Saturday, December 31, 2011

Work vs. Life

Do you ever get so involved in work you’re not sure it ends and if it does, where?  I get so wrapped up in my work sometimes that I take it home with me emotionally, and I stress over it, and I even sometimes dread coming in because I have internalized it so much. I keep telling myself that this is not the end. It is my current situation, it pays the bills, and it is teaching me so many valuable lessons, about work and life in general. The one thing I keep trying to tell myself is that it is just a job. This is not my life. This is not who I am (which actually spawns another thought, but I’ll save that for another time).
I went on vacation and for the first time in a couple of years, I didn’t take work with me. I didn’t check my emails (ok, I looked at the headings to make sure nothing BIG was happening, but I didn’t open a single one), I didn’t worry about anything happening here, and I didn’t really care what was waiting for me when I returned. I came back with a better perspective on what really matters. Work is important, don’t get me wrong, but there should be balance and I’m the only one that can make that balance work in my life. I want to focus on the things that really matter. To me, that is my family, spending time with them and making memories with them. It is attending to my church responsibilities and taking time to serve those around me, but also taking time to serve in the temple. I know that when I achieve this balance, my work will remain important to me, but it will no longer define me and I will be living more closely the life I've imagined.

Friday, December 30, 2011

Georgia Vacation - December 2011

I am one lucky girl. I got to take a SECOND vacation in 2011 to go to Georgia. The vacation we took in June was wonderful, but this time it really felt like going home. Mom and I were talking about how, when they moved to Georgia, I said it would never feel like home and I would never want to live there. With each trip I take, I want to move there more and more. Anyway, this trip felt more than ever like I was HOME! I am ashamed to say that out of the two weeks I was there I only took one picture on my camera and about 10 on my iPod…and they were mostly of food we made and two of my niece and nephew.

So, while I would love to give you pictures to break up the monotony of my words, you will have to use your imagination.

Dad and I visited several cemetery’s to decorate or work on relatives graves. Each time we went he would tell me a little about each relative and how I was related to each person.

Over the summer they had the trees on the farm land cut down and sold and they had several big burn piles. One day dad decided to burn 4, but while he was at it he decided that he could burn 4 more. Let’s just say things got a little bit out of hand and he was out there on the tractor late into the night (after 10 PM) trying to keep the fires from spreading into the woods. When I left a week and a half later, the fires were still smoldering.

The day I got there it was rainy and made a lot of good mud. Dad took me out bogging in the golf cart (this is one I WISH I had a picture of). We were sliding all over the place and laughing so hard. Daddy was just like a little kid out there. He has been busy making a track out in the open land complete with jumps for our brother to take his dirt bike out on. Yep, we took the golf cart over ALL of them. Granted, some of them were so big the golf cart didn’t really want to go over, so we kept going back and forth, packing in down so we could. Dad took me down through the canal…again, no small feat for a golf cart. When we were headed back to the house, dad took me to the last jump he had made (this is actually the one we had to pack down…from both sides). We were both certain that at any moment, one of both of us was going to be thrown out of that golf cart. At one point, we got high centered and we had to jump out (on the jump) and push the golf cart off. I’m pretty sure dad was running on pure adrenaline at this point because he took the jump and came around again as if he were going to jump again, but instead he got this crazy look in his eyes and headed for a tree!! I thought he was joking for the first three seconds but quickly realized that we were doing this! He kept hitting the tree, not at full speed by any means, but it was constant and within 30 seconds we had pushed a pine tree over! It was so cold and rainy out there, but it was one of the BEST highlights of my trip!!

Daddy took me to breakfast at Jerry J’s for THE BEST steak biscuit EVER! Seriously, if you find yourself in South Georgia, find a Jerry J’s!

Mom and I made road trip pillow cases for Macee, Clayton, and Will. They turned out SO CUTE!

Mom and I went to our neighbor Ann’s house. We went down and made Christmas cookies with her – Swedish teacakes and bonbons. I even splurged one day and made Chicken Cordon Bleu Bread Bowls. Have you seen these before? They are amazing!! I actually even made the bread bowls because not one of the grocery stores carried them. Actually, we called one bakery in a store and asked if they carried them and the girl on the other end said that we would need to talk to house wares because they didn’t sell dishes…it was at that point that I lost hope of finding them. Luckily, this recipe comes with a GREAT recipe for bread bowls…try it!

