Another Year Older

 January 29, 1994 this picture was taken at Desert Sam's.

Yesterday, January 29, 2013 I was blessed to celebrate my 19th birthday!

 

NINETEEN! That's like, old! ;)

 

It was a weird birthday being away from home, and family, and having NON-STOP snow for the first time ever on my birthday. It's a good thing I have two wonderful brothers up here in Utah with me, and such awesome friends!

 

My day started with a not so great night sleep--that has been a common theme lately for me. Anyway, I got up around 1:30 to go to the bathroom, opened my door, and all the sudden balloons were falling ALL OVER ME! I was so confused, but once my brain clicked on, it was a fun surprise. :) And there are cute little notes all over my door. Hanna and Sarah sure know how to spoil me!

 

Then, at 6:30 I got on Google Hangout {which may be one of my favorite things in the world} and "hung out" with my family while I opened the packages they sent me.

 

They spoiled me. I love my family!

 

 

I got to spend the day, 9-2, in class, and making my first bouquet for my floral design class. It was HARD. But I loved it, and it smells SO good! So fun to have something living in my dorm, especially since I don't have another human in here with me anymore.

 I chose the rose first, so I wanted to do everything around that. That rose is seriously BEAUTIFUL.

 

My brothers took me out to dinner that night. We went to Bombay House, a little Indian food place that is pretty close to my dorm. It was good! And it was fun to have a little time with family!

 

 

 Hanna made a delicious cake, and invited over a bunch of people. So, after dinner, we had cake and chatted for a little bit, and it was super fun! There are great people in this world, and I'm so glad I know some of them!

 

It was an exhausting, and freezing cold day, but it was also an awesome day!

 

It is weird to think about life, and how sacred and special it is.  I am so thankful for the life that I have been blessed with. I know I have problems. My body doesn't function like I want it to all the time, and I get frustrated when my knee or my lungs hurt, but when I really start to think about it, I have such a good, and such an easy life.  My body works. I can breathe. I can talk. I can laugh. I can smile. I can walk. I can run. I am independent.

 

I have an amazing family. I have 2 great parents, who, I can say, CHOSE me. After looking at this one picture:

{even thought I had a bowl cut. That's love. ;)}

 

I have 3 amazingly talented and beautiful sisters who are the greatest examples to me. They showed me how to be a girly girl, and to love  clothes, shoes, make up, boys, you know, the life of a girl. But they also showed me how to be strong, and smart, and an independent woman.

I have 5 wonderful brothers who are also talented, and handsome, and always looking out for me! They showed me how to be tough, and taught to eat a lot. :)

I have 5 of the cutest nephews anyone could wish for. They keep my love for Legos/star wars/cars/all things BOY alive.

I have 4 beautiful nieces who are the greatest. They keep my nail painting/house playing/dress up/arts and crafts/and all things GIRL alive.

They all encourage me to pursue anything that I love; to dream big, and then to get to that point. They are the best family a girl could ask for.

 

I have come to understand a few things better this last year.

 

Life is precious. We never know when it will be taken from us. Life is challenging. There are fast-balls thrown at us all the time, from every angle. But, life is worth it. Life is happy. Life is full of learning and growing. Life is sacred. Life is beautiful. I LOVE LIFE~~ And I'm so thankful that I have been able to live, love, and grow these last 19 years!

Missionaries, Missionaries EVERYWHERE! :)

I've successfully made it through the first two weeks of winter semester! And it has been GREAT!

 

My awesome FHE family shrunk, which was super sad, but, seriously, I don't know how I got so lucky to get that calling! I love those kids! {it is a HARD calling...but, it is SO worth it!}

 

I literally feel the pride of a mother {okay, I know I don't really know what that feels like, but I'm pretty sure it's close to it} when I hear about their successes, and I really want to do anything to help them continue to make right choices, and be prepared for all that lies ahead of them!

 

This weekend, two of my "sons" got their mission calls!

