John Bytheway

Marc & I have been on a John Bytheway kick lately.  I feel like I listen to him all the time now.  I find myself wanted to be a better person after listening to him and I like that.

I have also started listening to the Mormon Channel app on my phone.  Lately I have been listening to the October General Conference talks & talk about power!  Wow!  I also use it as a way to "read" my scriptures.  I find this is a tool in my life that brings me happiness and peace.

Walking By the Temple

As Marc & I took our fake anniversary weekend we took some time to walk around the temple grounds.  I always love the peace that exists there but on that night it was filed with rowdy, silly teenagers.  We wished that they could understand that they were on sacred ground and though there is a time for silliness that this wasn't it.  I am sure at their age I would have been guilty of the same thing but it broke my heart to see this holy site being treated that way.

On this same trip though, we learned about the symbolism that exists in the carvings on the temple.  We kept trying to guess what each panel represented and finally we looked it up.  Feel free to check out this link here and then take some time the next time you are there to look at them in person!

I also spent some time in the visitor's center.  With my upcoming Jerusalem trip the display meant so much more and will again when I get back.  I was reminded looking at the display that you don't have to walk where Jesus walked to know him.  How grateful I am for that!

Our Anniversary

I have always said that even though we were married in February that I want to celebrate our anniversary in the fall.  Then I don't have to compete with Valentine's Day and I get a day to celebrate our marriage.  Plus then I get an excuse to run away every fall and it is cheaper than competing with all the craziness of Valentine's.  

So this year we went off to celebrate 2 1/2 years of marriage.  We stayed in a hotel in Mesa that was within walking distance of the temple and I loved it!  We wanted to go back to the Valley because that is were our first year happened.  It is where a lot of our big changes occurred and a lot of memories are tied there as well.  Even though we were within walking distance we weren't able to do a session because it was conference weekend.  However, we did enjoy the visitor's center and the grounds.

This weekend was the perfect little getaway and exactly what we needed!  We escaped from the world and got to just spend time together.  There wasn't a schedule but we did a lot and could afford to be lazy as well.  We enjoyed some classics like Bahama Bucks & some new treasures like the firefighter memorial.

I am sol lucky to be married to such a great man and I can't wait to see what this year brings!

Playing With Mom

While Marc was doing the polygraph testing I was playing with my Mom! We went and had her haircut and then had the best horchata ever as we went out to lunch! We finished out our time by going to see my grandparents gravesite. We even put fresh patriotic flowers there and cleaned the headstone. It was such a lovely day! I loved getting to see my Mom and getting her all to myself is a rare treat! Photo of the Gravesite: Our new flowers: And so I can find it again because it took us a little bit the first time...

Polygraph

Once again we are scheduled for a polygraph but this time with DPS. I took the day off of work and down to Phoenix we went. The whole process was supposed to take 6 hours * I was going to just wait at the DPS office. What fun! Thankfully, my Mom was going to the Valley anyway and I got to hang out with her instead! I will have another post about our adventures. Marc had various people to talk to and eventually got hooked up to the machine. After our last experience we were all a little nervous and wanted the results quickly! But we came to find out that they use a 3rd party to do the test and they only tell you if you fail. So for this round we were praying the phone didn't ring. No news is good news!!

Stake Center Open House

I had the opportunity to be a part of the Prescott Valley Stake Center Open House. This was the first time that I had been asked to do religious interpreting & I was nervous. I won't go into details but it was an amazing experience! It was so nice to be able to serve the Lord through my talents and I hope to be able to serve again soon. What an unforgettable experience! I did give Marc the tour in ASL and he noted that I still have work to do. I hope one day my signing will be to the point that I can truly serve the Lord and be a blessing to Him & His Church. How cool would it be to interpret for General Conference or something??? I already feel it is such a blessing to me and my family. I couldn't be happier.

