Anna

Today marks the ninth anniversary of Anna's death. Today is a hard day for me. I sat in Sacrament meeting missing my friend. I can't believe it's been nine years since I lost her and yet she seems like a fuzzy memory from someone else's life. Today I just want to remember Anna. I met Anna when Mom and I were working at Dee's. She and her husband Duane were regulars and we became fast friends. We scrap booked together, watched movies (my first R rated one, Pretty Woman), went out to dinner (when I didn't have to work) and went to Idaho one spontaneous weekend to visit her mom. Her goal in life was to corrupt me and Todd. She made Todd a joke book with an R rated section that Mom wasn't allowed to read; she took me to Idaho and told Mom she was going to let me buy lottery tickets because she wanted to contribute to the delinquency of a minor. (She was mad when she found out you didn't have to be 21 to buy lottery tickets so I really was old enough.) We had plans to go to Vegas to celebrate my 21st birthday so she could teach me how to gamble. That plan was interrupted by my mission call which came 6 weeks before my birthday announcing that I was to report to the MTC one week following my birthday so it probably wouldn't be prudent to corrupt me just before I left. We made plans to go when I returned. Anna and Duane were there when I opened my call and when I read that M. Richard Walker would be my mission president. Anna whooped and got all excited that Dick Walker would be my mission president. I didn't know Dick Walker from Adam, but Anna had known him for years. He was the attorney for the company she worked for. Then one day 5 months into my mission came the phone call from President Walker. Anna and I would not be celebrating my homecoming in Vegas. Nine years later I anticipate another type of homecoming. Today in the temple dedication I felt the possibility of that homecoming. Hopefully Anna and I will be forgiven of all the corruption and will have the opportunity to be next door neighbors in Heaven. I am grateful to know that "... that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy. "

Temple Dedication

Today was a rough day for me. Every few weeks I imagine what my life would be like if I either had one more day off a week or if I didn't have 3 + hours of meetings on Sundays. Today was one of the days when I wondered why I got out of bed and really thought about whether or not I really wanted to go to church. Now before you all think I'm some kind of apostate, I really do enjoy church and I love going, but sometimes it's really hard to get up (and I have church at 1). Also today was the Draper Utah Temple Dedication and I failed to get my recommend because I forgot to go pick it up on the days that the Bishopric was doing interviews. Yesterday I actually told my dad that I probably wouldn't go because I didn't have a ticket and it was just another temple dedication. Aren't we lucky that Heavenly Father loves us unconditionally? Sometimes I think He just looks down here and rolls His eyes in my direction. Of course it's not just another temple dedication! What was I thinking? How blessed we are that here in Utah we have 13 operating temples with one more in construction! How blessed we are that Heavenly Father gives us the blessing of attending His House! Well for all of you who are wondering, I dressed my weary body, put my hair in pigtails (my hairstyle of choice this week) and went to church where it was announced in Sacrament Meeting that the Bishopric would be giving out recommends after Sacrament Meeting to anyone who had failed to get it. I gave the Relief Society roll to the first counselor and went to join the slacker line outside the Bishop's office. I'm eternally grateful I did. My stake participated in the 12th and final session of temple dedicatory services and I wish I had an amazing memory to remember the things taught in the temple today. I was blessed in ways I don't deserve as I participated in just another temple dedication and my heart is full with gratitude for this blessing.

A Long Walk Down Memory Lane

A couple of weeks ago I was in Mom and Dad's ward for Jaydon's blessing. While there, in Relief Society, they announced the upcoming Birthday Party Enrichment activity and Billie Sue Coffin told me I should come so we could get together in a social setting instead of at church. I agreed and drove down. Tonight was so much fun! I got to see a whole bunch of people that watched me grow up and a few that I grew up with. It's always so fun to go home. I just want the women in the Mt. Jordan 2nd Ward to know that they are my idols, my heroes, and exactly what I want to be when I grow up. Thank you all for the love and support you continually show! Nowhere is there a better ward in the church! (Sorry Bountiful 12th warders... you're close, but not quite there)

Basketcase

Mom and I went and got pedicures Wednesday night. When you first walk in they tell you to grab a color of polish. It's always a kind of a conundrum to me because you know there are just so many shades of pink to choose from. I always look at the bottom of the bottle because you know there's pink and then there's carnation, rose, magenta. . . on and on and on. So Wednesday we are studying the bottoms of the polish and I find one called Basketcase! Based on my past few weeks and what I feel like sometimes, I chose Basketcase. The next day I showed my assistant what the color Basketcase is and she agreed that it was the perfect name for a nail polish and should be our signature color!

Master the Tempest is Raging

Today I walked into church and got excited to see that the opening song for Sacrament Meeting was Master the Tempest is Raging. This is a hymn that I feel is not sung near often enough, yet so very often portrays my feelings. This week has been a little bit weird. I am doing the normal mundane things as always (work) and yet I feel a little bit like my life is spiraling out of control. It's not even my life that is the problem. It's the lives of those I love most. Todd and Nicole have spent the week with Rory in the hospital fighting RSV, and all we can do is pray for them. Kristina is dealing with a diagnosis of cancer, which most likely can be cured, but again all we can do is pray. I sat in Sacrament meeting today singing the words "Master with anguish of Spirit I bow in my grief today. The depths of my sad heart are troubled, Oh waken and save I pray. Torrents of sin and of anguish sweep o'er my sinking soul, and I perish, I perish dear Master, Oh hasten and take control." The first speaker got up and introduced her topic as Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and I thought to myself, "this is why I'm at church today." I need an increase in my faith. The final verse of the song is "Master the terror is over, the elements sweetly rest. The sun in the calm lake is mirrored and Heaven's within my breast. Linger oh blessed Redeemer, leave me alone no more, and with joy I shall make the blest harbor and rest on the blissful shore." I realized today that what I really need to do is continue to pray and let the Master bring peace.

Living Alone... Again

So Sunday night I came home after Jaydon's blessing and hanging with my family and Jesika and Kayla were just about done moving all their stuff out of the house. Kayla got her apartment that she and Greg will live in after the wedding and Jesika decided to move in to help out for a month. Now, before I go too far I just want to clarify that I really loved living with Kayla and Jesika, but I'm kind of excited that they are gone. It's nice to know that all the dirty dishes in the sink are mine, and that all the hair in the shower is also mine. It's nice to be able to actually have space to live in since the apartment is not really big enough for 3 girls. So now it's just me and Bubbles (Jesika's beta fish, who will leave as soon as Jesika figures out how to transport him) and the quiet that comes from living alone again. I'm really liking this!!