We made breaded egg bread as a family. I made the dough and then the THREE of us braided bread, even dad (we love getting him in on the baking action!). Serve it with blueberry butter…AMAZING!

I was invited to play a piano solo in Church on my second Sunday. I am still not sure why I agreed (and so quickly) to do this. I didn’t have anything prepared, I didn’t have any of my piano music with me; the logical answer would have been to say “thanks, but no thanks”. However, I agreed and I had one week to find a song and practice it enough to be able to play it the next Sunday. It wasn’t my best performance ever, but it wasn’t bad, and it was a BEAUTIFUL song. I want to practice it enough so that I can play it and call it my best performance!

I got to go to primary! Mostly I just sat in the back, but it was so fun to be around children again. I have missed it sooooo much!

We got to visit with a lot of really fun people…some of these people haven’t seen me since I was 4!

We went to Wild Adventure’s in Valdosta. Believe it or not there is a theme park in Georgia…I didn’t know this! It was so much fun! We rode some really fun rides, and one ride that made me scream like I was 5 (the 9 year old next to me kept talking to me...haha, fun memory), but it was amazing! We couldn’t have picked a better day to go. It was about 70 degrees, sunny and beautiful. There were NO lines! We covered the entire park in less than three hours! I think we all came home exhausted (with scrambled brains) from that.

We drove out to the Okefenokee Swamp Park. We got all the way out there only to find that it wasn’t even open, so I took a picture of the closed sign (yes, the one picture I took on my camera…so sad, I know).

We went to Cracker Barrel down in Brunswick on the way to see Spence and his family. We had just been seated and ordered our food when we saw a couple from Waycross that we knew. They joined us and we all had lunch together! It was such a fun time!

I took several naps, just because I could…and because I would come in and lay down, so did everyone else. I think it did us all a world of good.

Mom and I developed an inside joke relating to the game Mahjong. I could tell you what it is, but I won’t because 1. It wouldn’t be an inside joke anymore and 2. I’d have to kill you. :)

We harvested pecans. It is no longer the terrible back breaking job it used to be. They have this dandy little contraption that you roll along the ground and the pecans pop into it as you roll over them.

We sold pecans. You take them to this building (they buy, crack and sell pecans all on site). Luckily we were just in the business of selling pecans. You dump your pecans on to this special table. One guy has a nifty gadget that takes the end of the shell of pecans so they can check a random few to make sure they are a good batch. Then they dump them into a burlap sack, weigh it and give you the money.

I got to drive the tractor. I wasn’t doing anything useful on it…just driving, but it was still fun.

I sat on the back porch in the sun and read. So lazy and relaxing.

We went fishing! There is a man that lives around the corner from my parents who has a lovely pond. He lets them go fishing whenever they like. We went down one day and didn’t catch a single fish. But the second time we went back, we started getting bites. It seemed that each time we brought in a fish it was bigger than the last! We had such a good time.

I got to play with the animals. I got to snuggle with my adorable Paco. The poor thing is so old he doesn’t see very well and he is mostly deaf. Each morning he would sit at my door and beg to come and jump in bed with me until I got up for the day. Mom and dad have also adopted a cat who answers to the name Kitty Cat (I know, original, but it works). She looks like a cat, but she has to be part pig. The thing eats at least 3 times a day and begs for more each time she sees you! She is very skittish, but loves to be petted and loved…and did I mention fed? Also, mom and dad are currently dog sitting our brother’s dog, Boomer. He is a Jack Russell/Lab mix…he is so cute! He is super hyper and loves to run and bite and eat and bite and, you get the idea. He is 15 weeks old so still very much a puppy. I put him on the little kiddie slide in the back and he kept going down it (seriously, what other choice did he have) and then I put him in the tire swing. Boomer loves to go for rides in the golf cart (not quite like the one we went on) and will chase almost anything you throw.

In less detail, we cleaned the church, played games, went and visited people in the ward, shot the guns, drove the truck (I have a power issue), ate lots of good food, worked out a few times, and basically just fell in love with Georgia! It was an amazing trip and I can’t wait to start planning the next visit (or move…we’ll just have to wait and see).

Friday, September 30, 2011

The Power of Love - Part II

I had to include the follow up to this story. Who knew there would even be a follow up, but when you know amazing people, amazing things are bound to happen.

