Settling In

So today was interesting. I woke up late because I was told I did not have to be in until 10:30 for an orientation. Well I called around 9:30 to see where to go and they told me I should have been there already!! So off I went. It seems things are not quite as organized for volunteer crew as it is for the family casts. The Volunteers come in at random times and so it is much more relaxed. I wandered around for quite a while getting information and packets and such. Then I went to work sewing. The ladies in the sewing room are hilarious! Most of them are in their 40's or older so I am learning a lot from them. I love to chat with them and hear their stories.

Tonight I worked the pageant...I enjoyed it A LOT almost more than watching last night. Prehaps it was because I was distracted last night and my mind was filled with all the anticipation of today. But I think what I loved the most about today was watching things behind the scenes. There is a big old fashioned pioneer dance number and then a scottish number well all many of the people who are backstage at that point got together and started doing that dance along with them. It was funny and looked like so much fun! We laughed and talked and helped people change costumes. It just somehow felt different...I was so moved by the cast...I know the sacrifices I have made and I know theirs must also be increadable. I can't really explain it but there is this excitement and joy as everyone runs on stage to celebrate the lives of the people who lived here. They say in the show "When you are here, we (the pioneers) are here" And they are...their sacrifice and spirit lives on through this pageant.

Tonight one of the sewing ladies told me how she had be talking to her husband about me...he is a practical man and apperantly could not wrap his head around the fact that I had somehow just graduated college and yet I was able to come. Sometimes I wonder myself. It has surprised many people...most of all me...God is in the details. I don't know why it was so important for me to be here....I am sure there are people just a capable...but here I am. It is amazing and beautiful. I would not have been able to come without the love and support of my family!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Nauvoo the City Beautiful

Well everyone I am here! All safe and sound. The drive out was fairly uneventful. It was so nice to be able to stop last night and rest in Omaha. Thankfully Daniel was able to contact one of the members he taught and she let us (Lori the woman riding with me and I) stay. I got sick last night when we got close to Omaha so it was nice to stop.

I got into Nauvoo at about 6pm today and got situated in my cabin. It is tiny...and I mean tiny...It is about 5ft by 8ft square. But with just me in here it makes it kind of cozy. The AC doesn't work but luckily tonight is a fairly cool night. It is only 78 right now so pray that the weather will stay good please. :) Also tonight I saw a possum. There is a path near my cabin that leads to the main lodge and it went wondering across in the light. The whole camp is surrounded by the thickest woods I have ever seen. I was hoping the lightening bugs would be out but alas the only thing I have found are mosquitoes. Either I am getting slow or the mosquitoes here are ridiculously fast! On any account they are tolerable.

I went to the pageant tonight. It is AMAZING! Parley P Pratt is the narrator and tells how Nauvoo came to be. It is really simple and beautiful in lighting and staging and just all around design. I love this place and the people who sacrificed so much to come here and build the temple and then were driven out and had to go across country to build again. What faith! I love them for it. They are here....the legacy they left for us lingers in this place. If you have never come to Nauvoo you should make it a priority. It truly is The City Beautiful.

The Beggining of Nauvoo Adventures!

