Thank goodness, THREE more months!

I have had so much to be grateful for this last year. There has been good and bad that have blessed me. Yes I said bad. How else am I supposed to learn? One thing that I am thankful for, and it just so happens to be the same day as Thanksgiving, is that today Elder Harris has been serving the Lord for 21 months! Wow!! I can hardly believe it! Sometimes it feels like yesterday I was telling people he had served for only three months. Other times it feels like its been longer! I still don't know his exact release date but I'm thinking it will be pretty close to the 26th of February. He almost had the chance to stay longer than the two years, but it ended up not working out. I'm not going to lie, I'm so glad he is coming home sooner rather than later!

Something else that I am grateful for beyond measure happened this last semester at school. I was planning on going to Utah State at first but then things happened and I ended up at Weber. I wasn't really happy about this, but I think I've changed my mind. If I had gone to Utah State then I would never have met V. I wouldn't have known what I was missing but now I can't imagine not having her. She is the BEST friend I have always looked for! I honestly feel like she is one of my sisters! She is AMAZING!!! I've learned so much just from hanging out with her! I can tell that she has left "foot prints" in my heart that will be there forever! I can't tell you how grateful I am for her!! Thanks for everything V!!! Love ya!!!

I am also so so thankful for my family. Immediate and extended! I have had the chance to utilize Grandma's knowledge and talents over the last few weeks. I love that she is willing to help me no matter what. I hope that she is proud of what I did! Over the last semester at school, I've been able to take a Spanish class. Because of this I feel a lot more confident with my ability to speak Spanish. With this little boost of confidence, my relationship with Abuelo and Abuela has grown also! I love it! To celebrate Thanksgiving, my family had all of my aunts and their families (from my dad's side) come over for dinner. It was so fun to be around them! It is always so loud and crazy! I love it. Here are some pictures of Thanksgiving Dinner.

Amazing Analaine

Yesterday, I learned something incredible. It really isn't that surprising but still amazing. Analaine is just finishing her first year of competitive volleyball at the collegiate level. If any of you had the chance to watch her play, you know how amazing she is! Analaine is easily the best one on the court every time she plays. And I'm so not being bias when I say that.

Analine has received an honor for this season. She is Freshman of the Year for her conference. Plus, she made the All-Conference First Team and the All Star Freshman team. Holy cow, right?! She is definitely on her way to the Olympics! Not only did she get all these awards, she also led the conference in kills per game and made top five for service aces! What can I say? She is AMAZING!! Good job, Sister!! Keep at it!! Love you tons!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Well, today just happens to be Elder Harris' birthday! He is 21 and has been serving the Lord for 20 months and 3ish weeks. Haha yes, I am still counting down. I can't wait til I can actually celebrate special days with him and not half a world apart!

I have decided that it really is pointless for me to be dating right now. I mean, I'm not giving up! If I get asked on a date I will go but I'm really done with searching for "Mr. Right". I found him almost four years ago and I am blessed to still have him in my life. Am I still scared to death for when he gets home? Oh heavens, YES! But I know for a fact that I will be here totally single and waiting for him when he gets done. He did mention in one of his letters something about dating others. It makes complete sense to me but I seriously hope that he doesn't take a long time to figure things out. I've had two years to know for certain and he will have a month or two... That's fair right? Not really but I honestly don't want to drag it out IF he doesn't want to marry me. So for now its waiting. Patience is the key...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ELDER HARRIS! I miss you tons!

Questions

For the last few days I have had a couple of questions bouncing around so fast in my head that I don't think I will ever get the answers. I am not sure if they are questions that others have asked. Well, one of them is something I think others have thought about. That question is: "Have I ever been judged unfairly?". The other question is: "Can you be 'too good'?".

I definitely think that nearly (if not everyone) everyone has touched base with the first question. I, too, have been on the receiving end of unfair judgement. The judgement is almost always a negative judgement. Anyone can tell you. But this time I have been thinking about unfair judgement with positive judgement. How can positive judgement be unfair? Let me tell you...