During break, one of my "daughters"/my awesome roommate (who may or may not have left me alone...) got her mission call, and soon--within a few weeks, another "daughter" will get her call!

I AM SO PROUD OF THEM! 

 

Tiff the stiff (she told me to call her that, I'm not just a jerk. haha) is the greatest girl ever.  She cares about everyone.  She takes time to get to know people on a personal level.  She goes out of her way to make people happy.  She rocks Spiderman.  She also rocks Fiona's (from A Cinderella Story) voice.  :) She knows just what to say to get me going, and we had many a night where we just laughed. About anything and everything!  Tiff got her call to Motevideo, Uruguay leaving April 10! Now she'll know Spanish and we won't have any more of our crazy sit on google translator nights. :)  

 

Karch, my "golden child" as he called himself, left my family at semester to move in with some friends, but, regardless of that, he's still an awesome kid!  He is a typical California boy--tall, dark, and handsome! (I can say that because he's my son. haha) And, he's huge--especially compared to my mere 5 feet!  He's always out having fun and meeting new people, but he is also never too busy to smile and say hi to anyone.  Karch got his mission call to New York, New York North, Spanish speaking, leaving May 29.  Those peopele are going to love Elder Smith!

 

And Hunter, oh Hunter.  He's definitely my wild child. :) He's also the jokester of the family.  That kid shows up to almost every FHE event we have, and comes with his crazy spunky personality.  He can always seem to make me laugh!  Hunter is a big teddy bear from Boston, and I love having him around in the family!  He got his call to Rome, Italy leaving on June 12! How cool is that?! Hooray for Elder Romano! 

 

I am so proud of all these people who heard the prophet, and are now heeding that call!

 

A guy, and a girl in my ward, were both called to London, England South, and will both be leaving May 16.

 

Two guys in my ward were both called to Japan, Kobe leaving May 15.

 

And a few other calls that I heard this weekend up here:

Orlando Florida, Spanish speaking, Korea, Busan, Peru, Cusco, Dominican Republic Santo Domingo West, and somewhere in Russia!

 

It really amazes me when I think about missions, and where everyone gets called, and the realization comes that each call is divinely appointed.  Each call is assigned through inspiration from the Lord.  And wherever you go, whether it be Rome Italy, or Boise Idaho, there is someone who is there, ready to hear the gospel, and because YOU heed the call of the Lord to get out and serve, you get to bless their life, and all of the future generations of thier family. 

 

I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to be up here, around so many awesome people, meeting new friends, and learning so much.  It really is a blessing to know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true.  I am so thankful for that knowledge in my life.  It didn't come to me because of a big, cool expeience, but by small experiences, and by the promptings of the holy ghost, and reassurance from my parents and leaders to turn to scriptures and prayer in times of need, which only leads to reassurance from my Heavenly Father.  I know He lives, and loves me.  I know He sent His son, Jesus Christ to this Earth to live with, and bless the lives of everyone, and then to die for our sins, that we might be able to return to live with our Father again, if we only take the time to repent, and keep the commandments.  I know that the atonement is individual.  It was suffered in order that I might have a friend at all times, that I might know that I can always turn to my Savior for guidance, that I can live a normal life, which is full of mistakes, and I can still, through the process of repenting and taking the name of Christ upon myself, return home one day.  I know that families can be sealed together for eternity in the temple, and I am so excited for the day that I get to kneel accross the alter from the love of my life, and make lasting covenants with him, for time and all eternity.  I know that President Monson is our prophet on the Earth today, and that he leads and guides our church through revelation he recieves from the Lord.  I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and that it was translated by the Lord, through Joseph Smith.  I know that the principles taught in it are true, and that if we study the scriptures, and pray for guidance, and follow the simple commandments laid out for us, that we will be happy in this life, and in the life to come.