Running Hiatus

With how crazy life has been running has gone on a short hiatus. I can't seem to find the time or the energy to make it work. However, I do still enjoy the occasional run when I have a slower day. I am hoping to get back into this again soon but my spring schedule is looking even worse! My goal is to make some big life changes so that these things can fit into my life again. My day goes from sun up to sun down with work and school and I long for the days where I can fit a run in again. Wish me luck! As a side note: It is a little odd that I miss running... I joke with Marc that I must be dying because I like foods that I have never liked and now I miss running. There must be something wrong with me! It might even mean that I am really an adult now! Eww... that is one disease I hoped to not completely catch any time soon. I still feel to young to be an adult!

Busy September

Every weekend in September we had something going on & it was usually out of town. This was a month of running & running & running. One weekend I volunteered at an Arizona RID conference and the next I was helping with a stake open house and the next weekend was something else. I get exhausted just thinking about it! When you work 40 hours a week and go to week another 14 or so, you learn to rely on your weekends as a time to get a few minutes of down time. This month didn't have ANY down time! It is getting to the point that I just dream of the next month when things will slow down again but I know that as the end of the year approaches that time will only speed up. Hopefully, I will find a way to either catch up or sleep while moving. Either way this is bound to be a busy month!

My Miracle

I know that I am crazy behind on my blogging and though I have a list of topics to blog about I am going to jump ahead for tonight. I would feel so completely ungrateful if I didn't take a moment to recognize the miracle that has happened in my life today. For about a week now my health has been declining. I have had more cramping, more often and life has been miserable. I know that my body does ridiculous things and I was just waiting for my levels to even themselves out but it wasn't happening very quickly and my trip to Jerusalem was fast approaching. I didn't know what to do and the faster the date arrived the sicker I became and the more nervous I became as well. What was I going to do? Last night I finally asked for a blessing and it was a little bitter sweet because the word "healed" almost came out but instead was changed to healing and comfort. I want so badly to be healed from this disease and am tired of the constant fighting and the constant war that is raged on my body. I want to be normal again and not have my life dictated by my hormonal levels. However, I took comfort in the words of the blessing and had faith that I would be better soon. When I woke up this morning, and several times through out the night, it was clear that today wouldn't be my day of healing. My body was so tender and any movement caused great pain. It is really sad when you can't finish brushing your teeth because the pain is too great and you have to sit down. I must say I lost just a little bit of faith at that moment. How would I be better for my trip if I couldn't even brush my teeth? I leave in just a few days and didn't know what to do. I felt discouraged and alone. I had a feeling today though that maybe I had a UTI. I was grasping at straws but it was a little idea that I couldn't get to go away. I asked Marc to bring me something to drink and preferably I wanted lemons or cranberries. My sweet husband started ransacking the kitchen to see what he could come up with. It was then that my prayers had been answered. About a week or so ago we ran out of our morning drink flavorings. This is a concoction of fruits and vitamins and I love the taste. However, I knew that money was tight and that we had other flavorings and so I opted to use these flavorings until pay day and then I would buy my favorite again. Tonight it was these substitute flavorings that Marc looked at. Every single one of the flavors has corn in it. Now it has been recently discovered that I have an intolerance to corn and it makes me SO sick when I eat it. I am getting pretty good and reading labels before bringing foods home or asking at restaurants but I am really bad about reading labels of foods that already exist in my house. So for about a week now I have been putting corn into my diet and the reason I couldn't pin-point that is because it takes me all day to drink my shake and so it wouldn't have been a one time occurrence like when I eat corn at a meal. My body was getting tiny doses all day long and it was almost "poisoning" my system. So I wouldn't have figured it out and I would have continued drinking these because I like the way they taste. However, my Heavenly Father was able to touch someone else and they took the time to do what I wasn't and read the labels to this food. I know this may seem like a small thing but to me it was monumental today and was the answer that I needed. My body will still take a few days to fully heal and there will still be some pain but now I have the hope that I will be better by Friday and that my trip will be as amazing as it should be. I am grateful that I have a Heavenly Father who takes the time to answer my prayers and be aware of me. Even if that means finding ways to warn me of foods not to eat. I definitely felt just how loved I am and I really needed that today. Now I will be able to have the strength to continue on and work on healing the rest of this week. I am so grateful for this miracle in my life today.