So by now most of you know I am going to Nauvoo. I am going to work in the Nauvoo Pageant as a costumer. I am excited. Since the moment I set eyes on the link to the Pageant my life has been one small miracle after another! In the first place I just happened upon the link because I was doing some homework for my Old Testament class. To complete the application I was supposed to get an ecclesiastical endorsement but because I found the link only a week before it was due I was not able to get the interview. So I kind of wrote off the application. Then a couple months later I got an email. I had been accepted!!!! Well I became unsure if I was going to go because of just graduating and the expenses that go with that. I also as nervous about finding a job that would let me leave for 3 weeks in the summer. So I ended up at my Grandma's with no job which has been hard. But it has been a HUGE blessing. In so many ways! But because I am staying here I am able to afford the trip. I have been doing extra work for Grandma so that I can earn money. It has not been much but somehow it has added up. I also found work helping out my Grandma's visiting teacher with some family history. It has been crazy!! Once I finally decided to go I had to get housing which is hard to get in Nauvoo...especially since I waited so long....I sent an email to a place called Camp Nauvoo....the response was that usually they do not rent cabins for so long a time but they happen to have enough room for that time period!!!!!!!!!! It is only 8$ a night which is great!! So I was very happy about that...then today I got a message that a woman from Provo needs a ride to Nauvoo!!!! She has made the trip before and the company will be great!!!!!!!!!!!!! I cannot believe how this is working out! My Heavenly Father is AMAZING!! Things work out. Somehow, someway He will find a way. So that is all for now....it has already been a faith building amazing journey and I have not even gone yet!!! Keep coming back for more Nauvoo Adventures!

I guess I should do this more

i don't know why I stopped blogging. I suppose it is time, at least that was my excuse last semester at BYUI, now I don't know what my excuse is. :) So a little life update. Most of you know but I GRADUATED!!! Holy cow! Seriously I never EVER EVER thought I was going to do that. I don't know why I kept going after I got my associates degree...I never planned on it. I felt so strongly though that it was the right thing and I am glad. I feel so....accomplished. Now what?

Right now I am just living with Grandma. But my Mom lives here too and my Aunt is here a lot. It can be really hard for me some days. I am used to being fairly independent, I usually have my time and I can do what I want. Living with my family means coordinating plans and telling people what I am doing. I have gotten used to it though. I am enjoying spending the time here. I love love love being able to spend this time with my Grandma. I think it is an opportunity most people never get. She is my only living biological grandparent. She is funny and I love her.

I am also planning a trip to Nauvoo next month. It has been really crazy that I am able to go. It is completely volunteer, I have to pay for transportation, housing, food, everything. But things have been working out. I found housing when I shouldn't have been able too, I have transportation. It is just crazy. It is going to be AMAZING! One of those once in a lifetime things. There is definitely a reason my Heavenly Father wants me there...perhaps it is just to prove to me that He really can do anything. Even get a poor college graduate half way across the country.

Other than that I just hang out and do some work. I have been trying to be really active in my singles ward and make sure that I socialize. My ward is pretty great. I have enjoyed it a lot. So yeah...that is my life...ya'll probably know that all but there it is anyhow. :)

A Beautiful Mess

I am sleepy so I just want to say that my roomates are still amazing! I also just have to mention how great life can be. It is hard and stressful and crazy but it is good. I am having my share of trials right now...ok really it is not very many and there are days I just want to have a quiet simple life...then I remember the times when it is quiet and I am glad for the chaos. School can be so hard sometimes but I love it. I love to craziness. I love having to stay up till 4 in the morning to do homework. I love somehow finding time in all that to do family history work...I love learning to juggle...I think as I get older I am learning how to enjoy now to forget the past and not overly concern myself with the future...I am not always good at this...I am a planner and as such I remember everything and I think I have to plan everthing and do everything and everything has to be just right. WHO CARES!! Life it life...it comes and goes and we just have to hang on to what we know is right and do the best we can. It is funny for me to have this change...I have had my "life plan" for several years...I knew what I wanted to be when I "grow up" and suddenly that is changing and the opportunity for new things has presented itself. In that past that would have scared me but now I think Oh good...something new. I really think California changed me...maybe that is why I loved it so much...that and the beach...:) I don't know what is going to happen...and that does intimidate me but somehow it is going to work...it may suck but it will work...maybe that is the key to happiness..just learning to lose control and enjoy the ride...hmm...

