So today was...well NOT dull! After coming back to my cabin and starting to fall asleep there was a HUGE HUGE thunderstorm!! Like tree limbs down everywhere, lightening blowing out the power thunderstorm! It was INTENSE! I am not going to lie I was kind of freaked out. It would shake my little cabin like there was an earthquake! I have been in crazy thunderstorms before but nothing like that! It calmed down around 9 am and I finally got some real sleep for about 2 hours.
Church was really nice today the ward is ridiculously large due to all the tourists to Nauvoo. But it was still really nice...then I went for a Sunday drive down by the river which was GORGEOUS...I will post a picture soon...but I got stuck in the mud turning around...I was still in my dress and high heels...haa haa haa...what an adventure!! I made it out though, all by myself...well with help from my Heavenly Father :)
After church I moved into a hotel with a girl named Janee who happened to have an extra bed and didn't want to stay by herself anyways! Wahoo! I am going to give her the money I would have been paying for my cabin. But I have air conditioning, running water, and an indoor toilet. It is amazing how much you miss those things!!! So I am here for about a week then back to the cabin I go...but at least they are moving me cabins so I will have an Air conditioner! I am just so so so so so so happy to be here...no matter where I am...but I won't lie. Being in a hotel is much more comfortable!
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Zion
So since my youth in the church people talk about Zion. We talk of building Zion, of being a Zion people and other Zion things. I knew this meant that we are expected to work and sacrifice for others and that in this process we would find joy. Let me just say Nauvoo is Zion. I am exhausted beyond belief. Let me tell you why.
To start lets just say I have not been sleeping due to circumstances in my cabin...not that I am complaining I am glad to have a place to sleep. But running on about 3 to 4 hours of sleep, I started my day at 8 am. I got to the costume shop and started working on making a pattern for some bags that store small costume peices like scarves and things....(By the way Mom THANK YOU for teaching me how to look at something, think about it, and figure out how to make it from scratch!) Around noon they have us quit working and go home for a break...I finally left at 1:30 ish....got home and took a nap for about an hour and a half, then I was back at the shop at 4:30 to watch Suzie (the costume director) do hairstyles for the core cast members so that if there is an emergency I can do the hair. Then we went to Burlington for some random items, then I had to work the pageant until about 10:30. Then back to the shop we go and wait for the cast to check their costumes back in. This only happens on Saturday, and hurrah for that! We take ALL of the laundry to 3 different laundromats and wash and dry them, then we bring them back to the shop hang them up and sort them by size....let me give you an idea of what this entails...Most Women in the cast have a dress that has 5 pieces, they coordinate so that the costume gets lighter through the show...anyhow they have 3 bodices and 2 skirts, a petticoat, and pantaloons. Then they also have day caps, and shawls that have to be laundered. The men have pants, one shirt and two vests. This does not include the children's clothes. If we were not serving the church I don't think this would be possible! I have never seen laundry folded and hung up so quickly in my life!!
That is just the laundry story....I just cannot explain to you what it feels like here. Everyone smiles, everyone is your friend, everyone is happy. We work until we can barely move and yet we want to work more. It is just unbelievable! Not to mention all the wonderful sewing tricks I am learning!!
I guess back to the main point....it is Zion...for the first time in my life I know what that means....it is caring for your brother and sister...and also letting them care for you. Service is a two way street....I have learned that here more than any other time...not that I have not had service given to me, my family is ALWAYS helping me out! But here, a complete stranger will open their home, or give you a loaf of bread or help you learn to use a serger....It is just....amazing. I have learned that with the Love of Christ anything is possible...it binds us through the heart. It gives us compassion, humbles us, and allows us to accept. Because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can live....and I mean live...in so many senses of the word! It is happy here....just so happy!...I hope and pray when I leave here I can work just as hard because of the things I have learned.
I love you all!!
To start lets just say I have not been sleeping due to circumstances in my cabin...not that I am complaining I am glad to have a place to sleep. But running on about 3 to 4 hours of sleep, I started my day at 8 am. I got to the costume shop and started working on making a pattern for some bags that store small costume peices like scarves and things....(By the way Mom THANK YOU for teaching me how to look at something, think about it, and figure out how to make it from scratch!) Around noon they have us quit working and go home for a break...I finally left at 1:30 ish....got home and took a nap for about an hour and a half, then I was back at the shop at 4:30 to watch Suzie (the costume director) do hairstyles for the core cast members so that if there is an emergency I can do the hair. Then we went to Burlington for some random items, then I had to work the pageant until about 10:30. Then back to the shop we go and wait for the cast to check their costumes back in. This only happens on Saturday, and hurrah for that! We take ALL of the laundry to 3 different laundromats and wash and dry them, then we bring them back to the shop hang them up and sort them by size....let me give you an idea of what this entails...Most Women in the cast have a dress that has 5 pieces, they coordinate so that the costume gets lighter through the show...anyhow they have 3 bodices and 2 skirts, a petticoat, and pantaloons. Then they also have day caps, and shawls that have to be laundered. The men have pants, one shirt and two vests. This does not include the children's clothes. If we were not serving the church I don't think this would be possible! I have never seen laundry folded and hung up so quickly in my life!!
That is just the laundry story....I just cannot explain to you what it feels like here. Everyone smiles, everyone is your friend, everyone is happy. We work until we can barely move and yet we want to work more. It is just unbelievable! Not to mention all the wonderful sewing tricks I am learning!!
I guess back to the main point....it is Zion...for the first time in my life I know what that means....it is caring for your brother and sister...and also letting them care for you. Service is a two way street....I have learned that here more than any other time...not that I have not had service given to me, my family is ALWAYS helping me out! But here, a complete stranger will open their home, or give you a loaf of bread or help you learn to use a serger....It is just....amazing. I have learned that with the Love of Christ anything is possible...it binds us through the heart. It gives us compassion, humbles us, and allows us to accept. Because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can live....and I mean live...in so many senses of the word! It is happy here....just so happy!...I hope and pray when I leave here I can work just as hard because of the things I have learned.
I love you all!!
Friday, July 16, 2010
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!!!
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!!!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
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.
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.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
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!
Monday, June 21, 2010
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. :)
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. :)
Thursday, October 29, 2009
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...
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