accessories
Mother/Daughter Manicures
How to Make Clothes Modest
Hair
Nutrition and Fitness
Eyes and Brows
Education: Life after High School
Divine by Design Boutique (with over 100 modest formals to choose from)

My job was the "how to make clothes modest" booth.  Cody, Jaden, and I headed up the night before to set up the booth.  I had a few friends join me the next day to add their cute outfits and expertise (thanks girls!).  It was a lot of fun seeing everything come together.

:booth open - ladies in action:

 You may be wondering "why the tiara, Camille?"  Well, the next part of the evening was a fashion show on the runway!  Each ward was represented by 2-3 young women.  First was the hair show, then casual wear, Sunday dress, and then the laurels modeled modest prom dresses.  A few ladies modeled their wedding gowns at the end... including myself.

So here I am getting my hair done up.  These hairdressers seriously rocked the house!  They had been on their feet all day long doing 40+ girls' hair and somehow squeezed in a few minutes to throw mine up into a fun criss-cross something or another.  Never seen anything like it, but it was fun!:)

Hannah represented the GW2 Beehives.  She did such a great job and strutted the runway with total confidence!

 

 Heather represented our Mia Maids.  She is such a doll and was so patient while waiting to get her hair done.  By the time it was her turn, she had missed the final dress rehearsal.  She was darling up there!

Sophi owned that runway!  The babe of the laurels.  She looked great in all her outfits and represented GW2 like a rockstar!

Lastly, was the bride show.  There were three of us.  The other two had been married for about a year each, so I kinda felt "matronly" if you will:)  It was fun to put the ol' wedding dress on again and revisit those wonderful memories.  Can't say it wasn't a little nerve-wrecking though! 

:caught back stage:

 I brought my wedding bouquet with me (the one I used at the open house we did in Wyoming).  Thank you Mom C. for having it made for me.  It was fun tossing it at the end of the runway:)

Our good friends, Nate and Jessica Brooks, did a mini-concert that night as well.  They did such a stinkin' good job!  They are both so talented and it was a blast jamming out with them.

I wasn't able to check out the dinner spread, but thought I would share the cute cakes they served that night!  Love them!

The entire night was just so fun and I'm glad I got to participate.  So much work went on behind the scenes.  We have some amazing yw leaders and young women in our area.  I've been able to catch up on the yw broadcast since then, and I enjoyed every bit of it.  So uplifting and renewing.  Our leaders are truly inspired.  The meeting was centered on the 2011 mutual theme, the 13th article of faith.

We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men.

President Henry B. Eyring talked about testimony... how to nurture it, how it grows, etc.  He talked about how our choices affect our testimonies and how are testimonies affect our choices.

check it out

Pictures courtesy of "the dance images dot com."

spring break

Cody's spring break was pretty low-key this year.  He had some well-deserved "chill time" and loved every minute of it!  We had made plans to hang out with our wonderful friends, Paul and Kyla, over the break.  They are going to dental school in Ohio and have a daughter about Jaden's age.  We always love our time with them!  We were so looking forward to seeing them, but unfortunately their family came down with the flu last minute.  Such a bummer!  We're excited to hopefully see them this summer though.

So with March Maddness starting up, it wasn't hard to keep busy... more like entertained!  We had high hopes for our Aggies and cheered hard for them through the first round.  Jaden had fun strutting his Aggie pride.

On St. Patrick's Day, we made our traditional green chili with lime wedges and avocado.  

Can't forget the shamrock sugar cookies!

That week happened to be our annual scout spaghetti dinner and cake auction.  The money goes to support our scout's high adventure trip.  I had fun creating a strawberry & blueberry shortcake trifle.

We failed to take any pictures, but we ended our break with another fondue night at the Beck's.  Didn't think it was possible, but I think we might have outdid ourselves from our New Year's Eve fondue night.  Rachael made a delicious cheese dip for breads and veggies.  We'll have to see what we come up with for next time!:)

Hope everyone is enjoying their Spring!  Now if the temperatures would just notch it up a bit:)

I went to time out.