The answer to the first question is so fully connected to the second that you will understand why they have been connected. The best way to explain it is to tell you about an event that happened recently. The event is a date. It has been a handful of months since I last went on a date so I was really looking forward to it. I had heard that the guy, Mr. W, was a great guy. Perfect! I need a great guy. Well, Mr. W got to my house. He commented on "the barn" so the date started with me showing him the gym. Good start! We headed to Riverdale and decided to stop at Bajio's for dinner. The food was good but the company was better. We just sat and talked for 20 plus minutes after we were done eating. Off to the Weber State basketball game. We watched and talked. Mr. W would throw in a few statements about the next time we hung out and I was feeling great about it. The game was a good time. When it was over, around 9, Mr. W asked what we should do next. Very good sign! I suggested getting hot chocolate because it was too cool for ice cream. We got our hot chocolate (around 9:30) and continued talking. We talked about so many things. Movies, sports, family, church, what girls like in a guy, etc. It was way nice talking like that. (It doesn't happen often with me) After hot chocolate (we left at 10:40ish) it was back home, with a few scenic detours on the way. Mr. W wanted to see the gym again. Out in the gym we messed around with the volleyball: shooting and setting. The night ended with a hug!! It was a great night, right? Everything went smoothly on my side! So how did I start thinking about unfair judgements?

I haven't talked to Mr. W since then. I got a text saying he wouldn't be able to come to a game I had invited him to, but I totally understand that he had homework so that was ok. But why haven't I talked to him? I might be jumping to conclusions but after thinking about the weekend I can't help it. There was one part that stuck out in my mind. Hot chocolate. There were a few parts in that on going conversation that I think I sounded "too good" and boastful. That is where the second question comes in. I'll tell you two parts of the conversation... He asked if I watched rated R movies. I answered honestly with a no. He gave me a fist bump and went on to say he did sometimes. Ok cool. Agency right. He was/is a great guy! But I felt funny. I don't know why, but I felt like I was being prideful or something. Maybe it was the comment a moment after that made me feel self-conscious. I had my CTR ring on, mostly out of habit. (Sadly, it has never made me stop when I do something wrong...) He said he didn't have a ring to remind him not to watch R movies. Oh... What do I say to that? I just smiled a little and felt even more funny. Again, it was like I was acting "too good" for people. I didn't mean to... I don't like to show off. But I felt like I was... Did Mr. W think I was? I thought he did. I think he still does. I think I have been unfairly judged as being "too good". I don't know why but that thought has been bouncing around. I have no really evidence if I am or not but it is my feelings. We'll see what happens... I pray that I am just jumping to conclusions...

As for the second question... I don't think I'll ever have an answer for it.

The Lord knows

Many people question the Lord's ability to know what EVERY person needs and how much they can handle and when. Then, instead of turning to the Lord to find comfort, those people turn away from Him and live with hatred or make rash decisions. The psychiatrist at Fort Hood is one such person. I don't know if he ever thought about how much His Father loved him and wanted to help him, but he made a choice and very unfortunately his choice hurt others. I can only say from the perspective of watching my best friend handle the pain, it is not fair. V's family are good people. They do not deserve the pain they are going through. I can't understand everything that is going on with V but I am trying to help. I hope that she knows that I am here for her. Thankfully, she has His gospel. It would be so much harder for her if she didn't have that knowledge! The Lord is there for all those that are suffering. He knows how much each person can take and what they need to feel better.

My prayers are with the families of this unfortunate shooting, especially with V. Love you girl!!

Life

This morning, V text me before her first class. I was thinking it was going to be about helping her move into her new apartment, but instead I got a shock. She was going to Salt Lake for the whole weekend and wouldn't be back until Monday. Why? Because her cousin has returned to our Father in Heaven. He was 19 years old and the cousin that was right after V in the line up. I have never met this young man but V has told me a little about him. No one close to me has ever died or had someone they know die, but when I heard this, I started to cry. It wasn't the sobbing cries but it was real tears leaking over the rim of my eyes. I cried for V and her family. He was too young to go!

You never know when your journey here on earth will be completed. Too often people (mostly young adults and teenagers) think that life, on this earth, will go on forever. But how fragile is our mortal existence. V's cousin had done nothing wrong. In fact he was serving this country. There was a shooting that shouldn't have happened. Her cousin was a victim.

I have had a prayer in my heart and mind all day. I know that V and her family will be ok. They know of the fullness of His gospel. It hurts now but they know that they will see their loved one again!

V, thanks for everything you have done for me. You are such an amazing example to me! Stay strong like I know you are! My prayers will be with you and your family.