 

I love my life, and all of the people in it, and I am thankful for the opportunity I was given to live it.  My life could have been so much different had I not been adopted into my wonderful family.  Had I not made the decision at age eight to be baptized a member of the true and everlasting gospel.  Had I not met the people who I call my friends.  Had I not come to BYU.  Had I not made a lot of choices that I have.  Everything in my life has made me a stronger person so far, and I look forward to getting to learn and grow so much more in the years to come! Have a great weekend!  

Meanwhile, at BYU...

Day two of classes: DONE.

I am exhausted! 

This semester will be a work-out for my brain, that's for sure!

BUT, I am really excited for it!

 

 

I love all my classes already,

and all of my professors,

and my schedule is pretty dang awesome, especially for having last pick of classes!

 

 

Plus, let's just add that some how, magically, there are a GREAT number of attractive men around. 

I've been told that I haven't been paying enough attention, which could very well be the case, but no  matter what the reason, boy does it make school more fun! :)

 

 

Oh, and one more happy note for today; I SOLD ANOTHER TEXT BOOK!

{Thanks to Carter for listing it for me! :)}

That is one of the most satisfying feelings ever!

 

But for now, I have to go, and read 55 pages of a text book--my favorite thing ever...haha

 

Happy Tuesday!

 

Oh, and I thought this was pretty funny.

 

 



Break Break

**WARNING: LONG POST BELOW, FILLED WITH LOTS OF PICTURES**
Well, I'm back in Provo (or P-Town if you desire).

Break is {basically} officially over. :(

I was seriously SO blessed this break though--I got to be home for almost an entire month, in fact, just six days short of a month, and I loved EVERY SINGLE MINUTE OF IT!

 

Why, you may ask? Well, because I got to spend it with all of these lovelies:

Funny story about this picture--So, we always take a silly picture, right? well, seems like every time around Adam, {my nephew standing right next to me} tells me to look at his silly face. So all of our "silly" pictures, are of the side of my head. haha

But anyway, I really love this family of mine, and I am so thankful for it!  We spent lots of time at parties, and singing, playing fun games, eating food {that's what we do best},going to the Nutcracker, going to The Piano Guys, watching Christmas movies, going to Disneyland, riding bikes, having sleep-overs, finding goats, you know, just havin a grand ol' time!

My family is my favorite, that is for dang sure!




I also spent a bit of time with these lovely ladies:






And yes, we did go and conquer Camleback again. That mountain's got NOTHIN on us! :)

I was also blessed to get home just in time to see this handsome young man get set apart to leave for his mission! 

It's still hard to believe that baby Jed is out on a mission, but I'm so proud of him!

I was also blessed to be able to go back to work when I got home!  I work with some of the coolest people ever, and what is better than working at a BAKERY?! I mean, really? Fresh bread smell all day long. YUM. Plus, I love all of our customers, so seriously, I don't see a down side to this at all! I loved being there, and getting to catch up with everyone again, and to let my bank account catch back up as well. :)

We had our traditional Bradshaw Family Christmas party--with all of my Dad's siblings/kids. It's a BIG hullabaloo.  This year we got a DJ and had a huge dance party.  IT was pretty dang fun!

My niece's art work was chosen to be hung in the Gilbert Public Schools office, so my mom and I took a trip to go and see it!  Here she is next to her picture--So proud of you Maya girl!


We got to go see the Piano Guys! They came to Red Mountain High School, and my dad got us tickets!  Holy cow.  PLEASE look them up if you don't know who they are. You won't be sorry! I promise! I'll even give you a link:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ThePianoGuys?feature=g-subs-c
See. Now you have no excuse. :)

We also got to go see the Nutcracker. But not just any version.  We got to go and see the greatest version ever.  Why, you might be asking yourself? Well, because my amazingly talented, and handsome little brother:

 was in it, along with a number of other children that have special needs.  The cast was a mix of typical children and those wonderful children who are just a little closer to Christ than the rest of us.  It was amazing.  They did such a great job! And I loved seeing how proud the little buddy was of himself! He's one of my biggest role models. That is for sure.

