Some Things of Note....

Just thought I would share some things I have been up to, nothing incredibly exciting, but since this is my "journal" (ha), i thought i'd write it down.

So a couple weeks ago, at work there was something called Summer University, which is just a couple days of workshops, and service projects, and activities for the Faculty and Staff at UVU. At first I thought it would be something that I would do just to get out of a little bit of boring office work, haha. When I went to it though, I found myself enjoying the speakers and workshops. My favorite was a keynote speaker, named Mike Schlappi, who is a paralympic athlete and has won 4 medals in basketball.




He became paralized in H.S. when he was shot accidentally by a friend. It really is amazing to hear peoples stories who have overcome so much and not just overcome it, but absolutley excelled in thier life in many ways. It makes me feel so inspired that I really can do whatever I want, no matter what I think my limitations are. The bullet that paralyzed him was stuck in his spine for several years until technology was more advanced and they could remove it. He said that when they finally took it out and he held it in his hand, he was able to let go of a lot of things, and move past all the things that upset him, and do what he wanted in life. He asked the audience to go home and think about what our "bullets" were in our lives. As corny as that sounds, I really wanted to think about it, and try to pin point something that was holding me back in my life, and try to overcome it. So I have, and I am excited to work on overcoming and getting past those bumps in my life. So what is your bullet in life??


The other thing that was of note, was last Friday. I went and volunteered at the MTC pretending to be an investigator for the missionaries who are learning ASL.


It was so fun! I loved it, for many reasons. It was the first time I had been back to the MTC since I was there 5+ years ago. (I can't believe its been so long) What a flood of memories! I saw missionaries sitting exactly where I sat not so long ago. Its weird becaue I sometimes forget that I actually went on a mission. I feel like it was dream, so it was fun to remember those feelings again. Also, it was so funny to see the missionaries struggle with teaching the lessons, and cute at the same time. They were so nervous, and it was so funny to see that one was SOO awkward and nervous, and the other seemed to want to take control(and he did) because he knew the other one was weird. :) oh memories. Plus, they were just BARELY learning the language so it was SOOOO slow and while there were a lot of hand and arm movements, there were not a lot of signs. haha. One kept looking at his companion desperatly for help in how to sign the door approach. They were SO nervous, poor guys. Luckily they only practiced door approaches in ASL, and then just taught the lesson in English. Anyway, it was fun and there seriously is a definite unique and amazing spirit there. I hope to go more often now. I was reluctant to go because I didn't want to be one of those return misisonaries who can't let go, but it really was a great experience. I can see why people enjoy teaching there.

Also, I finally moved. I live less than a mile from UVU, so its jus mins to get to work! I have my own big master bed and bath, and at a great rent. Its nice to finally get settled with all my stuff, but I can't believe how much "stuff" I have! I have 6-7 boxes I just don't know what to do with. I have accumulated and its so hard for me to let go!

Sorry this was long and boring, if you made it this far, you should get a small medal. And if you just skipped to the end... smart.

I know what I want for Christmas!

I was skeptical at first, but after reading the description of this delicate duckling, I think its a must have.
You gotta love Engrish.com.

Grateful

I am in St. George right now for a work conference, and most of the people I came with brought their spouses/kids so are out with them tonight, which leaves me with out a car or anything to do. So here I sit in my hotel room sort of bored, but enjoying the fact that I get a couple days to not do anything, but not feel guilty about it!

The past couple weeks have been sort of crazy, or at least eventful, but I realize that with a good healthy portion of perspective, things look a lot different to me in life, and I am grateful for the things I have, and realize what the most important things are to focus on in life. My grandma and Mom had surgery within a week of each other, and are impressively strong, and resilient and I am so impressed and grateful that they are healing well (so far). They are 2 of the most important people to me in my life, and I wish they didn't have to go through yucky things like that but they both have SO much faith in the Lord, and get through hard times because of that. That is so great for me to remember, because I need to rely on the Lord so much more in EVERY aspect-big, or small- in my life because it makes for a better experience! They both are such pure examples of trying to be the best they can in this life while having full trust in the Lord for they things they don't have control over. I love them SO much.

My car also died yesterday morning on the way to work, just a couple hours before I was to leave for St. George, and while my stomach dropped when I realized my car was dead, I also had such a feeling of relief for the blessing of being in a position where even if it were to cost a lot, I knew I had the money for it. I have NEVER felt that way before. Thanks to a good friend I was introduced to a book that has helped me get a handle on my finances and the first step was to save $1000 for an emergency fund, "just in case" any thing unexpected happened that I would normally have to go into debt for. I have also paid off a big chunk of my previous debt, which is a HUGE weight off my shoulders, and while I still have a bunch of school debt to get down, I have felt very in control. I also got a TON of money back from the govt. this year, and so I have that as well as surplus. So even after paying off the $700 car problem (which still sucks), I will have my $1000 emergency fund replenished immediately and some left over! I am blessed that I was able to start this before these little things started bogging me down. I am grateful for the Lords blessings when I see what could have happened from a different perspective.

I am also moving next week, and my dad was going to come up to help, but he hurt his back, so that is still TBD on if he can do all that heavy lifting! When it rains it pours, right!? I am excited to move, and have been so grateful to have had a place to live this whole time while saving money, and appreciate my Grandparents and love them so much.

My life is (very) far from perfect, and I still have a LONG way to go to always have a positive attitude about it, but I am trying. Even when I don't feel like it, I am trying to force myself to feel positive, which seems silly, but it actually works sometimes :)