We go now to the following Monday. I had gone to one of my good friends apartments to talk about a presentation that I will be conducting at her school in October and to talk about some other stuff. We were in her room when there was a knock on her front door. I jokingly said, “Let me know if it’s for me.” Boy was I shocked when she called for me and said that someone was there to see me. I was surprised to find our choir director standing there. He had gone to my apartment looking for me and was told I was here instead. He came to apologize for the way things happened and for any hurt feelings. I was so incredibly touched by this. In all honesty, it wasn’t anybody’s fault… really…just the way things happened. And, as I previously explained, the tears weren’t from hurt feelings (ok, only a tiny bit, but again, no one was to blame for that, it’s just how it was.) I explained this to him and he said something profound…he said that those were still my feelings and shouldn’t be disregarded and that he was sorry for his part in any of it. What a great guy!!

If I hadn’t had such a good experience the day before in feeling my Savior’s love for me, this moment would have done it alone. As it was, it was a coupled experience that reaffirmed to me the truth and reality of our Savior’s love. Never underestimate the power of kind words. This person certainly had nothing to apologize for, but his kind words helped me value myself; I felt like I was “enough”. So, thank you Mr. Choir Director for being concerned about me, for helping me to come to these realizations.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

The Power of Love

For the last several months, I have been filling in on the piano at church when people have not shown up, and I've also been playing for the ward choir. It has been such a fun time; stressful, but fun. Two weeks ago, the bishopric had made some new callings and people had been assigned to both of these positions, which was wonderful! The timing, however, couldn't have been worse. I struggled that week feeling that I was "enough"; I just kept selling myself short. By the time Sunday rolled around, I was looking for comfort and peace and got anything but. I fully anticipated the coming changes, but in the moment, I hadn't prepared myself for the actuality of it all. When I got to choir, I was told that someone else would be playing from here on out. Under normal circumstances, that would have been fine. In fact, it was fine - I was just emotionally...unstable...that day. I'm completely embarrassed to say I started to cry and had to excuse myself for a few minutes. After I pulled myself together (haha) I went back in to choir. I did my best to stop from crying, but then as we started to sing, I really paid attention to the words of the song that we had been practicing; the song that I had been playing for over a month. The song is "I Feel My Savior's Love". 
In the moment that I was feeling so worthless. In that moment, I felt my Savior's love, the love He freely gives me! As I sang this hymn, my heart was healed, and the tears of joy flowed freely. I have included a video of this song as performed by the Orem Institute of Religion Choir. I hope that as you listen to it, you will feel the love our Savior offers.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Obedience and the Cream Puff

Well, it was actually an entire batch of cream puffs. I’ve been making cream puffs for years. They always turn out good, if I do say so myself. I would even consider myself fairly satisfied with the end result, though I always thought it could be better.

Several weekends ago, Lori had her last day of work in the bakery and she wanted to take a treat in to share with everyone (and when you work in a bakery, what else do you take but baked goods??). She decided that she wanted to take cream puffs, so we got to work. I was determined that since these were not for my own wants, I wanted them to be perfect. So, I took out the recipe and followed it exactly! None of this “well, it looks like it might be done”, or “its close enough”. I wasn’t striving for close, I was striving for perfection!

The recipe says to bring the butter and water to a boil. Once this happens, stir in the flour until it is incorporated and starts to form a ball. You then add the eggs, one at a time, mixing each egg in completely before adding the next one. This is generally where I mess up. I usually have help that is so helpful, I haven’t actually mixed the egg in entirely before the next is dropped in. I don’t know if this is really key, but we did it this time and worked so well.

Then you scoop them out and bake them. The directions said to bake until golden brown and crispy. I always made it to the golden brown stage but was afraid of burning them that I never really gave them the opportunity to get the right amount of crunchiness. When I made them this time, I checked them at the appointed time and then added 5 – 10 minutes, checking frequently so they didn’t burn. When I brought them out, they didn’t fall like they have in the past. They were cooked enough that they kept their shape!! They were amazing to eat plain while they were still warm…just saying.

We made the pastry cream. Usually I just use a standard pudding mix…one box mix, two cups milk. When we went to Georgia in June, I decided to mix it up a little bit. With a little guidance from a happenstance website, I added a cup of cream and a cup of milk (I’ve made it since then and have done all cream…very good, but very rich and completely unnecessary). It makes it set up thicker and gives it an amazing taste. However, I put that good cream in compacted, soft pastry puffs and it was very disappointing. This time we had it right. Amazing puffs + amazing pastry cream = amazing cream puff!!

