Be of Good Cheer

I haven't done a spiritual thought in a very long time. I feel like Todd and I have just been going and going. I get to blog about the things that are happening and that is about it. I haven't taken the time to get onto lds.org and read any articles. But as I woke up this morning the sun was shining and I knew that it was a new week and that things were going to start looking up this week. The weekend was hard for me, I swear I feel like I am being a baby over this whole car accident but it has really shooken me up. But as the days go on I am starting to look at the positive instead of the negative. I am so grateful for the tender mercies that I have received lately. I can not be more grateful of the things that I have been blessed with especially to still be alive. As I got onto lds.org this morning I came across this talk by President Monson which he gave in April's conference in 2009 it was entitled BE OF GOOD CHEER

He starts he talk out by saying

It would be easy to become discouraged and cynical about the future—or even fearful of what might come—if we allowed ourselves to dwell only on that which is wrong in the world and in our lives. Today, however, I’d like us to turn our thoughts and our attitudes away from the troubles around us and to focus instead on our blessings as members of the Church. The Apostle Paul declared, “God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."

None of us makes it through this life without problems and challenges—and sometimes tragedies and misfortunes. After all, in large part we are here to learn and grow from such events in our lives. We know that there are times when we will suffer, when we will grieve, and when we will be saddened. However, we are told, “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.”

How might we have joy in our lives, despite all that we may face? Again from the scriptures: “Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you.”

The history of the Church in this, the dispensation of the fullness of times, is replete with the experiences of those who have struggled and yet who have remained steadfast and of good cheer as they have made the gospel of Jesus Christ the center of their lives. This attitude is what will pull us through whatever comes our way. It will not remove our troubles from us but rather will enable us to face our challenges, to meet them head on, and to emerge victorious.

And then he goes onto say at the end :

I testify to you that our promised blessings are beyond measure. Though the storm clouds may gather, though the rains may pour down upon us, our knowledge of the gospel and our love of our Heavenly Father and of our Savior will comfort and sustain us and bring joy to our hearts as we walk uprightly and keep the commandments. There will be nothing in this world that can defeat us.

My beloved brothers and sisters, fear not. Be of good cheer. The future is as bright as your faith.

I just love this talk. It is such a strong reassurance that everything happens for a reason and we all go through trying times in our lives. But we are all blessed in so many ways and God loves each and everyone on of us. And he doesn't give us trials we cant overcome. I love the gospel so much and I am grateful for my membership in this church...

Car Accident

I have been having a really hard time with this accident. Every time I close my eyes or have a second where I am not busy everything about this accident comes flooding back. I keep seeing the semi right in front of me and remembering there was nothing I could do to get stopped. I didn't think it would be this hard. I have heard about other peoples accidents but until you are involved in one yourself I don't think you can fully comprehend what an emotional toll it takes on your life. I wasn't sure if I wanted to talk about this on my blog but I need to talk to someone about it because Todd is gone till May 10th and I have my family to talk to but I feel like I can pour my heart out in my blog since it is like my journal.

