Thanksgiving...

Has it really been since last winter that I've written? Whoa time flies

Well, onward!

Today a thought struck me while listening to a talk from Elder Uchtdorf....actually in a weird moment of my day....I had thoughts on my mind, circulating with no real conclusion, just buzzing around. But from the talk, The Love of God, I learned there are two words that can simplify a lot of life. Here we go......

Love

Try

Both verbs, all encompassing, and guiding.

Thanksgiving was great! We went to the grandparents' in Salt Lake. My dear roommate from the summer, Farnaz, came with me to experience her first American Thanksgiving. She loved my grandma's delicious cooking. She said stuffing was a first for her and she LOVED it. And she even brought an Iranian dish called 'coatlets'.....ask me if my spelling is right on that, it is most definitely not. But it was delicious, some kind of meat/potato mixture.

We had a feast! And then some.

And the night was not complete without our tradition of playing Nutcracker duet on the piano. I think my dad and I have been playing The Waltz of the Flowers now for 6 years, every Thanksgiving and Christmas season.

I am so thankful this holiday for a loving Heavenly Father who blesses me with peace, for family and friends, a home in a free country, food at my table, and clothes on my back.

Where I come from cont....

This thought for whatever reason keeps coming back to my mind....

How did I get to this point I'm at in life? I mean seriously (and yes Tawn I have this ability to just appear, disappear, reappear....sprinkling joy wherever I go....haha).

This might be a really boring post to anybody but myself....just a WARNING.

It just boggles my mind! I have these memories of my dad mowing the lawn into letters when I was five years old, that same summer I peed my pants on my friend's tramp at her birthday party....still remember all the feelings associated with that (sorry if thats too graphic). Lets see, when I was 7 I remember vividly waiting for my grandma to pick me up from school once a week so we could have pretzels together at her house with papa, that same year I met my friends Erika and Maya...i remember the 20 minute bus ride home from school and all the familiar landmarks. I remember wanting so bad to be a safety guard on the bus so I could stand so poised with an orange sash like the 6th grade safety guards. I remember reading my summers away with American girl doll, watching ghostbusters, playing house with Yehuda my Jewish neighbor. I loved playing at my cousins' house in Maryland...we would go down to the creek and set up tents and get our scrap clothes that needed to be washed in the creek and dried on the tree, we would make toy boats and float them down the creek.

I remember the night my mom was sick of my sass and told me I had to sit outside til my dad came home....so I just decided I would show her and I'd run away....I made it a block before I was freezing. Realized I had it pretty good, decided I should probably stay.

I remember when we moved out to Utah. I was scared. This place just didn't feel right, didn't feel like my home. I remember looking at the blueprints of our new house and thinking it was going to be a wonderful life once I had my own room....I even remember thinking "i'm going to probably be punished for something I do in this house." But just the excitement of living in our new home in Providence....I would dream about it all the time. When we finally moved in, I remember hand picking up all the carpet fluff balls that were left over from when they had placed the carpet. I remember being in 7th grade and learning about Wet N' Wild lip gloss and thinking how cool I'd be if I wore it. I remember Mr. Meeker slamming the ruler on our desks. Watching channel one in the mornings. Walking home from school with Mykel and Kim. Sticking my banana peel in the sprinkler box of our neighbor's house. Summers were spent playing night games. Winters were spent sledding down the ravines behind our house. I remember having THE FATTEST crush on Trey Reed, we called him Trey Fausway. I would peak ever so carefully through my window to see if his window was open across the street. Sometimes we would rendezvous and have a meeting point to say hi to each other. Most of the time I was too shy to talk to him. I remember the day a bully on the bus put something around his neck and tried to choke him, usually we would walk home together, but this day I knew it was different, he walked a long distance away from me because he was crying....it was that day I knew I really cared about him. When I started 8th grade, that was a hard year, didn't know who I was, my friends were changing, I wasn't getting along with my family....I choose to not remember. 9th grade, I was still awkward....bad hair, bad zits....the like of being a teenager. I met Shaughnessy and Tawni.....yes, this is the year I appeared, you too:). I learned how to type really fast in typing class...that year President Bush was elected! I also learned how to make flannel shorts to sleep in....I still have them and use them. All the while Moragh, my piano teacher, was turning me into something of a pianist with her persistence and patience with my stubbornness. She would always tell me "Whit, relax your shoulders, relax." 10th grade I was diagnosed with mono. But met a great group of friends and really enjoyed that year. 11th grade, I took every smart class I could think of to qualify for BYU. I had a great seminary teacher that year. I remember one time Shaughnessy, Nefi, and I sluffed to go to McDonald's...it was a rainy day...and we dared Shaugh to eat a worm...which she did without hesitation. 12th grade was a blur....I think I was having so much fun, I missed the academia part. Favorite memories were going to the dam and jumping off the cliffs there or just sitting on the beach. Going waterskiing in the morning with my dad before school started. BYU hit! Freshman year, sophomore year, junior year, senior year....two years of nursing school in there with prerequisites. Amazing friends. The whole thing blows my mind! And now I'm a nurse? How did this happen?