Now, if you are a chocolate addict like me, you must have chocolate on top of the cream puff. The recipe for my chocolate glaze/frosting is my favorite. It was given to me by a friend in college and I use it any chance I get. I have always wanted it to be thicker and better than I had made, but I had never been able to get it to work. This time, we did something amazing (new favorite word for this post…sorry!). We followed the recipe…again! It says to combine the first few ingredients in a pan until it boils for a minute. I have little patience for boiling things. Lori diagnosed this problem when, after only 20 seconds, I asked if I could move one. She looked at me with a look only a sister could get away with…you know, the one that says “you’re a moron”. I continued counting to 60 (1 minute) and started getting worried when the mixture started separating in the pan. I always thought separation in food prep was a bad thing. In this case, it was the best thing that could have happened! Thick, rich, fudging frosting/glaze (honestly, it was too thick to be considered a glaze, but it was perfect on the cream puffs).

I learned through this endeavor that obedience is fine. I followed the recipes before, I did what they said. This time, however, I followed the recipe with exact obedience. In this moment, I wondered what things in my life I was being obedient to, but could be exercising exact obedience. I’ve decided that if it’s something worth doing right, whether in the kitchen, at work, or anywhere else, I am going to be doing it with exactness.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

My Faviorite Dream

I have so much I want to write. I start typing on my iPod while I’m on the go, but something happens every time and it either limits the number of characters I can use, it doesn’t allow me to publish, or I accidentally delete it. Then it puts me behind even more, so I procrastinate further and never really accomplish anything.

If I ever get around to backtracking, I will, but for now I’m just going to move forward. I’m also going to attempt to get over my fear of getting my thoughts and feelings out there. I feel like I may have said that at a previous time, but it is my goal to really try. I’m one of those people who think that if people know what I’m really wishing and hoping for or thinking about, things won’t turn out the way I want or expect them to.

I recently celebrated a birthday…my 25th to be exact. For the record, I LOVE being 25. I can’t explain it, but I have been looking forward to it for quite some time. The point of bringing this up is that one of the gifts I received was the CD “Women of Hope”. One song in particular has taken over my life…I love the lyrics. This morning on the way to work I seriously let it play over and over for the 20+ minutes that it takes to get to work. As you can guess from the title of my blog, I am fascinated/obsessed with dreams. Without dreams, we really have no motivation to move forward. I love good dreams, whether I’m awake or when I’m sleeping. I hold on to dreams as my beacon in the distance, encouraging me to move toward something that I want. This song is called “My Favorite Dream”. At this point I have only been able to locate the lyrics to the first verse and chorus on the internet, but I will find the rest one way or another.

I have dreams; they’re big enough to touch the sky
I launch them as the days go by
I dream them as I hold your hand
And I always try to understand
The reason that I’m in this world
I wonder as the days unfurl
And I’m running out of time to grant all the wishes that I had as a little girl

But even if I don’t cross the ocean blue or climb the tallest mountain
It isn’t as tragic as it seems
There are a million things I want to do, but only if I can be with you
And I know what forever means
And you are my favorite dream

I have so many dreams right now and I want so badly for them all to work out the way I want. I want to have a good career, I want to go back to school to become a teacher, I want to do things to help others, I want to move closer to my family; I dream about doing all of these things. But the thing I dream most of is one day, finding and marrying the man of my dreams. I don’t know who he is, where he is, or what he’s doing right now, but he honestly is my favorite dream.

I try not to talk about it too much because I don’t want to be one of those people. You know who I’m talking about…we’ve all met at least one person like this. Instead of being this person, I try to just have fun, work hard, and accomplish everything that needs to happen. I’m building my testimony of patience. I’m learning to rely on the Lord. And for these experiences, I wouldn’t trade them. So, I will continue to dream. I will dream big and work hard. I will follow the courses that lay ahead of me, and I will trust Him with my dreams.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Fast moving...

Two weekends ago we were able to move into our new apartment. It is just the cutest place ever! It is pretty quiet, came with excellent furniture and is just us. Lori completed two wedding cakes this past weekend...she is amazing. We are starting a new blognjust for our cakes. Stay tuned for that information. Back to fast moving...thanks to wonderful friends and our excellent packing ability, we moved out and into our new apartment in less than 3 hours. I have determined that I am officially an adult now as I rented and DROVE a U-haul (may not have been the nicest thing I have ever driven, but definitely the biggest...and I like it!).
Our move in paperwork contained a list of all the wards and which apartments/buildings attended which wards. Unfortunately management had the wrong information...it took 3 tries to find our right ward. I walked in and met the bishopric, and met the RS president a few mintues later. Then the bishop came back and asked to talk to me. Oh, how naive I am. I thought it would be good news (well, it wasn't really bad news) and called me to be in the RS presidency. I kind of stood there dumbfounded. I had been there less than 10 minutes and already had a calling. This is a fast moving, get it done kind of ward and I am really excited to get here. Hopefully we keep loving it. Pictures of our new place, and info of the cake blog will be coming soon.