Home Making

It's been a tradition for white (maybe ethnic people to but I haven't heard of it before) people to display quilts during a weddings. Back in the day it was to kind of show off all the quilts that the bride had made. Plus any that she had received as gifts. Well, for Wendy's wedding she only had one maybe two quilts. In order to live up to part of the tradition that has been set before me (and it just so happens I can be some credit for my homemaking skills in a few of my college courses), I have decided to make a quilt! I'm so excited! It is going to be a jean quilt. But the special touch will be that I am going to put some poems that I will be writing on the quilt. There will be around 7 poems. I hope that it turns out. It will have a lot of meaning for me and it will be a good family heirloom. I'll show you pictures soon. :)

Holiday Fun

My holiday weekend started pretty early on Saturday. My dad was going to play in a men's tournament in Salt Lake and I was going to be playing. Unfortunately, my dad could find enough guys to play on his team. Well, enough good guys. ha ha. So instead, he decided to go and play walleyball with some guys he knows from around were we live. I was still invited!! It was fun to go and hit the ball as hard as I could and not worry about going out of bounds. I picked up the game fast. It's different digging a ball that is bouncing off a wall than directly from the hitter. I quickly earned the nickname of "Little Chicho". It was a good morning so far. On the way home Dad surprised me by taking me to IHOP. Yes!! I had been craving the cream cheese stuffed french toast for a while. We walk in wait in line for a minute or two. Then my dad threw another surprise at me. "Let's go." Whoa!!! Wait a second... What about breakfast?! "Why are we leaving?" Dad had seen a guy that he had done some work for a while back. It hadn't been a good experience and so my dad left like punching the guy right in the face. OK, that would constitute a good reason to leave! Instead we ended up stopping at Artic Circle for a chicken sandwich (who can eat a burger for breakfast?) and a strawberry cheesecake shake. What a let down from IHOP! But it was nice having a daddy-daughter date!



When we got home, Dad had training with a girl from Salt Lake and asked me to come out and help. Holy cow! I am SO out of shape! I could hardly keep up with the girl when we ran sprints. I'll be going out next time she comes! After sprints, we went into passing and hitting. Seeing how I wasn't the one that was being trained, I was the one that set. I have never been a setter and those that have played with me know why. However, I am proud to say that my setting skills have for sure gotten better since I am not playing. Weird how that works. I get out of shape but my ball handling skill gets better. I just have to say that my sets were so good! Almost as good as when V was setting last week. She is amazing! I didn't have to set the whole time, though. I had plenty of time to swing and hit. I also think my hitting has improved since I've become a full time coach!

After I was finished with volleyball, I caught a ride to Salt Lake City. Now it was time to hang with V for the rest of the weekend! Exciting! I got to met and talk with her family at first. Then it was time to celebrate for Halloween. V, her brother, her aunt, and I had the opportunity to take her little cousins around trick-or-treating. So cute! One of her cousins went as a cute little Cinderella and the other cousin was an adorable bee. Cinderella was the older of the two cousins (the bee was her sister) and ready to take the lead and show us all how trick-or-treating really was done. Bee was the most adorable little thing you have ever seen. Her little stinger would waddle back and forth with each tiny step she took. When she wanted to walk our progression slowed tremendously, but she was having fun so what was the point of rushing. These two little cousins were such good sports. They didn't complain once. We had walked in a five block radius of V's grandparents house and the girls enjoyed it! There really weren't very many house handing out candy considering the distance we covered but the girls hit the jackpot with candy. It was a fun time! V and I were even able to talk about life for a bit while walking around the block. Not much happened the rest of the night: a movie and then bed time!

Sunday morning and afternoon were filled with church, naps, and food. We ate at both of V's grandparents homes. It was some good tasting food! Then we headed to a CES fireside. President Uchtdorf was the speaker! Wow! He is truly a man called of God! It was a talk about individual worth as well as dating and finding your "soul mate". He made a comparison to the story The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Anderson. (Pres. Uchtdorf's version is so much better!) We are to find our true selves in the adventure of life. Everyone is something divine, Princes and Princesses, Kings and Queens, Children of God! It was such an amazing talk I highly recommend that everyone go to lds.org and watch it for themselves!

Thanks for such a great weekend V!!!