I keep thinking about the what ifs? And I know I probably shouldn't be that way but how can you not think about the what ifs? What if I would have stayed at work a little longer, or what if I would have stopped and got fuel or stopped to get a soda then I wouldn't have been on the road at that time and right behind that dang semi. I know that the what ifs are just making this harder on me but these are the things that have crossed my mind these last couple of days. Every time I think about the accident(which is a lot) I wonder if there is anything more that I could have done. Every time I close my eyes I see the semi right in front of me and I remember knowing I was going to get in a car accident. I remember knowing that there is no way I was going to be able to get stopped I was going 60 mph and the semi was right there. I cranked my steering wheel to the right so hard and slammed on my breaks as hard as I could but I knew that was not going to be enough. I am so grateful that I was in our Yukon and not the little car because I cant even think about how much more worse this could have been had I been in my car. I loved my Yukon so much and I know its only a car, only a material thing but I always felt so safe in it and I know without a doubt in my heart that it saved my life. I don't remember much about the accident I remember hitting the semi but I am not sure where I hit him at. If it was on his cab or if it was on the trailer. I remember the air bags deploying and I remember trying to get my car stopped. I don't know what happened to the back of my car I am thinking that his trailer must have swung around and hit me in the back as well but I don't know. I remember as soon as I got my car completely stopped the emotions started to take over. I got out and the truck driver got out and the kid from the other truck that was involved got out and we made sure everyone was okay and thank heavens everyone was okay. The cop then showed up and we had to fill out the accident reports. I hadn't really cried too much up to this point I was still in shock and trying to keep myself together. But I knew I needed to cry, I wanted to cry. I was so scared I didn't know what to do I didn't know what just happened and how I had just gotten into a car accident. It all happened so fast and the emotions were starting to settle in. Some lady who knew the kid that was involved was walking back to her truck when the next thing I knew she was over at my Yukon holding me, giving me a hug and telling me it was ok to cry. She just stood there as I cried on her shoulder. A complete stranger who was willing to come up to another complete stranger and comfort her. I am so thankful for that lady I have no clue who she was but I am thankful that she was directed to come over to me and comfort me when I needed it the most. I have never felt so much love from a complete stranger as I did that day. On any other given day I don't think I would have just cried on just any ones shoulder but at that very moment she didn't seem like a stranger at all. I know without a doubt in my heart that our Father in Heaven sent her to me. He knew I needed someone and the spirit lead her to me. I will always be grateful for that lady.  I am also very grateful for my twin sister. Her and I have been through alot lately but when I needed her the most she was there for me and I am so grateful for her and for her love for me. I was scared when it all happened and she was one of the first ones I called besides my husband because I knew that she would be there for me. How blessed am I to have such an amazing sister in my life. I hope that she knows hoe much I love her and how grateful I am to be able to say that she is my twin sister and my best friend. I am also very grateful for my mom and little sister. They both dropped everything they were doing and came to Twin so they could take me home. I could not ask and I honestly would not ask for a better family. I have the BEST FAMILY EVER!! I am so grateful that we are so close and share so much love. I stayed Thursday night in Heyburn with Lindsay and Chase. I knew that I was going to be getting a rental car so I figured it would be best to stay there so I was already in Burley to get the car. I am thankful that Lindsay and Chase open their home up to me. It is amazing what a car accident can do to a person. Through the whole 10 seconds or however long the accident actually took I never once felt like I was going to die I knew I was going to be ok. But still when something like this happens its a wake up call. It makes you not take anything in life for granite anymore. As I was at Lindsay's Thursday night I was so grateful to still be alive and to be able to still hold my nieces and receives kisses and hugs for them. I couldn't help but lay there and cry because I was overcome with the spirit and was so thankful that I was ok. Once again I am so grateful for my family they are everything to me. Friday was a very stressful day it took forever to get things figured out with the rental car and I was just so ready to be able to go home. I made it back to Malta around six and I went to dinner with my parents and then I came home. I was so glad to be home. I was having a pretty hard time being by myself the emotions of the accident were all coming back. My parents showed up at my house (I am pretty sure my sister called them, THANK YOU). My dad gave me a blessing and then they took me back to their house for the night. I am so grateful that my dad is a worthy priesthood holder. They knew I needed a blessing, they knew I needed the comfort of the spirit to help me get through all this. The blessing was amazing the spirit was so strong and I know without a doubt in my mind that my journey here on this earth is not over. My car accident could have ended alot worse but I still have alot to do here on this earth and I am so grateful for that. I hope my family knows how much I truly love them. And I hope my husband knows that he is my life and I love him more than anything. I am so grateful for how truly blessed I am and for all the wonderful family and friends that I have. I have had many visitors, phone calls and texts from numerous people and I am truly grateful for all the concern, support and love.

Football season 2012!!

Todd's football started three weeks ago but yesterday was their first home game. He didnt get to play in the first game because he was working but he was able to make it to this one. He got off Saturday morning at eight our time and was back to the camper by nine and left straight from there to go to Burley for his game.. I think he is CRAZY playing on hardly any sleep but he loves football. He wont get to play in all the games this year because they conflict with his work schedule. But I am glad that he gets to play in some. It was a lot of fun to get to go watch him yesterday; as much time consumming as football is I really do enjoy it. His number has changed this year because he gets to play running back part of the time, So he is now #47.. The last group of pictures is Todd catching his first ball of the game:)

Kallie's photo shoot

I had the opportunity of taking some pictures for Kallie. She is getting ready to graduate from her Dental Assisting program and wanted some pictures taken for her announcements. I am not going to lie I was very nervous when they asked me because I have really only done pictures for my family. But I had so much fun and I am so grateful that I got this opportunity. Here are just a few that I ended up editing. After I deleted the bad ones we still had 158 good ones:) so it was a great photo shoot. I hope you enjoy

EASTER 2012

TODAY WAS A GREAT DAY.. AS SOON AS I WOKE UP THIS MORNING I WAS OVERTAKEN BY THE SPIRIT AND I WAS VERY EMOTIONAL. I AM SO GRATEFUL FOR MY SAVIOR AND FOR ALL HE HAS DONE FOR ME. I AM SO THANKFUL THAT I WAS ABLE TO TEACH MY 3-4 YEAR OLD'S TODAY ABOUT WHAT EASTER IS ALL ABOUT. THE ATONEMENT IS AN AMAZING GIFT THAT WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN.