Also, today is Lori's birthday! We love you and are so excited you were born!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Let's Go Fly a Kite

Last spring I purchased a kite…I was so excited to fly it. I put it in my car just waiting for the perfect day to fly it. About 6 months later, we started hauling wedding cakes and so I cleaned out my trunk, thus moving the kite to our living room. It spent the next several months on the floor, just waiting to be used. Yesterday, the master of most good ideas, Lori, suggested we take it to the park. I immediately set to work assembling our friendly flier. We got to the park only to realize there wasn’t much wind. After making due for just a few minutes, we headed back to the car. As we were getting in, we got the brilliant idea of flying the kite out of the sunroof. We drove around for over half an hour enjoying the freedom of flight. We made a lot of people smile which I think really may have been the best part.


The only bad news is that I was talking to a friend about our little adventure and she informed me that this wonderful new past time of ours is illegal. Go figure!! Needless to say, we won’t be flying the kite from the car, however, I don’t think there is a rule about bikes…

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Can you believe it??

Sam, Cherie, Lori, and I took a trip to an undisclosed location (yes, the same undisclosed location in which we released some fish) and you'll never guess what we saw!

Did you guess?

We saw one of their fish!! It's been about 3 weeks and at least one of them is happily adjusting to life in a new environment. We can't speak for the others because, well, we didn't see them, but this is great news!!

What did I learn from this little trip?? If  a poor little goldfish can adjust to big changes, I guess I can too!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Want to go fishing?

No, it didn’t involve a fishing pole, or bait. No, we didn’t bring fish home. It was more like catch and release…we (as in Sam) caught the fish from the tank and we released these beloved aquatic creatures into a more natural environment. The fish are now in the Witness Protection Program (as in an undisclosed location).  Their actual release was a little shocking to their poor little systems as they were thrown (literally) into a new environment. After a few short good-byes, the evening concluded with frozen yogurt and all was once again right with the world.

Thanks for the memories Sam and Cherie...and in case you're wondering, I'm still not okay with your moving to another state.
The End.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Shock

I had a little bit of a shock today as I was blog jumping (as I so often do) and realized that I haven't posted anything on my blog in a long time. I guess more correctly I forgot that I actually had a blog of my very own. While it wasn't intentional, it has been a nice break.
Some good things that are happening right now, or that we are looking forward to are...
1. Lori and I have palne tickets to go home in May...today we are 75 days away from being home again!
2. We get to move to our new apartment in less than two months...so EXCITED!
3. Spring time seems to have reached our little corner of the world. The sun is out and I just can't wait to ge outside and play...which is exactly what I'm going to do right now.
Have an amazing weekend!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Reading

I've been doing a lot of reading lately. May I recommend some of my favorites??

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Conversations with strangers: Part 2

Who knew that within the same week I would have a part 2 to this post. I was doing more phone screens at work and was leaving mostly messages with people. I was doing very well leaving very professional sounding messages until about 2:00. I was in the process of leaving a message when my phone rang, an email came in, people were talking in my office. I was closing my message and was about to hang up when I hear the words "love ya" coming out of my mouth. Yep - I told the guy I left a message for that I loved him. Luckily for me he was very kind and didn't mention it when he called back. I just cross my fingers that I never have to meet him face to face.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

I'm so dead

This post will probably be removed if Lori sees this, so enjoy it while it lasts.
We were waiting in line for signatures and were trying to pass the time. This is the new face that Tausha taught Lori to make.
You scrunch your eyebrows and then smile. Enjoy the video.


