"I don't know how the story ends, but I'll be alright cause you wrote it."

Alright Kids, I actually wrote this post a little while ago and it was too painful to post. I feel a little childish and dramatic posting this, but I guess that is how I roll. Everything written below is so absolutely true. I continue to be incredibly blessed by my past and present. You live, you learn, you move (or you try really hard to.) I really do enjoy blogging, so I am starting fresh on a brand spanking new one. If you are crazy enough to still follow my world the new blog is called justchuggin.blogspot.com This is mostly for my wonderful grandma who i think is the sole reader. The End...but not really.

Each Life That Touches Ours for Good (Hymn #293)

Each life that touches our for good

Reflects thine own great mercy, Lord;

Thou sendest blessings from above Thru words and deeds of those who love.

What greater gift dost thou bestow,

What great goodness can we know

Than Christlike friends, whose gentle ways

Strengthen our faith, enrich our days.

When such a friend from us departs,

We hold forever in our hearts

A sweet and hallowed memory,

Bringing us nearer, Lord, to thee.

For worthy friends whose lives proclaim

Devotion to the Savior's name,

Who bless our days with peace and love,

We praise thy goodness, Lord, above.

I am so grateful for those people who have, and will be such a great influence in my life. I have been very blessed to be in the presence of, what I believe to be, The Lords elite. I know that these people have helped me to become closer to the person My Heavenly Father needs me to be. No one else could have taught me what they have taught me. They are one of the biggest blessings in my life and I have felt My Saviors love through their care.

I know that I am one of the most stubborn and faithless servants of Him, but I know that he is constantly and carefully guiding my path (even when that path is the most painful.) I don't know how my story ends, but I am grateful to have lived, and continue to live, the way He wrote it. (well... let's be honest. I am just trying my best to do so, and needing to be put back on my path all the time.)

D&C 122:7 "... all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good."

P.s. The picture is called "My Child" by David Bowman (my favorite ever!) and the title comes from a song by a christian artist that who I cant remember the name of. Sorry!

Ordinary Miracles

The other day I was driving to work and the song "Hello World" by Lady Antebellum came on the radio. If you haven't really listened to this song you are really missing out (watching the dramatic music video is even better!) Sitting there in my neon green zebra striped car I bawled at how The Lord had once again tried to tell me how I need to re-evaluate my perspective.
Lately due to all the major opportunities that are staring me in the face and how terrifying yet incredible they are, I have buried something that is so important, perspective.
My perspective has been so introverted lately that I have missed the amazing miracles that are happening all around me. The moments and scenes in my world that are gentle hints that I am loved and am being constantly cared for. I have been carefully reminded of this important key to happiness and want to slow down and simplify like and "find reason for rejoicing" like Pres. Uchtdorf suggests.
Here are a few miracle moments that I have had the past few days:

• An amazing child opened her eyes wide and smiled when I called her name.
• Only the tips of pink mountains peeking through the clouds.
• My BFF sister and friend wanting to talk to me.
• Giving someone advice on how to hold a s hand.
• Cute deer footprints in my front yard.
• Sending my best friend out on the adventure of a lifetime, having the opportunity to pray for her.
• Whistling at wal-mart and receiving a sweet smile from a stranger.
• A determined seagull flying into the wind.
  
• Having my best friend in the entire world be so excited to see me he can't stop giggling and staring at me.

It is incredible how much out there bares testimony of divine love and care, if you are looking for it. There are so many people around me who have such clear perspectives I am inspired to be more like them. I am blown away by how blessed I am and how much true joy is in my world, sometime I just have to remind myself to look. P.s. The title of this post comes from another very inspiring song called "Ordinary Miracle" by Sara McLachlan

The Perks!

Honestly I couldn't really think of a title of this post cause "I better write something before I loose all interst in this blog or get so far behind i dont want to write" wouldn't fit in the allotted space. so I titled it "The Perks" because of two perks that have been in my world. Perk one: Spending all your time with an elementary school teacher means that at least one of you will be sick all the time. Perk Two: If you work in a medically fragile classroom your moral conscious tells you not to go to work if you cant stop coughing, but feel a ton better! well kids a I am currently benefiting from both of those wonderful facts! So because i am a useless lump at the moment lets give you a quick catch up on our world.