We also, as tradition, went Christmas caroling with the fam. 



One of the greatest parts of Christmas Eve for sure! And then we had the family gift exchange, and Parker had me this year, and boy did I score! He got me perfume! :) Smart boy! {smart mom :)}

My amazingly talented sister Candice made super hero masks for all the little boys, and so they had to take a little picture.  Oh how I love those kids!


My sister, Kelli:

 is amazing, and talented, and beautiful, and kind, and rich {okay, maybe she's not that rich anymore, but that's because she has a beautiful house. :)}, and she is such an amazing example to me as well.  But, this break you could almost say that she was crazy! ;) She invited all 9 of my nieces and nephews (ages 8,8,7,6,6,4,2,2, and 6 months old) over for a sleep over at her place the day after Christmas.  It was a WILD night, but it was SO fun, and I'm glad that she did it, and invited me over to participate in the festivities!  I hope that I can be more like her one day soon!


And last, but not least, my parents took us to Disneyland!  Carter, Kelli, Parker and I got in the car with my parents and drove up to Anaheim on Thursday the 27th, and we made it to our hotel in time to crash for the night.  We got up, and all day Friday went and played at the park!  MY FAVORITE THING EVER!  I LOVE DISNEYLAND. We had a great time, even with the failed 2 and a half hour wait in line for Space Mountain. We learned patience, and got to see some funny people, that's for sure! :) 

But overall, it was a great trip. {especially the churro, and pickle. Must haves at Dland)And we got to see the beach on Saturday while my parents went to a sealing for my cousin in the San Diego temple.  I love the beach too.


I love Arizona, and I love California, and I'm learning to love Utah in all of it's -8 degree, snow, and ice glory!

I'm working hard this year on my new years resolutions.  And I hope that they will help me to be a happier and more outgoing me! Hope everyone had a VERY Merry Christmas and a happy new year as well! Here's to a GREAT 2013!

Tis' The Season for Learning and Giving

It's the final week of classes.

Tomorrow is the final day of classes.

Can you tell that I am excited?!

Because I am excited!

 

This week has already been a long one, but a great one! I've been trying more than ever before to read/study scriptures and pray before I study--because honestly, I need all the help I can get. My dad sent all my family a talk by Elder Bednar about prayer from the October 2008 General Conference. Here is the link:

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2008/10/pray-always?lang=eng

 

Take time to re-read it if you can. It's worth it!

 

Yesterday I went to the planetarium, and it was SO cool. Sounds nerdy, right?! But seriously...I can't wait til I get married and can do something fun like this with my husband:

 

Star gazing sleepover in the bed of a truck! :)

 

I then spent a lot of hours studying--and my brain did not like that. Sadly, my attention span is about 10  minutes when it comes to things of that nature. So there were a lot of little breaks in that time.  When I got home from a review, around 10:15, (which is like an hour after my normal bed time. Don't judge me because I like my sleep!)I was overwhelmed, just a little.

 

So, I read some scriptures again, and still wasn't feeling so hot.  So I jumped up, got my patriarchal blessing, and this book:

 

 

 "Forget Me Not" by Dieter F. Uchtdorf, and spent some time reading it.  Holy cow. Pretty sure this is the best graduation gift I received! Every woman should own this book! And EVERYONE who has one, should read through their patriarchal blessing again. The personal revelation, promises and beautiful wording will help bring peace to any troubled soul. The last paragraph of mine always hits me! I love it!

Now, Fast forward to today. December 5, 2012

 

Today is a bittersweet day.  It marks 6 months since Jakelle's passing, which also means one month closer to getting to see her again!  Everyday I have moments that I spend remembering this beautiful and fun girl

 

 and her wonderful message to "stay strong"! I can not bring myself to NOT wear my bracelet, it seems to be that little extra bit of strength that I need almost every day to get me through!

