Miracle

I am so grateful for my job! Also, I'm so grateful I live in a place where I can attend church and take the sacrament while I'm obligated to work on the sabbath. That is so great!

The facility I work in has an Alzheimer's unit where I work the majority of my shifts. Yesterday while I was in this unit, the church members came and held a fast and testimony meeting (when any member of the congregation is welcome to stand and share their beliefs and feelings). Usually, the church leaders are the only ones who stand and bear their testimonies in this unit. Mind you the residents in this unit have pretty severe cases of dementia; they're often falling asleep and some even need to be assisted with feeding themselves the bread and water.

But this Sunday was another story. One of our dear residents reached for someone's hand to help her stand (she's wheelchair bound). We told her she could stay seated, but she shook her head. So, one of the sisters and I helped her stand and held her hands for support as she stood and bore her testimony. Immediately, the other CNA and I were so touched and tears came pouring. This woman's testimony was so beautiful and humble. She talked about loving and thinking of our neighbors and brothers and sisters. She expressed thankfulness for them and her family. She talked about striving to be honest and true. She expressed her deep love for the gospel and her great desire to "put it into [her] life each day".

She's the sweet woman holding the bird. I am so grateful for the woman she is and the faith she exemplifies. I'm grateful that even when ailment befalls us and we seem to be forgotten and lost, the Lord never forgets us. I'm so grateful for the everyday miracles of Christ.

It's Better To Feel Something

I have felt inspired, almost overwhelmingly loved, hurt, humbled, torn, desperate, stressed, worried, freed, joyous, empowered, silly, uplifted, lonely, lucky, fellowshipped, and light all one one day.

Sounds like a mess doesn't it? But I feel pretty good all in all.

Numerous events in the last few days have, very specifically, inspired me to write down my inspirations, enlightenments, thoughts, and feelings. What a better way to do it than to utilize my blog?! Writing can be so liberating (that's another feeling I've felt today). There are a few people, whom I love and learn from, who have motivated me to become more edified and then to share it. I am grateful for those people and I will try to show my gratefulness by being more diligent about my blogging.

My bit for the day:

On numerous occasions in my life, I have given my heart to someone who hasn't handled it with much care (and I don't mean just romantically). After varying levels of being crushed, I have always decided that it was still better for me to love. Today, I questioned that belief I have held true to.

As a result of these disappointments, I have often lashed out to some degree, confronting the person and asking "Why? Why? Why did you do this to me?" (Feeling so victimized, maybe unjustly so.) This question has never gotten me anywhere. Thankfully, today I realized that before I lashed out this time around. Instead, I thought to myself, "After only loving those around Him, Christ was responded to with so much hatred. How did He react?" He bowed His head in humility and tenderness and forgave.

Tenderness, mildness, meekness: a lesson to be learned from the ultimate Teacher.

Wow, it's been way too long since I've posted. I've only posted twice, I think, though. So I really just need to get into the habit. I like to post pictures, but I never take pictures, so I always use that as an excuse, "I can't post because I don't have any new pictures." But that's dumb. I want to make this more of a habit, so here I am!

These past couple of months have been fabulous! I started nursing school and I love it! It's pretty surreal that I'm a nursing school student. I can't believe it's happening! That might sound weird. But I just felt like it was so impossible for a while and it's been my dream to be a nurse for so long. So school is going great. It's hard, but it's great. I used to be a horrible student. It's so nice to see, in a measured amount (my grades), how much I've changed. I'm taking Anatomy and Physiology, which is very hard. I'm keeping up with it, though, and I am really enjoying it.

I started going to Gold's Gym. I forgot how much I love going to the gym regularly. It's so much fun! I go almost everyday; it's wonderful!

Jeremy and I have been doing a lot of cooking together. We love it! Recently we've made pumpkin rolls, an amazing chicken and barley dinner, imitation crab tacos, white chili, pumpkin pancakes with ginger syrup, oatmeal pancakes with homemade strawberry syrup... We love our food!

Jeremy and I thrilled that we both got Christmas off and we get to go home to Washington. We can't wait! We miss our family so much! I am so happy that it's the holidays. It's my favorite time of the year! I love that we have this designated time when millions of people, together, celebrate our Savior. There's not much better than that.

Back In Provo, But Still Not Home

I do realize that my last blog was titled "Goodbye Texas", but I only posted pictures of Colorado. That's because Colorado is one of the most beautiful places ever! I will be posting even more in this one. I made the twenty-one hour drive back to Provo, last weekend. I stopped in Boulder and stayed the night with Mariah, which was fun! I was nervous about the drive. But I really felt the Lord was watching out for me.

I'm back in Provo. This past week, I took my CNA class. I spent Monday through Friday in a classroom for ten hours each day. It was miserable, but it's over! I made a friend in the class, her name is Karen. I'm happy I got to meet her!

I started work on Saturday, back at Country View Manor. I'm happy to be working again. I can't wait to go back to Bel Aire. It's my favorite job I've had! I'm back on the schedule for sure in September, but hopefully I'll be able to get back sooner.

I started training for my marathon. I ran nine miles, yesterday. It was difficult. But I'm really proud of myself for finishing. A nice lady gave me a bottle of water during my run. I'm so grateful for kind people!

P.S. I saw a semi in flames during my drive to Utah. It was crazy! I tried to get a picture, but was interrupted by a phone call.

Goodbye Texas

My first summer as the wife of a Vivint salesman is about to come to an end. I have had a great time, all in all. We started out in Amarillo, which was very hot, dry, and stinky. For a while, the AC wasn't working in our car. That was rough. Thankfully, we got it fixed. While we were there, I did get to try Rocky Mountain oysters, though! (They weren't very good.) Even though it doesn't sound like it, I did have a good time in Amarillo, I just can't think of anything good to say about it at the moment. From Amarillo, we went to Colorado Springs! Oh, how I love Colorado! I got to spend some time with Kirsten while we were there, a girl I taught on my mission. That was a highlight of my summer. We also went to Garden of the Gods, which was incredible! Our time in the Springs was cut short, we ended up being there for less than a week.

Finally, we ended up in Fort Worth, where we're staying at a Marriott. I've loved living here! We're pampered with daily housekeeping, free breakfasts and dinners, and a really nice pool! One other thing that I really like about staying here is that, because we're all living in the same hallway, the wives see each other more often and spend more time together. That's been a lot of fun! I've been able to spend a lot of my time with my dear friend, Jen, which has been wonderful! Her and I started watching my favorite TV series, Lost. I've enjoyed that, thoroughly! I have spent a lot of time at the pool, playing and working on my tan. I've been blessed to get to know the fellow wives out here, who are wonderful! One of which motivated me to start this blog. Thank you, Genna!

I must say that being out here has had it's rough moments. Despite those moments, I can say that I have been spiritually strengthened and Jeremy and I have grown closer. I am a happier person, even! It does help that this summer I got accepted into nursing school, too!