These are also some other (not so flattering pics) of the evening. I think it makes us even...right?
 "It looks like a prison photo" (5 points to the person who guesses the movie reference)
The evening wouldn't have been complete without a fish face.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Conversations with strangers

In my job I have the privilege of calling lots of people to do some pre-screening for open positions. I have to admit that of all the things that scare me in life, making phone calls is one of my biggest fears. I don't mind talking to people on the phone, I love when people call me, but I greatly dislike when I have to make a phone call. Give me a text message, email, face to face, smoke signal or pigeon; I'd take anything over calling people. This does present a slight problem when I do have to call people for work, but I've learned something really great. When I just get over my fear and do what I have to do, I find that I actually like talking with people. I recently had a phone call that just cracked me up and I had to share.
I started my interview like I normally would (with question 1) and waited for the reply. The candidate I was speaking with gave her answer to my question and then promptly followed it up with "not like those 20-somethings". I laughed at that comment the first time. I asked question 2, she gave me her answer, and then said "more than those 20-somethings". I continued to laugh, actually, my laughter increased. I ask 20 questions on these calls, and I think I heard the phrase "20-something" about 20-something times.
For the record, I fall into that 20-something category, though not how she was meaning. It always cracks me up that people think I'm so much older than I really am. Thank you genetics for getting me out of, and in to, some interesting situations. If it weren't for you, this post wouldn't be valid.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Besides, what you see, I have...

Confidence in me.
Thank you Julie Andrews for singing this song that has recently become stuck in my head.
In a testimony meeting at church, I recently related that I learned two important truths over the course of 2010.
Important Truth 1 - Our Heavenly Father is completely in charge of our lives and only does things for us that allow us to grow and become better.
It is because of IT1 that I learned IT2...
Important Truth 2 - I can do hard things.
I am really good at making plans for my life. I'm also really good at changing them (or not following through; both have been know to happen). If you want to see how not in control of your life you are, make plans and try going it on your own. Inevitably, my plans fall through, my life is changed completely, I'm required to do hard things, and I triumph every time. Now before you think I've lost my head completely and believe that I somehow did this on my own, let me clarify something. I can do hard things, but I need help...lots of help. Heavenly Father knows this and always sends aid to my rescue no matter what the problem is. Between the actual "hard thing(s)" and the assistance I receive from Him, I am given strength and confidence that I can continue moving forward. What comfort, joy, and excitement that gives me for my future. No matter what happens I know IT1 and IT2 and with that knowledge, faith, and determination I move forward.
Life hasn't turned out anything like what I had anticipated. I had so many other plans for my life, but right now, in this moment, I have no doubt that I am exactly where the Lord wanted and needed me. I may not understand that fully but I know its true. I firmly believe that because of the situations I find myself in now, I am becoming exactly who I need to be, for myself, now and in the future; for my family and friends; for Him.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Just Like Ants

I left work late today, as I have been doing for the past several weeks. A new job means new challenges and more often than not, not enough time in the average work day to complete it all. But I'm not complaining. Really, I'm not. I love what I do and I really even like staying late. I get more done in the afternoon in an hour or so after most people are gone than I do a couple of hours during standard operating hours. Anyway, I was driving home today in the dark and taking note of all the lights ahead of me for as far as I could see. It reminded me of ants marching to the colony.
As I started thinking of this, I began to see many comparisons between us and the ants. I mean, we're not ants out collecting food to return it to the colony, and hopefully we're not just mindlessly walking around, following the person in front of us (with the exception of driving a car...and perhaps standing in line for a good sale or an amazing sandwich), but for better or worse, we are in the crowd trying to make it back to the colony. This thought made me ask myself a question. If I am a part of the crowd, and if I have to follow behind someone, or even several people, am I selecting a good leaders? Who do I let lead me around. Do I follow behind because I know they're heading the same place I am, or am I just stuck in my space and mindlessly following.
Well, since that was a question for my own introspection, I won't actually give you the answer. Rest assured that I'm not mindless (most of the time), and since I have been thinking about this have found some areas in my own life where I will become the leader, not the follower. If something or someone isn't going to get me back where I want to go, why would I keep going??

Thursday, January 6, 2011

A New Year

Just to check in for the New Year...life is completely AMAZING!!! We started out sick but are getting better. I am actually in my new position and have stopped officially training. I have been meeting all sorts of new people and it has been a lot of fun. I'm really discovery who I am, and what I want to be.
If I had to sum up what I learned in 2010 into two statements, it would be:
1 - Heavenly Father is completely in control of my life. If I make plans, He will more than likely change them, and I have learned to welcome that.
2 - It is because of truth #1 that I learned that I can do hard things.
Life is full of unexpected ups and downs, and if you hang on for the ride you will exceed your wildest expectations.
Bring on 2011!