Kelle is still having such a huge impact on the world and all of us in it today. 
If you are looking for a good way to provide service this Christmas season, here is a great opportunity to give service to those in need, and to keep the memory of Jakelle alive:

  http://www.mesaunitedway.org/special-holiday-project

(The Westergard family is also taking donations at their home, but would like to have them in by the 10th)

And here are even more ways to serve if you feel so inclined:
Another friend/mentor of mine, was in an accident with her fiance and  his younger sister only a few hours after they had been engaged.  His younger sister was killed on impact, and Bailee's fiance Taylor has had a lot of overwhelming medical expenses. There have been a lot of things created to help this cute couple out! If you have the means, every little thing helps!
1. If you're a music person, here is a song writen for the couple that you can download and leave a donation:
http://noisetrade.com/taysings

 2. If you're a food person and in Mesa/Gilbert area, there is a bake sale this Saturday the 8th

 

3. If you would just like to donate to them, or the Morris family, here is a link

http://www.payitsquare.com/collect-page/8802

 

The world really is full of wonderful people who can inspire us to do better.  These two people have done just that. Inspired me to become a better person, and believe in myself, and trust in the Lord.  I hope that each of us can find time in our busy lives to find someone, a friend, a stranger, a family memember who is in need of a helping hand, a little love, or just someone to talk to, and take the opportunity to give, just as our Heavenly Father gave His son for each of us!  Have a VERY Merry Christmas! And happy giving! :)



The Folded Napkin...A Truckers Story

This story is SO sweet. I read it on Facebook, and it brought me to tears. I love my brother, and I hope that when he starts working (probably pretty soon!!) people are this nice to him, and respect him! :) ENJOY! {I know it's kinda long, but it is a quick read}

 

 I try not to be biased, but I had my doubts about hiring Stevie. His placement counselor assured me that he would be a good, reliable busboy. But I had never had a mentally handicapped employee and w...

asn't sure I wanted one. I wasn't sure how my customers would react to Stevie. He was short, a little dumpy with the smooth facial features and thick-tongued speech of Downs Syndrome.

I wasn't worried about most of my trucker customers because truckers don't generally care who buses tables as long as the meatloaf platter is good and the pies are homemade. The four-wheeler drivers were the ones who concerned me; the mouthy college kids traveling to school; the yuppie snobs who secretly polish their silverware with their napkins for fear of catching some dreaded "truck stop germ" the pairs of white-shirted business men on expense accounts who think every truck stop waitress wants to be flirted with. I knew those people would be uncomfortable around Stevie so I closely watched him for the first few weeks.

I shouldn't have worried. After the first week, Stevie had my staff wrapped around his stubby little finger, and within a month my truck regulars had adopted him as their official truck stop mascot. After that, I really didn't care what the rest of the customers thought of him. He was like a 21-year-old in blue jeans and Nikes, eager to laugh and eager to please, but fierce in his attention to his duties. Every salt and pepper shaker was exactly in its place, not a bread crumb or coffee spill was visible when Stevie got done with the table.

Our only problem was persuading him to wait to clean a table until after the customers were finished. He would hover in the background, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, scanning the dining room until a table was empty. Then he would scurry to the empty table and carefully bus dishes and glasses onto cart and meticulously wipe the table up with a practiced flourish of his rag. If he thought a customer was watching, his brow would pucker with added concentration. He took pride in doing his job exactly right, and you had to love how hard he tried to please each and every person he met.

Over time, we learned that he lived with his mother, a widow who was disabled after repeated surgeries for cancer. They lived on their Social Security benefits in public housing two miles from the truck stop. Their social worker, who stopped to check on him every so often, admitted they had fallen between the cracks. Money was tight, and what I paid him was probably the difference between them being able to live together and Stevie being sent to a group home. That's why the restaurant was a gloomy place that morning last August, the first morning in three years that Stevie missed work.