The simple things

So coming back to school was a little nerve raking for me. Most of my close friends up here at BYUI have graduated or they are married. I was nervous about moving into a new apartment complex and I was nervous about my class load (justifiably so) Well in the end it has all worked out!! I am quickly making new friends, and my roomates are GREAT! They are a lot of fun! I am really grateful to my Heavenly Father for helping me out!...I know that Laura talked me into moving here for a reason...I am sure I would have had nice roomates else where but these ones are great! I can't believe it is my last year here in Rexburg! This place has been such a great place for me to grow and learn! I am 3 times the person I would have been had I not come here!! I truly am grateful to my Heavenly Father for blessing me with amazing friends who help guide and direct me to the places I need to be. Today I am grateful for the simple things. :)

Tribute to my Dad

So tomorrow it will be five years since my Dad passed away. For those of you who don't know he was killed in a motorcycle accident. Someone passed illegally and well yeah. It still seems strange most days...not having him around. I know people always say Time heals all wounds but I don't think that is true...I think that we become stronger. I don't think it will ever go away..nor do I expect it to. I will always miss my Father but I know with out any doubt in my mind that I will see him again!!! I also know that he keeps on eye on me, he lets me know in little ways. A song here, a funny joke there. Anyhow the real reason I am writing this is because I wanted to give ya'll a little glimps of what my Dad is like. These are a few of the things I miss most...He had this laugh that was almost like a snicker...like he had some inside joke that made what ever was funny even funnier. He laughed often and always enjoyed a good joke. We used to watch football together and he would swear at the refs for making a bad call even if they were right. He always had a five o'clock shadow...lol...he could shave and like two minutes later his face was all stubbly again. He loved all things outdoors, camping, fishing, 4 wheeling. He was the hardest worker I have and I am pretty sure I will ever know. He rebuilt our house with 3 blown discs in his back...I don't know about you but I have tweeked my back and little and it hurt like crazy! So I can't imagine 3 blown discs. He loved to figure things out...how to wire the house...how to fix a car...what ever he just liked learning. He was so impatient whenever we had to stand in line or anything but he would drive slowly down the country roads just to look at scenery. He loved to chat with people...he made friends very quickly. Mom or I would ask him to run to the store for eggs or something and he would be gone forever...cuz he found someone to talk to...he used to call me and talk...but sometimes I would get frustrated cuz he could turn a 3 minute conversation into a 15 mintue one...lol..I miss that. He had gas ALL the time...lol...he would make it stink and then laugh while we all gagged. He LOVED to play jokes on anyone one of his favorite was to sneak up on someone (especially in the dark) and make a snarling noise....my Mom was often his favorite victim....:) He had a stubborn streak, and often a one track mind...once he made his mind up about something it was hard for him to let it go. He was great at working with wood and metal and often made things for us using the scroll saw. He spoiled me rotten...I am such a Daddy's girl. I don't know maybe all these things don't add up to you but they are all these little memories that to me add up to a whole lot. He is a great man and a great Dad...the best I could have ever asked for...he was not perfect haa haa...he would often lose his temper with his tools or what ever and then he would swear at them...he has this kind of Donald Duck voice and then you knew he was really mad....stupid **&#&* tools why did you fall on the *&((*&# floor!! Haa haa...I miss him and I can't wait to see him again when the time comes and feel his stubble face and give him a huge hug!! Well thanks for sticking with me...I know this is a long post but I just wanted to leave you with a poem I wrote for him when he died...I remember this poster he got for my Mom when she started teaching called "Everything I needed to know in life I learned in Kindergarten" For some reason I remembered him getting her that so this poem is kind of like that....

"Everything I need to know I learned from my Dad"

Everything can be fixed...eventually
No one is lost forever
You never have to "grow up" you just have to pay a few bills
Talking to yourself is ok
Paint DOES NOT wash out of clothes
If you want pizza for dinner ask Dad to cook
Laughter really is the best medicine
If you tease someone enough they will get back at you eventually
Share what you have, even if you don't have much
Live for those you love
Pain can be ignored
Work hard, it is always worth it
Play as much as you can, as hard as you can
Honor your promises
Love your family, and they will return your love

So there ya have it...my Dad...he was kind of crazy but I love him!