Thunderstorms

The thunder groans outside and rolls across the valley, echoing off the mountain walls and getting caught up in it's own crossfire.

I have always loved thunderstorms.

Mom and Dad could always be found sitting on the porch watching the storm, and one by one each of us kids would join them. We would sit on the steps and watch in awe.

My romantic-self tingles when a thunderstorm approaches. The anticipation of the rain fall is like waiting for that ever so wonderful first kiss.

But today this Thunderstorm is appropriate, and not for any of the reasons stated above.

The crashing in the sky makes me feel humble and small. Humble. A perfect Sunday atmosphere.

I have been thinking about storms a lot lately- and how they effect different people. I am a lifeguard and when a lightning storm gets close we have to kick out the swimmers. I don't despise storms, but it makes lifeguard/making money hard. But then I look around my surroundings and see the farmers and how they praise the sky when the rain finally falls.

Life is like that.

We are all given the same view, but the way we perceive them will change our attitudes and the outcome.

I read this this afternoon:

How To Dance In The Rain

It was a busy morning, about 8:30, when an elderly gentleman in his 80's, arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb. He said he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00 am. I took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour before someone would be able to see him. I saw him looking at his watch and decided, since I was not busy with another patient, I would evaluate his wound. On exam, it was well healed, so I talked to one of the doctors, got the needed supplies to remove his sutures and redress his wound. While taking care of his wound, I asked him if he had another doctor's appointment that morning, as he was in such a hurry. The gentleman told me, no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife. I inquired as to her health. He told me that she had been there for a while and that she was a victim of Alzheimer's Disease. As we talked, I asked if she would be upset if he was a bit late He replied that she no longer knew who he was, that she had not recognized him in five years now. I was surprised, and asked him, 'And you still go every morning, even though she doesn't know who you are?' He smiled as he patted my hand and said, 'She doesn't know me, but I still know who she is.' I had to hold back tears as he left, I had goose bumps on my arm, and thought, 'That is the kind of love I want in my life.' True love is neither physical, nor romantic. True love is an acceptance of all that is, has been, will be, and will not be. With all the jokes and fun that are in the world, sometimes there is something that comes along that has an important message. I hope this is one of those for you. The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have. 'Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain.'

by David Stone Remember who you are. Remember who is behind you. Remember that even in the darkest of storms there is hope.  After all, sometimes the storms we go through are helping bless another person's life. Happy Sunday

Tuesday.

Today it rained. It was beautiful!

I may have creeped on a couple playing in the rain. . . 

By the time I got my camera out to take their picture, they were done.

I told you I was a creeper.

And so I proceeded to go on a photo adventure.

Jordan came along.

It was wet, calming, and marvelous.

Logan is beginning to get cold.

I have bitter-sweet feelings about it.

However, I looked cute today.

I wore these gems.

Usually I don't just jot down the events of my day.

However, today I am making an exception.

I had two tests today- don't worry I studied and I feel pretty good!

Violin was cancelled, which was a blessing for this student who didn't practice all week!

Randi and I enjoyed Taco-Tuesdays

and caught up on our weekly dose of boy-news.

Institute Women's Association.

I will just say I want to serve a mission.

I will stop listing now.

But my day was wonderful!

Change is in the air and I am getting excited for the autumn months to begin. It is October, the month of pumpkins, spice, and warmth. Time for jackets and boots, but not quite miserable yet. Yep, I like the fall.

when it rains. . .

. . . it pours and it doesn't stop for a week and a half-  Well, that is how it has been lately.

Growing up we were always taught to pray for water. . . 

To all those Latter-day Saints: you know the routine prayer. . .

" We are thankful for this day, for our many blessings. . . . (other details)

. . . . please bless us with moisture, that we may water our crops. 

Also bless that we can get home safely. . "

The fact that we have gotten so much rain shows that prayers are answered.

I have a few theories to the rain answered prayers:

1. There was a bad signal, and our prayers weren't getting through until recently.  Heavenly Father knows of our dryness and is doing all he can to prepare us for dusty days to come. . . 
2. He doesn't want us to stop praying.  So, either we need to pray for more water or pray for less- beggars can't be choosers right? Besides, this way we stay humble.
3. He knows what He is doing.  He has a larger perspective of the matter.  AND have you seen how beautiful and clean all this water makes my little Central Utah town and the towns surrounding?  Simply breath taking! (don't worry more pictures to come!) 
4. OR- maybe this rain is suppose to give us opportunities to serve others
5. It could also be that the weather is suppose to keep us inside- practically making us FIND time to read or scriptures and build up our gospel doctrine.
6. Maybe the rain was sent to us in such large quantities to try our patience and to give us an opportunity show our gratitude for what we are blessed with.