He was at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester getting a new valve or something put in his heart. His social worker said that people with Downs Syndrome often have heart problems at an early age so this wasn't unexpected, and there was a good chance he would come through the surgery in good shape and be back at work in a few months.

A ripple of excitement ran through the staff later that morning when word came that he was out of surgery, in recovery, and doing fine. Frannie, the head waitress, let out a war hoop and did a little dance in the aisle when she heard the good news. Bell Ringer, one of our regular trucker customers, stared at the sight of this 50-year-old grandmother of four doing a victory shimmy beside his table. Frannie blushed, smoothed her apron and shot Belle Ringer a withering look.

He grinned. "OK, Frannie, what was that all about?" he asked.

"We just got word that Stevie is out of surgery and going to be okay."

"I was wondering where he was. I had a new joke to tell him. What was the surgery about?"

Frannie quickly told Bell Ringer and the other two drivers sitting at his booth about Stevie's surgery, then sighed: "Yeah, I'm glad he is going to be OK," she said. "But I don't know how he and his Mom are going to handle all the bills. From what I hear, they're barely getting by as it is." Belle Ringer nodded thoughtfully, and Frannie hurried off to wait on the rest of her tables.

Since I hadn't had time to round up a busboy to replace Stevie and really didn't want to replace him, the girls were busing their own tables that day until we decided what to do. After the morning rush, Frannie walked into my office. She had a couple of paper napkins in her hand and a funny look on her face.

"What's up?" I asked.

"I didn't get that table where Bell Ringer and his friends were sitting cleared off after they left, and Pony Pete and Tony Tipper were sitting there when I got back to clean it off," she said. "This was folded and tucked under a coffee cup."

She handed the napkin to me, and three $20 bills fell onto my desk when I opened it. On the outside, in big, bold letters, was printed "Something For Stevie.

Pony Pete asked me what that was all about," she said, "so I told him about Stevie and his Mom and everything, and Pete looked at Tony and Tony looked at Pete, and they ended up giving me this." She handed me another paper napkin that had "Something For Stevie" scrawled on its outside. Two $50 bills were tucked within its folds.

Frannie looked at me with wet, shiny eyes, shook her head and said simply: "truckers."

That was three months ago. Today is Thanksgiving, the first day Stevie is supposed to be back to work. His placement worker said he's been counting the days until the doctor said he could work, and it didn't matter at all that it was a holiday. He called 10 times in the past week, making sure we knew he was coming, fearful that we had forgotten him or that his job was in jeopardy.

I arranged to have his mother bring him to work. I then met them in the parking lot and invited them both to celebrate his day back. Stevie was thinner and paler, but couldn't stop grinning as he pushed through the doors and headed for the back room where his apron and busing cart were waiting.

"Hold up there, Stevie, not so fast," I said. I took him and his mother by their arms. "Work can wait for a minute. To celebrate you coming back, breakfast for you and your mother is on me!"

I led them toward a large corner booth at the rear of the room. I could feel and hear the rest of the staff following behind as we marched through the dining room. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw booth after booth of grinning truckers empty and join the procession. We stopped in front of the big table. Its surface was covered with coffee cups, saucers and dinner plates, all sitting slightly crooked on dozens of folded paper napkins.

"First thing you have to do, Stevie, is clean up this mess," I said. I tried to sound stern. Stevie looked at me, and then at his mother, then pulled out one of the napkins. It had "Something for Stevie" printed on the outside. As he picked it up, two $10 bills fell onto the table.

Stevie stared at the money, then at all the napkins peeking from beneath the tableware, each with his name printed or scrawled on it. I turned to his mother.

"There's more than $10,000 in cash and checks on table, all from truckers and trucking companies that heard about your problems. "Happy Thanksgiving,"

Well, it got real noisy about that time, with everybody hollering and shouting, and there were a few tears, as well. But you know what's funny? While everybody else was busy shaking hands and hugging each other, Stevie, with a big, big smile on his face, was busy clearing all the cups and dishes from the table. Best worker I ever hired. 

