Summer. It's over. My update.

Hahaha Oh my Goodness! I haven't blogged in FOREVER! Okay...maybe not that long, but its been awhile for sure.

Summer was great. I got to play with my friends, go on awesome dates, and I worked at a job I loved. Let me tell you a little bit about it.

It's an Alzheimer care unit by Lone Peak High School. We only ever had about 8 residents, but I fell in love with each of them and will never forget them! Some days were crazy when I would get hit, threatened with phone calls to the police or hitting, complete nervous breakdowns, and wiggle worms. Some days were more lackadaisical when everyone was calm and happy and the only action I saw was a resident trying to feed her baby doll some of her ice cream. I switched off between Night shift and Swing shift. On swing, I really got to know the residents. Nighttime shifts were always a mystery, but usually not too bad.

One of my favorite residents was named Bill. He passed away mid-summer. It was hard to watch him go downhill. When he was still independent, he would wake up about an hour before my shift was over and just sit with me while I folded laundry. Every morning he told me what a beautiful smile I had. I was the luckiest girl in the world.

I have to say, working in nursing homes and assisted living centers has been a very spiritual experience. Most people think about life, and the miracle of birth, and how beautiful it is. Death is saddening. I am here with good news. Death is not sad. It is its own miracle and it is beautiful. Nothing has strengthened my testimony more than feeling the times when the veil has been so thin that I have felt angels by my side welcoming my newly-made and sadly short-lasted friends. I cannot express the things I have felt whilst dealing with those who have one foot on the other side of this life; it is a spiritual experience. We miss the ones we love, but really, they have not gone far.

In my next update, I will tell you about the fun times I had this summer outside of geriatrics. I went to California in June, I had a temple marathon day (6 temples in one day! Right here in northern UT). My birthday, river rafting, and Harry Potter 7.2. Then back to school, but that will be another post entirely! All my love to everyone!

Mary

Talk About April Showers ;)

Blogger Buddies!

It's April. 3 months and 3 weeks since my last update. (It says December 5th, but really it was near the end of January when that post got posted) Forgive me. As you know, last semester ended well. This semester is ending even better!!! I have all A's and one B+. Which I'm quite mad about because I'm 4 points away from an A in that class, and my professor refused to give me the points. SERIOUSLY?!?!? Yeah. GR! Oh well, I'll live.

Yes, April has been super wet! We actually had snow up until the 15th. When I say snow, I mean it was snowing here in the valleys. Kind of insane!!! Now its been pretty rainy, but it's warming up a lot. I can't wait for summer. Technically, I'm on summer break now! W00T!

So to update you. February flew by in a flash. Matthew turned 23 (AH! We're getting so old...) On the 18th I sang in the Church Music Festival at Temple Square in Salt Lake City. It was amazing! We were in the old chapel, the acoustics were amazing. We sang all songs that had recently been written or introduced to the church. One of which could quite possibly be listed in new hymn books. The music was truly beautiful. I have a CD of it :)

Valentines Day was on a Monday this year. I drove to Salt Lake where Rhett gave me a bouquet of roses. We went to a fabulous Asian restaurant at the Gateway Mall called Thai-foon. Then we went to Starbucks for caramel apple ciders, then up to the spot where we had our first kiss to watch a movie on his laptop (just like on our 2nd date). We found the place once more after our 2nd date, purely on accident, and I didn't think we'd find it again. So we drove around SLC for a bit... He pretended to be kinda turned around, I was totally lost. Then we "found" it.... He had a big sign on the overlook. And he gave me my real V-day gift. Gold, jewel-studded hoop earrings and a small bottle of my favorite perfume from Victoria's Secret. We watched "How to Train your Dragon." It was an awesome Valentines day. I gave him a bouquet of colorful flowers that I had carefully placed toy racing cars into. The vase was a big bowl full of candy wrapped in pinks, reds, and whites. Complete with small stuffed animal, and a gift card to Sub Zero Ice Cream.