Yep, it is decided, I like the rain.  I also really like my rainy-day theories.  

My niece, Halee, is being baptized on Saturday.  I am so proud of her, (as mention before) but the rain reminds me of this song and it makes me beam!  Clean, beautiful and pure- like the earth after rain!  Simply Marvelous!  IT IS TRUE! can you feel it in your heart? It makes all my heart expand and my breathing shallow- Heavenly Father loves us so much that we have been given the opportunity to be baptized.  Through Jesus Christ's atonement we can repent of our sins and once again return to live with our Heavenly Father one day.  Pray for guidance and strength- because through Him anything is possible.  I know this.  

lack of sleep = cleaning?

Time: Approx. 9:07 AM

Place: Vanity in D4

Task: De-clogging the sink.

please don't mind my short-shorts. . . I was cleaning!

 I arrived to D4 around seven thirty Saturday morning.  The lights were all off and everyone in the house was sleeping despite Jordan and I who were sleep deprived from the previous Relay For Life activities.  As we trudged up the stairs discussing the events of the day to come I soon realized that there weren't enough hours for things that I had scheduled to do that day.  In that moment of time I contemplated my priorities and soon came to the conclusion that sleep could wait and that now was the time for me to get to work. . . yes work.
I have this huge pet-peeve of clean clothes.  I absolutely hate starting off a week having a hamper full of dirty clothes.  It honestly drives me bonkers.  We have a laundromat in my complex that isn't too far from my building and on Saturday it is known to get packed.  I knew that if I wanted to get me clothes washed there was no time like the present.  As soon as I walked into my room I grabbed my dirty clothes and lugged them down to the cleaners.  The initial  plan was to start my laundry and then go back to bed. . . However, as soon as I got back to my apartment I caught a second wind.  My version of a cleaning Nazi was released.
Next up, the kitchen.  My roommates and I have come up with a system of chores and each week we all have a job to do.  Clever I know.  Mine this week was the kitchen and it was in drier need of some TLC.  As part of the job regulations we have until Monday at midnight to finish our assigned duty, but I despise cleaning on Mondays, Sundays are completely out of the question and so there I was scrubbing the floors around eight in the morning.  Exhausted, but far from total and complete bodily shut-down.
After the kitchen I was on a cleaning high- which lately has been really rare (you should see my bedroom).  I saw the vanity sink- I had been meaning to tackle the monster which lived within the throat of the sink and I finally had the courage to take it down.  Everyone else was still sleeping so I figured that my opportunity was golden.  I grabbed the plunger- and tried plunging out the gunk.  Gurgling sounds of the underworld (aka: the drain) sounded the house and soon everyone was up curious to what I was doing.  No hope.  Next trial for success was to undo the p-hole? (the little contraption underneath the sink)  Mind you, I have no plumbing experience whatsoever.  As soon as I got the p-whole cap off I couldn't get it back on and there was water spewing everywhere when I turned on the nozzle. . . Long story short getting the cap back on was an adventure all of it's own.  Finally I turned to my last chance of success- taking out the drain head (again, I don't know the correct terminology).  Tami advised me to use her latex gloves that she accidentally brought home from work.  Bless her heart!
To save you from the gruesome details I took out the drain head, looked in to the throat of the drain and saw doom- o wait, nope, just kidding, the only thing I could see was hair- an almost complete blockage of hair in my drain.  Nasty!  I stuck my latex-covered finger down the drain and pulled out the bit I could reach of the closer, but I couldn't successfully bring out all of it.  Kellie advised a metal hanger and happily donated to the cause.  Sticking a hooked end down to the depths of water flowage I retrieved an eight inch tap-worm of hair!   I threw it in the bag and ran to my room gaging . . . if I didn't have serious throwing-up issues I defiantly would have lost my breakfast right then.
I finished the task of cleaning the sink- but as soon as that was done I no longer had the urge to clean and went on with my day - not sleeping until eight thirty at night!

Oh, and for a quick sneak peak!

I took Tami and Jayson's engagements yesterday- 

nearly fell asleep driving them around

got rained out

but ended up with some awesome picture!

Correction: "p-hole" is suppose to be "p-trap", but I'm not changing it!

raindrops fallin' on my head.