And the most amazing thing, the mind blower for me.....somehow my parents decided they were going to stick with us the whole way through. That is, honestly, the most amazing part of all of it for me. That they stuck with me! All that time! I mean 23 years is a long time. And I had opinions, I was stubborn, I had sass....and yet they never gave up. They took us to church every week, we said prayers together as often as we could, priesthood blessings before school started each year, chats at the dinner table even if we didn't want to talk, balanced meals at dinner, good friends that came over, visits every summer to Maryland for family reunions at the cottage or the beach. My mom was home every night to chat with us. They were understanding when we were having hard times, they were excited for us when we had successes, they were honest in their dealings with others, they showed us how to discover the world, how to find knowledge, they gave us a desire to learn. They taught us how to work. How to be self reliant.

It just amazes me! I have a huge legacy to carry on. But they did it....step by step with faith. I really hope I can do the same.

Miracles....

I love my job! It rocks my socks off! Today was a very busy day at work...the talk around the ER was that it was due to a full moon. I wasn't so sure about how superstitious I was, but after today, I think the moon might actually be playing tricks on us! We had a constant flow of chest pain patients, an appendectomy, a piano smashed a guy into a wall, a guy losing more than 3/4 of his blood. Just a few bizarre happenings.

At one point during the day, I was talking with a nurse about what the protocol is to deliver units of blood if in a trauma situation and you don't have time to cross and type a patient to find their blood type. She informed me you give O- blood. I remembered that. Just a tid bit of information but I think it was a tender mercy we talked about it.

We had a pediatric patient tonight who was losing blood fast. We did a type and screen. But the unit of blood wasn't coming back fast enough. It dawned on me to just get O- blood. So I sprinted to the lab and told the blood chemist I needed it right away. She yelled at me and slammed cupboard doors because she was so mad I switched the order (which I think was ridiculous) but I got the blood...just in time to give it to my patient before we shipped her off with AirMed.

A true ER moment, and a true tender mercy.

I love my coworkers too! They are so fun and together we keep ourselves sane. So glad I met them.

Where I come from

Lately, it has been pressing on my mind where I came from, how in the world I got to the point I'm at now, and how I'm going to continue to give the legacy I've been given.....

Thoughts to come!

Ode to the Green Bean

The Green Bean...

The name of my new little subaru

He truly is amazing, even though his little body is worn and beat up.

His great AWD, boxy frame, dents and dings

When I got behind the wheel, the green bean and I....we connected. It was magic.

I knew this car was mine.

I took him to two mechanics and both said...minor problems, strong engine.

The green bean worked well for 3 weeks....

Last night in -5 degree weather, the green bean and I depart for the salt lake city airport to pick up Jenni. We arrive at the airport a little early so we lap around the airport a couple of times to ward off the adament traffic controllers...who allow no idling vehicles. DRIVE ON, they yell. And so we drive on....around and around the airport

Alas, we see Jenni on the curb...

50 yards, 40 yards, 30 yards...and then...

VROOM, vroom, vroom VROOM, vroom, vroom

I look

The RPMs are dropping. I can't keep any juice.

VROOm, vroom, vroom. And then.

Silence.

I turn the key

CLINK, CLINK, CLINK, CLINK

Silence.

Dead car.

And 20 yards away.....Jenni laughing hysterically....

As the traffic controller yells DRIVE ON!

But I cant, the green bean! He's dead!