AFTER CHURCH WE HEADED UP TO ALMO AND THEN ONTO THE CITY OF ROCKS WITH A LOT OF MY MOMS FAMILY FOR A PICNIC. WE GOT TO ALMO BEFORE THEY WERE OUT OF CHURCH SO WE WENT TO MY GRANDMA'S HOUSE AND HID EGGS FOR MADISON TO FIND. SHE GOT SUCH A KICK OUT OF FINDING THEM. MY DAD AND CHASE ALSO FIXED MT GRANDMA'S SWING AND MADISON THOUGHT SHE WAS IN HEAVEN SHE LOVES TO SWING. ONCE WE GOT TO THE CITY OF ROCKS WE ATE AND THEN WENT ON A HIKE, CLIMBED SOME ROCKS. IT WAS JUST A BEAUTIFUL DAY TO BE OUTSIDE AND ENJOYING THIS WONDERFUL SUNSHINE WE HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH. 

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!!

 

Happy Easter..

I found this video and it brought tears to my eyes. What an amazing message this lady has relayed through this song. I am so grateful for this Easter Season and for my testimony of Jesus Christ’s love for each and every one of us. It is the gift of Jesus’s Life, Death and Atonement which truly is “the Miracle that rescues you and I. I pray that we might all remember what Our Brother has done for all of us.

Denver Day 5, 6

On Thursday I decided to head out to a Butterfly Pavilion. It was one of the coolest things I have been to. There were thousands of Butterflies and some beautiful flowers. There were several times when the butterflies would try to land on you, freaked me out sometimes!! They also had a creepy crawler section too.

Todd got out of his Training early on Thursday so we decided to head over to the Stadium where the Denver Broncos play. I have always been a big fan of the COLTS!! And it makes me so sad that Peyton Manning is going to play for Denver now. So I had to go check out his new stomping grounds.

We then headed out to Dave & Busters where we had dinner and the traffic was freaking crazy it was backed up for a long time. They had it catered for us and then we all got a card that had 75 tokens on it and unlimited video games. It was a fun way to spend our last night in Denver. Todd and I also went next door to an Imax theater and went a saw The Hunger Games. The lady and the ticket office gave us 3D glasses so we were goofying around with them.

We woke up Friday morning and started our long journey back to Malta. we decided to go through Wyoming this time and we got to Cheyenne we missed our exit and ended up going 20 miles out of the way. But we made it back to where we needed to be and started our journey across Wyoming. The was was INSANE.. I thought it blew hard here in Idaho but it is nothing compared to Wyoming. We stopped at Little America, it is crazy how you can picture something completely different than what it really looks like. We made it back to Malta at about 6:30.. It was a long trip but I am so grateful that I got to go and I got to spend time with my husband.. It was a lot of fun to get to go to Denver I would love to go back. Maybe next time we will fly ten+ hours in a car is too long for me:)

Denver Day 3, 4

So on Tuesday I woke up to this ALOT OF SNOW!! I was not really feeling like driving around Denver while it was snowing so I hung out in the hotel while Todd went to his training. I went out to get some lunch and that was it. It was just cold and miserable. Todd got back to the hotel around four and then at 5:30 we met everyone else down in the lobby and we headed to the Cherry Cricket for dinner. I was very good. It didn't take us too long to eat so Todd and I decided to go to the Aquarium. I have always wanted to go to an Aquarium and it was alot of fun.

 This big turtle kept following us around. We had to walk through a tunnel at this point so he could swim on both sides of us and over the top of us. It was pretty cool there was also this shark that just hung out on the top.

 Got to love that they had a tank just for FINDING NEMO!!

 After we got out of the Aquarium we walked out to this. It was beautiful. I am so sad that I couldn't get a better picture. But it was so cold and my hands were frozen.

 Finally on Wednesday I woke up to sunshine. So I decided to go shopping. So I headed to this little strip mall and found a Maurices and got me some new clothes I was super excited. That night we went to dinner at Benihana, It is a Japanese steakhouse.