Q: Do you take all the pictures on your blog?

A: Yes, for the most part.  My pictures are what pushes me to blog actually.  If I didn't take them I give credit to the place that I found them- after all they are someone's masterpieces.

Note to self:  Next time I go for a run take my camera.  

Background: Up in Logan it rains a lot- and every time it rains I start singing,  Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head.  I only ever sing the very first part of the song because well that is all I know. . . I don't even know where I heard this song for the first time. . . ANYHOW moving on.

Driving home from school I was really surprised when I noticed that Logan was the only place with snow in the state.  However as soon as I pulled in to my home snowflakes started falling from the sky-  I brought the weather with me. . . Sorry, and your welcome.

I woke up early-ish (I planned on getting up by seven fifteen, but didn't actually get out of bed until eight something . . . ) to find the sky drooling.  I got up early to go running, yes I am becoming addicted, and I wasn't going to let a little bit of wetness keep me from my run.  AND SO- I dressed up in my under armor (I maybe falling in love) and faced the storm!

Running in the rain was rejuvenating and fresh.  I felt clean.  I wanted to sing and do cartwheels all the way up the street!  It was a beautiful run.  I wish I had taken my camera.  When I run I see a moment that I want to capture, I pick apart my surroundings and analyze everything.  If only. . . if only. . .

I made it home.  Soaked.  I was expecting that much!  There are lots of perfect moments in life and this was one of them.

Childhood Memory: It was a warm summer day, but overcast.  My family had just got a new swing set and my older brothers were putting it up in the backyard.   Shay and I were sitting on the grass by the tool box "helping" and playing with  kittens, it seemed like we always had kittens.  Clouds started rolling in and even though it started to get dark quick it was still warm, the swing set still wasn't finished and life was perfect in that moment.  Then I could hear it coming.  It was a rippling noise and though it happened fasted I can remember how it sounded when the suspecting rain pounced upon us.  Shay went inside, the kittens all ran away, but I sat in the grass and watched as my brothers finished.  There was so much rain. Finally my mom yelled from the backdoor telling me that I had to come in.  I slowly obeyed.   When I walked through the door I remember looking to my mom who was in the kitchen, water was dripping from my hair and my clothes were stuck to my body.  The air conditioning made me all of a sudden very cold, but I was happy.  My life is perfectly marvelous.  

I am so happy.  I wouldn't change right now for anything.  I love being home again.  It has started snowing.  There is so much to be grateful for.  Life is beautiful.  Small frustrations and challenges in life will never change the beauty that surrounds my life, but those trails only make it that more beautiful!

I think challenges are amazing.  I love when people make me want to become better.  To push me to do something more.  A challenge to grow.  I have a quote in my scriptures that I got from one of my most favorite Sunday School teachers.  She said, "There is no comfort in the growth zone and there is no growth in the comfort zone."  Who wants to grow with me?

Today I am going to start taking each day as it is, but finding the beauty in it.  The perfect little moments that make up my life.  I am going to recognize and show my gratitude for all that I have been blessed with.  I will probably post a lot of them on my blog, but if you aren't an avid blogger, don't worry about it, just except the challenge.  Do it. 

Challenge: What is beautiful in your life today?

Yesterday I walked home barefoot in the rain.  It was beautiful!  I love the rain, it reminds me of all the good things on this earth-
Conference weekend was marvelous.
I could go into detail about how my eyes have been opened, about the spiritual experiences I had, all that I discovered about myself but I won't.  I can't.  Not here anyway-

Conference was amazing.  I don't think I could say it enough.
I went to the conference center on Saturday and was able to go to both sessions.  I now want to go every conference, at least one session.  I love it.
After conference I went home!  My home home, where my family is!  I didn't realized how much I missed them until I went home!  Sunday we celebrated my birthday-  I have so much love in my life.  I am so blessed.

I feel gratitude and love.
I feel motivated to improve my life and to follow everything the Lord said to us through the voices of his servants.  I feel empowered.  I feel invigorated.  I feel humble.  I feel hope because there is a future to hope for.  Life is good.  Life is beautiful.  Celebrate it.

I have made goals to improve my life since conference.

1. exercise every morning I have school-
2. study my scriptures daily
3. write in my journal daily
4. follow the Prophet in all things
5. Pray morning, evening, every meal, and when ever else I feel the need
6. give love
7. have patience
8. go to the temple- I live too close to pass up the opportunity
9. go to bed early
10. get on top of my studies

P.S. purple frozen grapes are simply the best ever!