The 25 somethin year old female traffic controller quickly yells for me to put the green bean in neutral, and now she is pushing my car!

We make it to the curb

I'm laughing. Jenni's laughing.

The green bean. Oh the poor green bean.

But have no fear!

A truck comes to give us a jump!

But still no juice.

So we call for a tow truck...

Mr. tow trucker picks up the poor little green bean and drives us to downtown SLC.

The big city must have been quite the shocker for that lil bean!

Because...lo and behold....as Mr. tow trucker tries one last time to turn the ignition

The bean ignites!! He's back!

Our friend Glauser volunteers to follow Jenni, me, and the bean.

We jump back on the freeway

RPMs holding a steady 3000.

5 miles go by, and we pull up next to friend Glauser.

We give him the thumbs up!

Glauser takes the next exit

We journey on

Jenni and I are deep in conversation in Pleasant Grove

I hit the gas pedal. Nothing. I hit it again. Still no acceleration!

I look at the RPMs

Within seconds

4000, 3000, 2000

No juice!

We're on I-15!

There are no shoulders to be seen on the freeway because of construction

I say a silent prayer....come on bean!!

And then...there it is!

A construction turn off, I pull off.

Silence.

I try the key

CLINK, CLINK, CLINK

Silence.

Jenni and I assess our resources

I've got frozen meatballs from home

Jenni has sugar candy, frozen peas, sugar cookies, and spaghetti sauce from home.

No water.

No heat.

We call for tow truck #2.

The -5 degree winter is seeping through the windows

Suddenly, yellow lights are flashing in my rear view mirror. A construction vehicle pulls up

An 18 +/- year old boy with braces is in the truck.

We ask to jump into the truck for heat.

In the truck, we chat about his solitary night job working on broken down construction machines.

Another construction guy in his truck pulls up. Boy tells us that this guy is a 'goober'. He was seen one night in his truck playing cards with dragons on them.

Yep, adequate definition of goober.

Meanwhile, bean is in the cold

But finally, Mr. tow trucker #2 pulls up!

He loads the green bean and we jump into his truck

First thing we smell

Strong rubbing alcohol and pot, unfamiliar territory

I'm in fight or flight!

Crank the windows my mind shouts to my fingers!

I find the window

Visions of Ted Bundy

My imagination runs wild

Why is Jenni talking so nice to this man?

My ER training has kicked in...

Skepticism

Jenni continues into a pleasant conversation

Mr. tow trucker #2 begins to tell Jenni about his twin daughters and his side life as a guitarist of the local 'Autumn Eclipse'

I ease up, realize my misjudgment, laugh inside my head

Jenni rocks!

We make it to Provo

Safe! After a thousand prayers

The poor green bean slides lifeless off the tow truck bed

He rolls into a parking spot at American Car Care Center.

Just another car he appears

But not to me

He is still the invincible Green BEAN!

And a little fuel pump repair never hurt any car:)

New Favorite quote:

"Be Cheerful in all that you do. Live joyfully, live happily, live enthusiastically. Knowing that God does not dwell in gloom and melancholy, but in light and love." -Ezra Taft Benson

Love it!

So grateful to know that God lives and loves us. He knows us so well, and only wants to help us reach the divine potential that is in each of us.

Today something amazing happened....

Today something amazing happened....

The provo tabernacle burned down...this occurred Friday night, December 17th. Not so amazing. But just wait. The provo tabernacle was truly an icon in the community. I remember meeting President Uchtdorf there at a stake conference he was presiding over. The building inside was beautiful, the handcrafted wood, the organ, it was so wonderful inside! So I was speculating with the girls at work how something like this could happen? Why would God allow this beautiful building that pioneers to the valley had hand-crafted over a span of 15 years, just burn?

And then the most AMAZING answer came today....

Regardless of what happens, most of what happens we have no control over, but Christ remains....His message to the world never leaves. I really do believe with all my heart that this picture is no coincidence. I know God's hand was somehow a part of not allowing that picture to burn. I don't really know why but that picture just really touched my heart. It made me super emotional the second I saw it. Just such a testimony to me that no matter what happens, or how bad things may seem, any life event can be turned into something sweet and beautiful. This picture is a message to anyone who is searching for truth about this life, there is only one answer where it can be found, and that is through Christ.