Christmas break was a much needed deep breath. Brandon was sick most of the break and i was sick on and off, but we did make some time to just be us. This was SOOOO needed and we made the most of it. It is so crazy how chugging through the mundane can make you take for granted the most incredible blessing that is right in front of you. We have been so focused on helping 30 podunkers meet ayp (ha ha i love to use jargan...this means adequate yearly progresss.) and getting the needed 6 hours of sleep each night that we haven't really had time to just be with each other and let all the realization of admiration catch up with us. it definatly did this break. AH! (Ok, I will attempt to stop being so sappy.)

It was also a great time to be with my family. I love them so much. My little brother just got his mission call so we decided to take a short family trip before he leaves. Yes, we know he doesn't leave until April, but anyone with a family like mine know that it is almost impossible to get everyone together. So this past week we went up to midway and stayed at a cute resort. It was great to go on a couple adventures together and just laugh with eachother. I also realized that the wisdom of my years has not helped my ability to ice skate. I am still as terrible as I was in junior high.

Now here is the most important part of this post. here is the story. Once upon a time my dear sweet father brought home this plastic light up nativity scene. I told him that i thought is was really tacky and he didn't believe me. For the next couple years he put it up teasing me all the time how now the house was tacky...white trash...etc. He kept it up asking everyone he knew if they thought it was tacky and most people told him that it was (yay for honest people.) finally he stopped putting it up cause he says that i shamed him into it. realistically we all know that he is embarrassed cause other people don't like it as much as i don't. This year i told him to embrace his inner tacky and put it up. I got this....

The next day I turned on my car and found this (dont worry, he rigged it to light up when i turned on my car.)

My Roo

I know that anyone who is crazy enough to read this blog is getting sick of me saying it, but I believe myself to be the most blessed one! One of the most incredible people I have ever met comes home from full time service in a week and I am caught reminiscing how amazing she is! For those of you who are fortunate enough to know this elite person you know exactly what I am talking about. I have had the privilege of knowing and learning from Roo for the past 12 years and I am so grateful for what she has taught me

She has an incredible zeal for life that is contagious! Even when she is having a hard time she never looses her positive outlook and still inspires those around her to find the beauty and joy that is constantly around them. She honestly brightens up every environment or situation she is placed in. Along with this, she has a gift to make everyone she is around feel accepted and loved. I have sat back and observed her many times change someone who is apparently shy and self confidence into someone who is bursting with the knowledge that they are accepted and appreciated within minutes. I have had the pleasure of benefiting from this gift many many times in my life and believe that i am in part the person i am today because I had people like Roo supporting and encouraging me.

Roo also is the definition of "pliable in His hands" I have been amazed by the way she has allowed The Lord to mold and direct her. As sad as I was when she told me she was going on a mission I knew that she had received the revelation necessary and that she had people to influence and things to learn in Missouri. This great faith has been something that Roo has lived the entire time I have known her (and I believe her entire life.) I have learned so much from her stalwart example of faith and diligence.

She lives and loves the way The Savior intended and I hope to continue to learn and grow from the fantastic example that this angel has set in my life. I love my Roo. I believe that The Lord has blessed me to be in the presence of some of his most elite spirits. Many I have known for years, like Roo, and they have inspired me and influeced me to become who I am today. Others are recent additions to my world and have also taught me so much that I could not have discovered on my own. I am so grateful for the strength I gain from them and the love I feel for them. Thank You all!

Fall Break and Halloween!

Do you ever feel like even though there is nothing really going on, you are super busy? welp, that has been life lately. I am convinced that the school districts invented fall break so teachers don't go crazy! Our fall break we pretty planned out, and a blast! Thursday we went to Midway with Brandon's family. I ted at football (ha ha), we visited the crater and ate the best hot dog I have ever had in my life! It was a lot of fun just to play with Brandon's family.

