Poem: Sharing A Passion

Sharing A Passion

Photography: Chaz Boren
Poem: Jetta Marie
Gratitude of the day: Photo dates with my Sweet Chaz. He is the only one in this world right now that can take a picture of me and I love the way it comes out. He loves to learn about my work and the things I am discovering about lighting and technique and I know he is not only listening, but is interested in what I do. Its nice to feel important and to share my passion for photography and exploration with such and amazing guy. Love you, Roo!

Sharing A Passion

You not only listen to what I say

You are actually interested in my day

You share in my passion to capture the world

You, like myself, let adventures unfurl

You wander beside me exploring the earth

From people to nature, 

From death back to birth

You share in my passion to show beauty and love

We truly fit like a hand and a glove

You share in my passion to see the unseen

To fly like an eagle and live out my dreams

To live life in purpose and wondrous awe

At the things all around me both perfect and flawed

To capture the beauty in something ignored

when I explore with you darling, I cant ever be bored

For you are right there pointing out grains of sand

As excited as I am to venture the lands

And together we capture things others don't see

You are the perfect companion for little old me!

This life that we share is so beautiful, Roo

And I cant think of a better companion than you.

Beside you from the start and the end of each sun

Here's to many adventures and photos to come.

Poem: Returning from the darkness

Return From The Darkness

Photos: Jetta Marie

Poem: Jetta Marie

Returning from the darkenss

The fog clouds my mind

And makes it impossible to see anything

Past the darkness that surrounds me.

It makes it hard to hear anything 

But the whispers of apathy

That are brewing inside me at this moment.

I have been wandering so long,

And am growing so weary

Of not having seen an ounce of beauty

In the desolate winter

That I have come to know these past months.

Will, nothing change?

Will spring never come again?

Will I wander through this dreary existence 

That I am calling a life

Until I can truly no longer feel

Even the sadness I have become accustom to?

What purpose then, do I serve my maker,

If there is no vision inside me

No reason to go on

No strength left to push me on?

But still, though all I see now are the shadows 

That I have made friends with

During this time of isolation from the world,

I remember a vague image of my past;

Of something called light

Of something called enjoyment

Of something baring the essence of beauty.

Though the image is faint,

It gives me a reason to keep searching

The desolate ice of winter

For the one splash of color 

That I can hold onto

Until spring finally comes again.

I know from the past, 

That spring will come again

No matter how distant it may seem.

It shall break this icy death of heart

That I call depression

And free me from this endless abyss

of dreary, disheartening darkness.

Spring will come,

And I will cling to the little life I have found

Until the sunlight warms my face

And I am freed from the haunted shell

That I have drawn into during this time of fear.

Spring will come, 

And after all this ice and snow and bitter chill,

It will be ever so eagerly received

As I make my return 

From the grips of darkness.

Lessons Of Courage: Gene D Cottrell

Gene D Cottrell

Gene D Cottrell was born Nov-15 1925 and passed away July-8-2003. I can honestly say that was one of the toughest days of my young life. My grandfather was one of my best friends, and though he had a temper that seemed to stem from the fire of hell itself if you provoked it, he was one of the best grandfathers a girl could have asked for. He protected me, educated me about life, punished me when I needed it, and loved me beyond measure. When I was small and started developing my legendary "spunk" and "sass", my Grandmother made a comment that I was "full of vinegar." My grandfather, quick witted as lightning and never missing a Que, stated rather loudly that I was "sure full of something!" He was never one to sugar coat ANYTHING, much less his bold opinions on everything.

What I loved the very most about my Grandfather were his  stories. They were not meant to be funny, and if he caught you giggling there would be a whole other lecture about life, but any one in my family can confirm that he had a very UNIQUE perspective on his life and it WAS funny. He loved to  make people laugh and would talk to anyone who would listen. His philosophy on life and his words of wisdom were hilarious and a bit vulgar at times, but ever true if you could stop laughing long enough to ponder what he told you. My personal favorite was this gem, spoken to my very reserved father the day my mother brought him home for the first time. "Son, everyone in hell is dying for a glass of ice water." The great part is, that as my father tells this story, he recalls very distinctly how serious my grandfather was about what he was saying. Most of his little phrases about life lessons and things to ponder were very satirical in nature and perhaps that is why they stuck so well, even though I was young when he said them.