That about sums up February. Good month. On to March... Day one came in like a lamb, day 31 went out like a lion!!! March (and April so far too) has been WINDY! I saw a play here at Weber called "Lion in the Winter." It was like watching a strobe light of personality! It was the most bipolar play I have EVER seen. It's supposedly historically accurate--it's about the story of King Richard the Lion-heart, and Prince John (ya know, Robin Hood...) So apparently King Richard was gay (or bisexual) and Prince John was really a whiny little kid. He was his fathers favorite though. They had one brother between them in age named Jeffrey, but he never got to be anything more than an advisor. Their dad was insane and a pedophile, their mom was manipulative and kept prisoner in her own castle, only allowed out when she had to appear in public with her husband. Yeah, weird play. However March also held Spring Break! Which was so nice. I love going home and playing with my dog.

March 26th I went all the way down to Spanish Fork for the Harri Krishna Festival of Colors!!! BEST party/thing ever! SO much fun! I got plastered with orange and pink :) It took about a week for my hair to lose all the pink tint. Oh, of course we bought and drew henna on ourselves (yes, I went with Rhett). And, being a CNA my henna washed off in less than a week. Oh well! I've decided I really like Buddhist festivals...

So much fun!!!!

Now we're in April. I literally just finished my finals. Today. Less than an hour ago. YAY me!!! The institute's Spring show was last weekend. One by One: To the Rescue. It was one of the most powerful shows I've ever been in! I was so blessed. We sang the Armed Forces Salute. The night that Grandma came, she of course stood up for the navy...and that night only, when we sang the navy song, I felt grandpa there so strongly that I almost couldn't finish the song. The tears welled up. It was amazing. I didn't really feel either of my Williams side grandparents there (though I'm sure they were), but I think I felt grandpa so strongly that one night only cuz grandma was there that night. He misses her I think. After the show, Rhett brought me a box of chocolates from Mrs. Cavanaugh. They were all cremes, no nuts. My favorites!!! He's the best.

I almost forgot about conference being the beginning of this month! It was so good this spring. There were a LOT of talks on getting married :S No pressure, eh? Hahaha... No worries, neither Rhett or I are ready for that yet. There were a lot of other talks too. Most of what stayed with me were talks on how to build good relationships (whether inside, or out of marriage) and talks on tithing. Good reminder to pay that, ya know? Reconfirmed my testimony of what a blessing tithing really is.

So for summer plans... DANNI GIRL!!! I miss her so so so much! I can't wait to spend ALL summer with her. I have a job offer 5 minutes away from my parents house in Alpine. I'll be working graveyards, which is okay I guess. I pray I get the job. I could really use it! Monica is going to Taiwan in June (I'm super jealous), and Steph is staying up here in Ogden to work and help out her sister (who lives 10 minutes away from our apartment). I'll be going to California with Rhetts family in June. I'm way excited for that! We also plan on hitting up lagoon a few times, I'm gonna start voice lessons again if I can, and we want to go hiking a lot this summer! Yay!

The green bow on her collar was so she wouldn't get pinched on St. Patricks Day! :)

Did I mention? I'm walking tomorrow. As in GRADUATION from college!!! I'm only getting my associates of science degree, but still. That was a lot of hard work! :)

Danni is apparently on a new kick where she gets up at 4:30 am to go potty, then hops in bed with everyone in the house :P She has also been burying bones all around the house. Under my dads elbow when he's sitting in his recliner is a frequent spot, under peoples pillows is also frequent, my favorite though has been in my moms purse! Hahaha! She goes to work, reaches in, and pulls out a half-eaten dog bone! I can't wait to see Danni, in case you couldn't tell.

Jeffrey finally wrote me back. A nice long letter. He apparently got food posioning. He eats tons of tomatoes (with salt and oil. On top of everything.) He drew me a map of his sector. He really likes his companion. Erm... yeah. There ya go! He's doing great! :) He seemed happy to hear from me, so that's good. Rachel has been in sketchy parts of town, and had cops approach her to tell her she shouldn't be there, but apparently that's where her and her companion are finding the most success. Hahaha. She's crazy. I miss her. They're also going to baptize an investigator named Mary. That was sweet to hear. So that's the dealio with my missionaries. Oh, Ashton Hironaka just went out to Missouri too, so I need to write him soon!

Okay, I'll be done now. Unitl next time!

Peace Out!

Tink