Holidays are so much more fun with family. This year we played with my family the week before Halloween and spent the day with Brandon's family. My family puts on a annual party complete with all the traditional games. I think the best part was watching Brandon's competitive side come out and almost take down my uncle or get clobbered by a powdered doughnut. With Brandon's family we carved pumpkins and played some really fun games. Again, Brandon's competitive side is a blast to observe. He ted at musical pumpkins, creamed everyone at the toilet paper mummy game and randomly wrestled with this brother (pretty intense.) I love just hanging out and laughing with Brandon's family and my own. We are super blessed.
P.S. I haven't figured out how to cutely post pictures with captions and all that. In the pictures to the right grandma is showing off her "stroke pumpkin" and Brandon is just starting his masterpiece with sarah (Who calls herself the runner-up friend) in the background. To the left Grandpa is adding an extra challenge to Brandon's doughnut capture and we are showing off our Siamese twins, attached at the hip, tumor costume. oh, and the very top picture is of us in the crater.
Another amazing part about this holiday weekend was getting together with some of my favorite people. Thanks to Kaylee all the s got together for breakfast on Halloween. It was a fun to get together and quickly catch up. I love those s!

"Spending time alone with The Lord"

So conference was AMAZING! One of the apostles who spoke suggested we "spend some time alone with The Lord" because of this I decided to take a trip up to "my enchanted place" (please read the book Stargirl. It is by favorite!) My waterfall has become my own personal sacred place. My waterfall (yes, I call it mine even though I know it is just as special to many other people.) holds a lot of memories with some of my favorite people. It has been amazing to build friendships, laugh, cry, heal and vent on top of the falls . I am so grateful for the amazing people I have been blessed to encounter in my life and whenever I hike to my waterfall I reminisce about the amazing experiences that I have had with these people there. Though, most importantly are the incredible moments I have had with My Savior while meditating on top of the falls. I have been so amazingly blessed to have a place I can go to just be with him. This last time I went I was blessed with a special treat, a light rain... beautiful!










Of course another place that triumphs over my waterfall is the temple which I was also able to visit this week. I love the temple! This time I was inspired by the cutest temple worker. Another temple worker told me he was 80 yrs old and had been working in the font for the last two hours. Though it was apparent that he was starting to get sore he was still incredibly sparkly and loving every minute of his work. To me this was a small example of enduring to the end and finding joy in every minute. He will never know how he touched me, but he did. A-mazing!

In other less important news April finally fulfilled a goal she had planned to accomplish when she turned 18. I won something on the radio! Now those of you who know me know that I am not really a grown-up i just pretend sometimes, so this goal totally fits me! When I turned 18 I told myself that now i fit the "must be 18 years or older" description so I just had to utilize my new found power! I tried really hard to win something that year and have tried on and off ever since. Today my dreams came true! I called and....WON! I am now the proud winner of Lady Antebellum tickets! Who knows if we will go seeing how it is on a weekday and will require who knows how much walking, but Brandon is insisting that we will. He won a thermos last week which he decided that we will be taking to the concert to show off our wins! We must be the luckiest couple alive!

It's myyyyy car, and IIIII like it!

To all you readers out there I am no longer a bus riding invalid! This weekend through the help of my favorite mechanics (Padre and Brandon), my support team (mom and bekah) and my amazing grandma who takes great care of me, I purchased the sweetest grandma car you have ever met! As my grandma keeps telling me "She only drove it to Elwood, Kents and to mass every week." That explains why it is a 15 year old car with only 65000 miles on it (I know, I am pretty excited.) The only thing not stereotypical is the color. My Grandpa put it well when he said "Don't try robbing a bank with that car, they will catch you for sure!" I like the hippy-ish color and Brandon says it fits me so.... IIIII like it! The amazing lady that I bought it from is a long time family friend who totally rocked the intense color, so I plan to do that same! The pictures don't to the intensity justice at all! Also, I was pretty excited that the color of my new car matched my toenails and if you know me you know that I just had to take a picture. Sarah suggested I get a bumper sticker that says "Don't judge, I got a good deal and I like it, so BACK OFF!" Actually, finding this car was a real blessing. WOW! (P.S. If you don't understand the title you must read the book "Stephanie's Ponytail" by Robert Munsch)

The other highlight of this weekend was meeting Brandon's new little nephew. He is the cutest lil guy you have ever seen! I was very grateful that his amazing Mommy and Daddy let me hog him for most of the visit. Though Uncle Brandon did get his turn holding the lil guy. He made sure the seal his spot as favorite uncle by helping the lil' tike use his voice and muscles. Brandon is so funny with babies! It is amazing to feel the sweet tender spirit of a newborn and I didn't want to leave. Thanks for sharing your sweet little one Matt and Kimee!