But the thing about my Grandfather that I both admired to the very depth of my soul, and yet could never understand was how he could be so strong when he hurt. I have always been the type to wear my heart on my sleeve, but my grandfather knew how to push on when things got tough. I was lucky enough to have quiet moments with my Grandfather in his garden. His garden was his sense of peace, his quiet place, and I learned more about him while pulling weeds and harvesting tomatoes then I ever would have learned any where else. For every sad moment in my life,for every trouble and tear I shared with him, my grandfather had a way to make things look better or at least funnier.  I think my Grandfather knew there was something a little off about me, though I know he was not quite sure what it was. But in that garden, he protected me and guided me past a childhood I never would have made it thorough without him. It was not until after he passed away that my anger and dark personality were diagnosed as bipolar. Somehow, he knew I needed him though. And no matter how confusing life was for me, no matter how angrey I was at the world, he was alway an example of courage to me.

When my Grandfather was a child, no older than 6 or 7 years old, his father turned to him and stated "I never wanted you. You were an accident."Those his mother wrapped him tight in her arms, and assured him that SHE was grateful for him, that statement really never left my grandfather. Even at 6, my grandfather had a choice at that moment. He could remain depressed and allow what his father said to ruin him, or he could live on despite that life altering statement. My grandfather not only lived a great life, but was loved by so many people that when he passed away Grandmother's phone did not stop ringing for weeks.

I have to say, a comment like that would have destroyed me in every way. I would not have had the strength at such a young age to stand up and press forward the way he did. And through out his life, this courage only got stronger.

When I was a teenage, he was diagnosed with Colon cancer. He was ornery as hell, and slept more than I had ever seen him sleep, but he got himself into remission faster than we could have ever hoped. No cancer was going to keep him from getting up to watch Perry Mason and Clint Eastwood. About a year later, you would have never know the man had ever had cancer in the first place. The man never let fear stop him from anything, and though I never really told him how grateful I was to look up to him, I know that his endurance and determination to face the challenges that arose in his life changed the way I responded to challenges. When I was young, I would hide when I was scared. Grandpa taught me to fight my challenges with all the spunk, sass and vinegar I had to throw at them. I had to learn the difference between fighting with courage and just fighting to fight, but because of Grandpa I gained the courage not to hide when I was scared. I can never thank him enough for the example he was to me, nor the love and safety that I felt when I was with him in that garden. So a decade after he left me here to use his lessons wisely, I would like to say now what I could not say back then. Thank You, Geneo; for protecting me, guiding me, loving me no matter what I was full of, and being such an example of courage in my life. I love you Grandpa.

Love Always,

Jetta Marie

Letter: LDS Prophet Summed To Appear In British Court. Seriously?

LDS prophet summer to appear in British court/LDS Prophet Summed To Appear In British Court

Dear Reader;

I have and never will claim to know all the inner working of everything that happens in the LDS church. I admit that there are times where I am asked to do things I do not complexly understand, tithing being one of those issues for me. I do not have many quick comebacks or clever things to say to the people who attack me and what I believe, nor do I believe that addressing a persons angry actions with my own anger is going to have much effect in the end. But after viewing this ridiculous public display, I have to say I am both grateful for my own meek understanding and sorrowful for the individual who made the mistake to try and attack President Monson.

One of my favorite authors of all time is the legendary author and lifelong champion curmudgeon, Mark Twain. He once stated "It is better to keep your mouth shut and have people think you are stupid than to open your mouth and relieve all doubt." From the example of the very angry gentleman who requested this investigation, anger seems to have consumed him to a point where his tolerance for things he does not understand or agree with has clouded his better human judgement. As a result he has made a very poor decision to display his pains and frustrations in a way that I know he will come to regret at some point. I am sure his anger is going to fester and grow and he will walk about the earth in a state of unhappy rage trying to convince the world of the evils of a people and gospel that he simply did not agree with himself.

I cannot help but wonder though, in my own simple way of thinking, why he does not attack Catholics, or Lutherans, or any OTHER religion that is asked to pay tithe? Why seek out to call blasphemy on the church he was a member of before, and single them out as the "deceitful" and "illegal?" Why try to tarnish our name with such anger and fury when people of the LDS faith CHOOSE to pay tithing? Our membership and fellowship in the church is not revoked for not paying tithing.

We do need to be paying tithing to attend the temple, which though it seems unfair, is actually not that illogical to one with an open heart who is not attached to their dollar bills as a sense of peace and well being. For me, paying my tithing is a physical sacrifice that I make to my heavenly father to accomplish 2 things.

 #1) I am giving him a symbol of good faith that I know that he will take care of me in difficult times and that I trust him to do so, and  that I am worthy to accept a greater calling and remain focused in him and not my financial complications. I am not saying I do not worry at times about my finances, because I sole heartily do! I am human too, believe it or not. But I am showing him that he is the most important figure in my life, and that all other worldly things come AFTER him in my priorities.

