25 Things About Me Cont'd, #12 -19

(Random pic from my oldest sister's wedding day, December 2007.)

Okay, I am determined to finish my list here; it will just take me a while since I only have desire to post on my lunch breaks (funny how that works).

12) At the time of writing #3, I really didn't have any cavities...until last week. It finally happened: I have 2 fillings I have to get done next week. It is such a bummer after having a perfect track record! And I have no idea what to expect except unpleasantness. Ick.

13) I love nature. I've always loved looking at the landscape on car trips and contemplating life, etc. I love how it feels to be among God's creations which are so beautiful. My mom has a major green thumb and created the most wonderful gardens at home in WA. I want to have my own garden someday. I often have this longing deep down to find a "thinking spot" in nature for myself. I have not found one yet, but maybe I will be able to create it someday. And although I pretty much love all flowers, I find daffodils very cute and charming. They make me smile. (Below are pictures from my parent's home--except for the daffodil.)

14) I wanted a pen-pal from another place really bad when I was younger (grade school and on). Every time I tried to get one through the schools it never worked out. I loved to write in general, and wanted to know what another's life in a different part of the world was like in comparison to my own.

15) I think about lots of things at a given time, but I have very linear thinking when it comes to tasks and eating. I like to work on one task at a time before moving onto the next. But I am getting better at moving on to another task even though the first one may not be completed. I also have this weird habit sometimes of eating one food at a time on my plate until it's gone. This isn't always the case, but it happens often enough that I notice. I think it's because I'm enjoying the flavor of that one particular food at that time and I don't want to ruin the effect by dipping into another before it's over. :P I believe my mom is also this way.

16) I jumped off a highway (?) bridge during the summer of my freshman year in college--everybody was doing it. ;) I jumped it twice and was freaked both times. During the second jump I recieved a skinned knee from not clearing the bridge wall and even did a butt flop on the water below that gave me a splash-shaped bruise. It wasn't one of my brighter moments.

17) I ran a half-marathon in Utah last summer with a friend, 13.1 miles. It was hard training for me and even though I'm dealing with a knee that isn't completely normal yet, I'm really glad I did it at least once. The adrenaline rush was awesome during the last half mile. :) I like to run and hope I can do it more in the future (though no more races).

18) I love people. You might not think so with how shy I can be at times, but I really find everyone interesting. I love learning about people's lives and what they have been through that has shaped them into who they are today. I feel so good when people open up their life experiences and struggles to me; I like understanding them better. I've had great conversations with total strangers in a hospital, on airplanes, in the airport, etc. I find that I am in awe of so many that have been through hard times and are still so happy. I learn so much from other's experiences.

19) My favorite color of all time is purple. It is soo pretty. My current work office has little bits of purple throughout it. I had a purple-themed bedroom in Colorado along with a purple purse. I used to have lots of purple clothes. I also used to have a purple-covered couch that my now-husband said looked like a Barney couch (I'm sitting on it in a pic from my last post). So the cover was banished to the closet... Someday my purple fettish will prevail and find expression...somewhere.

Looks like that's all there's time for today!

Reaches my Reaching

So this post is not a continuation of the 25 Things About Me...just a regular post. Sorry to dissappoint, but you still get to know me from my narratives, remember?

Yesterday I logged in to my gmail account online and for whatever reason, decided to see how far back my emails went. All the way back to August 2006. And next thing I knew, I was hooked on reading about my life at that time through emails. It's amazing how much you forget about your experiences from recently past years.


Basically my life was all fun during the fall of 2006. I was doing an internship at Lockheed Martin in Colorado, had introduced the Gospel to a guy at work that I was dating, and was planning on marrying this person the next year. When I was reading the emails, I remembered the happiness and silliness from that time.


Then 2007 emails hit. It was almost astonishing reading the emails from one month to the next and realizing how fast everything went downhill; in a matter of a month. Suddenly my fun emails turned to pain-filled emotional ones, and a remembrance of that pain came back. Being broken up with with no explanation; seeing this person I thought I was going to marry turn his back on the Gospel; having to work with this person each and every day who ignored and even despised my very existence. I remembered that feeling of a physical hole in my heart and the loss. It was awful, which is an understatement.


I continued to sift through emails, through the summer of 2007. Soon they were filled with more hope, less sorrow and irritation. Suddenly another person showed up in my life, someone who had been special to me years before in high school. It started out friendly, and once again, disappointment and sadness hit. I saw everyone struggling around me and it weighed heavily on me. I kept reaching out for friendship and always got my hand slapped. I don't think I was reaching out in the right way. Relationships with loved ones were and became more difficult.


And then I saw that I was emailing my oldest sister a lot. We were talking about life, about the Gospel and church, about feelings about the future. It meant and still means so much to me. She came to Colorado to go with me to a pioneer trek and it was an amazing and fun experience to have her there with me during that time in my life.

Then the fall of 2007 hit. My mom came next to visit me in Colorado, wanted to see family landmarks while she was there. I remembered having decided at that time that I was done with dating--it hurt too bad and it wasn't what I wanted my life to center around. I wasn't very happy, so I told Heavenly Father that I was going to focus on Him and be good, and that was all that would matter.


I was grumpy during my mom's visit (sorry Mom). I was tired one day, and it happened to be on the day that we were heading to visit Erie, the Garden of the Gods, and then a friend of my mom's who lived in Colorado Springs.







Eventually when we got to Colorado Springs, I was done. It was 8 p.m., I didn't care to be there just because it had been a long day and I knew this wouldn't be a short trip. We were there until the very early hours. And it turns out I was loving it. I had never laughed so hard in my life than during that night. And yes, these are pictures from that night--at 3:30 a.m.! We ended up spending the night because it was so ridiculously late.









I kept reading through emails between my then-engaged oldest sister and my mom; I loved being with this family on the weekends. It was a breath of fresh air to be around them when I had been feeling so alone and weary emotionally; and next thing I knew I was falling hard for someone. Little did I know that Heavenly Father had been preparing me for one of my greatest blessings in this life: my husband. Wow, it was amazing reading my emails about Niklas. It was so funny and so sweet. I had that high from being in love with a wonderful man.

After reading this little snippet in my life, I realized that God had been there guiding my life the whole time. I didn't realize how much He was there supporting me, giving me those hard experiences to influence and to grow. Grudges and emotional battles I had been praying about have been lifted in abundance, without me even realizing it. I couldn't believe how much I had grown from those experiences. I caught a glimpse of how Heavenly Father sees me: a daughter who is learning and striving, not a mistake-ridden ball of insecurity as I would often see myself. I really felt His love for me and gratitude filled my whole soul.

I just had to share. It made me realize I need to save all of these emails; the good, the bad, the ugly for myself. I learned so much from my past; and I know you can too. :)

Mmmmm...

What happens when you put chocolate chip oatmeal cookies of massive proportions in close proximity to a Starving Karen?