 

Here are some pics of MY sweet brother!

 

 Little baby Parks!

 At conference! :)

Isn't he just so handsome?! I really can't believe how big he is! But he's such a stud! :)

Love and Gratitude

 It snows in Utah. A lot. And it is cold.

I miss Arizona. And it's warmth, and its NOT dangerous sidewalks/roads, and its trees that don't dump snow on you.

Today was our last FHE before Thanksgiving, so we did a "thankful" activity.

I made one of these for everyone, and then started the chain with why I was thankful for each of them.  Then they all wrote why they were thankful for eachother and created the chains.  It was a fun activity, and it helped  me to look deeper into some of those "kids" I go to school with! 

 

 

And I have two real quick stories if you choose to continue reading.

 

Story #1 takes place yesterday, Sunday 11/11/12:

 It was cold. And snowy. And I woke up on the wrong side of the bed--I'm not really sure why, but I just wasn't feeling very happy.  So, I went to church, and saved two seats for Hanna and Sarah--but they didn't get my text, so they came in and sat in the back.  Well, everyone else filed in to the building (we meet in an auditorium in the JKB) and I ended up sitting in the 3rd row, basically alone. 5 empty seats on either side of me.  And at first it made me kinda sad, but then it was like. Whatever, I'm a big girl.  So I just paid attention to the talks.  And then after the first 2 talks, we had a congregational hymn (which I may add, are definitely my LEAST favorite things. Ever.) And all of a sudden, this awesome boy in my ward got up from his seat a few rows back, walked in front of the ward, and came and sat down right next to me.  Lemme tell ya--I got really choked up.  Because at that moment I felt Heavenly Father's love overwhelm me, and a feeling of belonging came over me.  At BYU it is SO easy to feel lost, and forgotten, and like no one cares about you because you are away from home, and your family, and everyone is looking out for themselves.  But in that moment I was reminded that I am never alone!

 

Story #2 takes place tonight, Monday 11/12/12:

FHE mom is a hard calling.  It feels like you can't please everyone, and it is a little {okay. a lot} stressful for me, because let's face it, I'm a people pleaser.  Anyway, today as I posted earlier, we did our gratitude chains, and some of the guys felt a little "jipped" on what I wrote on their papers--let me explain.  Writing to girls is easy, and it is okay to say how much you love them and appreciate them because, well, they are girls.  Writing to boys CAN be easy, if you know them well, or if you like them as more than a friend.  Well, these guys in my group are all outstanding and they all make me laugh, and they all have insanely awesome personalities, and they all have really positive attitudes, even when our activities are lame.  They come and make it fun.  And I really love that about all of them.  SO that's what I was thinking when I wrote on most of their papers--but I guess when they read it that it came off as a "cop-out" for having nothing else to say.   When in all reality, it was just the truth!  But I could tell they were a little upset, and that made me feel like I had ruined our whole FHE, and I was just feeling a little down, because I had spent a lot of time trying to make the papers cute--and I am just not crafty, and it was frustrating me, and I have been feeling super homesick, because I only have 8 days til I get to go home, and I just want to be there already!  Anyway, at the end of FHE I was cleaning up, and one of the boys in my group came up and said "Thanks mom for the awesome activity" and then gave me a hug.  He then called everyone over, and we ended up in this huge group hug.  {funny side-note, the quote "Get in tighter! I want her to throw up! It'll show how much we love her!" or something to that effect might have been used} Anyway, none of them would know that that was a nightly occurance at the Bradshaw home, and it again made me feel of the untainted, constant, and overwhelming love of my Heavenly Father.

 

The church is true. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live.  They hear our prayers, and they answer them.  They love us with a perfect love that is incomprehensible to us, but I love being able to have little glimpses of it in my life.  I am so thankful for the trials in my life that help me draw closer to my Savior, and I am thankful for the reminders that I am not alone, and that I am loved!

 

Happy November!