 Money is the #1 temptation and symbol of the world we live in. It represents a material list of wants and physical needs, and though it is necessary in the civilization we live in, I believe that heavenly father wants to know that he can trust us with the sacred things we will promise inside the temple, and that our focuses are where they need to be to make those promises worth while and understood.

My #2 Reason is this:
Running this church on the scale that it is run, with the charity work that we provide for the world around us, is not cheep. Yes we absolutely DO have a extensive rainy day fund, but that is just what it is; A RAINY DAY FUND. During the collapse of the economy in 2008, our church continued to run and progress when everything else was failing and many of our members had lost their jobs. We supported those members by paying their bills, giving them food, and helping them get back on their feet. Lets do the math on that shall we?

A fairly normal LDS family has 3 children and 2 adults. They probably have a home where they need to pay a mortgage and bills. A normal home in Utah is roughly $800 per month in mortgage. Utilities generally range around $500 if the family is fairly conservative. Car bills have to be paid and the average I came up with is about $250 a month give or take on 1 car. Food for this family a month is about $400 for us to supply through our service with our bishops store house. Yes, we donate the time to package and raise that food, but there is still cost involved in feeding that cow, buying and growing the crops...etc. We also provide service to help these individuals find work. That service cost money to run too. All in all on a conservative scale, ONE family will cost the church around $1450 for basic life per month.

There were 304.09 million people living in the USA as if July 1 2008, according to the US census, 7% of our population was unemployed. Now, if we follow this statistic, our church had 14 million members around that time. IF 7% where unemployed, that means we where taking care of 980,000 members at that time. If we cared for these 980,000 members at 1450 month we would have been using $1421000000 to support our members alone. Yes, there will be variables in this but allow these numbers to let you think about what I am trying to show you. It cost a lot of money to run this church the way we do.

Make a list of all the things that the LDS church takes part in that COST MONEY. Upkeep of the building, building new buildings, supplies for the buildings, caring for in need members, humanitarian work...IT ALL COST MONEY AND A LOT OF IT. At the end of the day, tithing is asked for the benefit of not just us and our church but to help those not of our faith is well. Tithing is another act of trusting our heavenly father and our leader to take care of Gods sheep and allow ourselfs to believe in what we do, even when we do not understand totally. Letting of part of your paycheck when you are hurting is hard, and I wont deni that. But look at the bigger picture in what you are being asked to do. You are simply being asked to let go of your monetary worship and allow that money to support the good in humanity that we try and accomplish.

Further proof is available if you look at the actual facts available and not the facts of those twisting our manuals and records.

Wikipedia:

Finances of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) are similar to other non-profit and religious organizations, where the principal source of funding comes from the donations of its members and the principal expense is in constructing and maintaining facilities.

When the LDS Church takes in more donations than it pays out in period expenses, it uses thesurplus to build a reserve for capital expenditures and for future years when period expenses may exceed donations. The church invests its reserve to maintain the principal and generate a reasonable return and directs its investments into income-producing assets that may help it in its mission, such as farmland- and communication-related companies (see below).

The LDS Church has not publicly disclosed its financial statements in the United States since 1959.^[2] The church does disclose its financials in the United Kingdom^[3] and Canada^[4] where it is required to do so by law. In the UK, these financials are audited by the UK office ofPricewaterhouseCoopers.

The LDS Church maintains an internal audit department that provides its certification at each annual general conference that contributions are collected and spent in accordance with established church policy. In addition, the church engages a public accounting firm (currentlyDeloitte & Touche) to perform annual audits in the United States of its not-for-profit,^[5] for-profit,^[6] and some educational^[7][8] entities.

IN a nut shell, I hope you can forgive me my ramblings, and I hope that I was able to provide some insight to someone along my little journey. In the end, I only pray for the poor angry soul who is looking for someone to assure him his anger is just. I do assure you sir, your anger is valid. We all get frustrated when we do not understand things and anger is a natural response. Your anger is absolutely valid and I feel for you and your Frustrations, but your accusations fueling that anger...they on the other hand are not accurate. Unfortunately, you are barking up the wrong tree in dealing with whatever caused you to be so angry. I wish you the best in finding the answers you seek, and I hope that at some point you will relize you are loved and not forgotten, and that your anger and Frustrations with your former faith will be put to rest so that peace can once again find you. Whether you come back to the church or not, I wish you nothing more than the peace and rest from this anger; you deserve that. Best of luck, my friend. 