Have I mentioned I have the BEST sisters... EVER!  That's right.  EVER.  They have been my role models since day one.  I have always looked up to them and always will.  With my oldest sis moving out and gettin' hitched when us little ones hadn't even hit our teens, we never really had the chance for some good ol' girly time.  Not to mention we've been on opposite sides of the country for the past 8 years!  Needless to say, we were all itchin' for the sisters to get together.  So.... we all went to time out.  Time Out For Women (TOFW) that is!  It took place in Nashville, so Marianne flew in from Seattle and spent a night here in Indy before our road trip down to Tennessee to meet up with Christine.

:love them:

When thinking what I could make us for dinner that night, all I could think of was the childhood days when Marianne was enthralled with her mashed potatoes.  Maybe my memory is skewed, but I'm pretty sure the mashed potatoes were always conveniently positioned next to her plate for Sunday dinners... like every week.  Oh, and the spoon was also pointed towards her for easy access after the prayer.  I think I now understand why she always volunteered to mash those potatoes every week!  So... that's what we had for dinner that night in Indy.  The traditional roast and taters... with the potatoes positioned next to Marianne's plate:)

 

 This is called the "please oh please, no picture while I wipe gravy off my face" look.

This is the "seriously Mar, not even cool" look:)

We chatted late into the night and had to fix up the nails while we were at it.
 

Cody stayed entertained with his late night snack.  Marianne gotta a kick out of his traditional cereal with milk and yogurt.  The whole yogurt thing came as a bit of a shock.  What can I say... it's a Cutler men thing.

Jaden loved chillin' with his Aunt Marianne.  They were instant friends.


I missed this guy.  A lot.

and this one.


This was the first, yes the FIRST time I had ever spent a night away from my boys.  Cody and I were going on four years of zero separation!  So... you could say this was quite the milestone for us:)

Next morning we were off on our road trip baby!

We arrived in Tennessee to be greeted by the our cute nieces and nephews.  Christine was such a cute hostess (as always) and made us feel right at home.  She thought of every detail... right down to the chocolates, fluffy socks and body lotions by our bedside.  Thanks sis!

After a wonderful, uplifting, and inspiring evening of TOFW, Christine treated us to some delicious frozen yogurt.  Such a cute shop and oh so YUM-O.

Check this baby out.  Mar went for the chocolate delightfulness.  

I went for the blood orange creation of some sort.  Ever had a blood orange?  So very red, and so very good.

The remainder of the weekend was simply amazing.  My sweet friend, Donna, happened to be there with her daughters and saved us front row seats for Saturday.  They were exactly where we had hoped to sit.  What a doll!  If you haven't ever been to TOFW, I highly recommend it.  I feel renewed and inspired to be better.  To be the woman I was sent here to be.  To keep my focus on the things that matter most.

I enjoyed all the presenters, performers, and speakers so much.  Each had an incredible story to tell.  I have to say though, Hilary Weeks was one of my faves of the weekend:)

 I am so lucky to be a sister to these two wonderful woman.  We had the best time together!

Before Marianne's flight back to Seattle and my drive back to Indy, we snapped a few shots by the Nashville temple.

the oldest of the Moon grandkids.  love them all.

best get-away ever.  love you sistas.

 

p.s.  Cody gets 10 gold stars for being super-dad for the weekend.  He did wonderfully:)

Pictures courtesy of Marianne Denney.

Check her out here. 

24th Birthday

How to make a 24-year-old gal (like myself) feel oh so special on her birthday:

Let her sleep in late and then surprise her with a delicious breakfast in bed.

waffles stuffed with whip cream and bananas!

Take her out to one of her favorite restaurants for lunch with her girlfriends.  

Then spoil her with flowers and gifts... (thanks girls!)

Bonus points if she gets to pick out a few things at the mall afterward:)

Arrange for a babysitter and take her out for a night on the town.

Keep her in suspense the entire 40-minute drive to the north side of the city.

Make a mix of her favorite songs to jam to (throw a few lovey romantic ones in there too)..... 

maybe she'll even get distracted and not ask, "where are you taking me?" a zillion times on the way there!

Enjoy a candlelit dinner for two and the Broadway musical... HAIRSPRAY!

End the night with a birthday cake covered in whip cream and strawberries.  YUM.

I was overwhelmed by how sweet and thoughtful everyone was on my birthday.  It was such a good day and a great start to my 25th year.  Feels weird even saying that... quarter-century here we come!