Artfully Yours,

Jetta Marie

Lyrics: Don't Give Up

Don’t Give UP

It’s hard to watch

You suffering the way you do

It’s harder still

To know that I

Cannot fix the pain you are going through

I’m not allowed to see you now

Cause you’re trapped inside your mind

But I am reaching out for you

To grab your hand

And pull you back somehow

But know this;

I will never give up

On you

Never let you believe this fight is through

I will never stop trying

To grab your hand

When you are falling fast

And you can’t find the strength to stand

I will never stop trying

To get this message through

Never give up, sweet boy

Cause I will never give up on you

Though dragons keep you

Locked away so tight

And darkness keeps you

Away from the loving light

Don’t surrender

Your perfect heart of gold

Don’t lose sight

Don’t surrender to this cold

It can be trying

To face the shadows haunting you

But know this secret

I have been here too

No matter what this endless darkness

Bares to put you through

Keep that hope and memory

Of the many that love you

I will never give up

On you

Never let you believe this fight is through

I will never stop trying

To grab your hand

When you are falling fast

And you can’t find the strength to stand

I will never stop trying

To get this message through

Never give up, sweet boy

Cause I will never give up on you

I will never stop trying

To grab your hand

When you are falling fast

And you can’t find the strength to stand

I will never stop trying

To get this message through

Never give up, sweet boy

Cause I will never give up on you

None of us will ever give up

On you

Nolan and Linda Adams Temple Sealing

Nolan and Linda Adams Temple sealing

Note: These images are © Jett Boren and may not be copied or reproduced in any way without the consent of the artist. Any violation of this legal right may result in legal actions. 

Gygi-Self Re-connection At The Cooking Wonderland

          Self Re-connection At The Cooking Wonderland

 I had the honor of meeting this kind woman at one of my favorite places in the whole world, The Gygi chefs store in Salt Lake. Her name was Luly,(hope I spelled it correct) and though she was hesitant to allow me to take her picture, I am so grateful I can give her a shout out! What a passionate, lovely chocolatier. She owns her own small chocolate business and teaches cooking classes at the store. She was warm, friendly, and very excited in telling me about the cooking classes and her little chocolate business she runs. She is obviously very passionate in what she does, and was just a pleasure to talk to. Thank you Ms.Luly!

Hundreds of candy and chocolate molds. Yes, Hundreds. 

Every color of the raninbow...IN SPARKLES AND SUGAR!!

 Every color of chocolate. 

The most ADORABLE little chefs aprons for young aspiring cooks I have ever seen. 

Photograpy: Jetta Marie

Gratitude of The Day: The chance to reconnect with my passion for baking by taking a visit to my bakers paradise, the Gygi store in Salt Lake. If you have never been here and love to bake, please treat yourself. But I do caution you to not bring a credit card with you and only take a budgeted amount you are willing to part with from your paycheck because this is LITERALLY like a candy store for chefs and you will spend what you bring. It is so nice to have places like this to just go and breath in a bit of your passion in life once in a while and remind yourself why you do what you do. 

And just to confirm; yes the following bit of poem is yet another batch of lyrics in the process. When I am done I will be posting to my YouTube channel, but that's is a bit of a second propriety in my busy life right now so in the meantime, enjoy the message and written part of my work in progress!

Re-connection

Life seems to have its way

Of working hard to bring me down

The world trys to have its say

Telling me don't swim but let yourself drown

Though the choas that consumes me

When the people passing start to blur

I will remember The way to see

The beauty in the world that still has  allure

So i take a breath

Breath in 

Breath out

I sing a song

I scream 

I shout

I breath it in

Breath it out

Remeber what 

this is all about

And in that moment

I can recall

I have it all!

Have it all 

Why be ok

not taking flight, 

Just taking falls?

I remember me

Who I am

And I can chose to fly

If I remember

 That  I can!

Sometimes in life

You get crowded out

With the complications

Of fear and doubt

But take a moment

To reconnect

To who you are

And you can bet

You'll find your passions

recoup the you you've  lost

Remember that your dreams

are worth every cost

so  search your heart

Find again your muse

And remember to celebrate

The amazing spark in you

So  take a breath

Breath in 

Breath out

sing a song

scream 

And shout

breath it in

Breath it out

Remember what 

this is all about

And in that moment

Let yourself recall

You have it all!

Have it all 

Why be ok

Not taking flight, 

Just taking falls?

 remember You

Who you are

And  chose to fly

 remember

 That  You can!

So i take a breath

Breath in 

Breath out

I sing a song

I scream 

I shout

I breath it in

Breath it out

Remember what 

this is all about

And in that moment

I can recall

I have it all!

Have it all 

Why be ok

not taking flight, 

Just taking falls?

I remember me

Who I am

And I can chose to fly

If I remember

 That  I can!

I can!

You can!

Reconnect yourself

I can!

You Can!

Have courage to fly

I can!

You can!

We can!