Remembering

I can't belive that it's been 8 years since the attack on 9/11/01. I was at work last night talking with co-workers about that day. I still remember getting ready for school when Aunt Tomie called and told us that the towers had just been hit. I remember driving to school that morning with the radio on listening to the news; trying to figure out what was going on. The news was playing in pretty much every class I went to that day. I don't remember really anything else that went on at school that day. I feel like in some ways I wasn't affected that day because I didn't personally know anyone in the towers or on the planes. I know that sounds mean. It did affect me though, I realized how much hate and anger can destroy people. I never knew that there were people out there that hated our country and Americans so much that they would kill so many innocent people. I guess you could say the rose colored glasses came off that day for me. I may not have known anyone personally that was injured or killed during that attack but we are all citizens of the same country, they were my neighbors. It took me awhile to realize that.

I remember when war was declared. I know that President Bush may not have done everything right during his terms but I feel like he handled that crisis as best as he could. For just being in office under a year and having that major of a crisis, I felt that he did what was needed. He helped unite us as a country and remember that we're all in this with each other. We are brothers and sisters and I feel like he was definitely the man we needed at the time. There are many different opinions out there regarding that, this is mine.

Today I watched a Mormon Message from Youtube. It was the story of a man who survived the attack. He was in one of the towers and made it out alive. His story was how he found God and meaning in his life that day and in the days and years after the attack. It was just amazing to know that no matter what situations life brings, God is always there to help and give hope. I can't imagine what this man or any of the survivors have gone through in their lives since that day. I just think it's amazing what happens when we let God in our lives and how He can help those trials and experiences change us for the better. This is a side note, but if you have the September issue of the Ensign, read the 'Lessons from Liberty Jail' talk by Elder Holland. I read it a couple of days ago, and writing this I'm just recalling a lot of what was said in that article. It's amazing and will probably change your life!

I think that's all for this post. I feel like it's kind of scattered and who knows if it makes sense, but thats just how my mind works! In all seriousness, it's been 8 years and I can still remember what I was doing when I heard the news, what I wore that day, and how I felt that day. I can remember the days following the attack and seeing the country pull together. I hope that we don't forget that we are the United States of America. We need to remember that and not let things divide us.

I am so grateful for the men and women serving in the armed forces. For the sacrifices they have made since that day and for the things they have witnessed. I'm so grateful that they are willing to fight to preserve the freedoms we enjoy. I love this country and I'm so thankful to have been born in this land that allows us the freedom to choose how and who we worship. There are so many other freedoms that I'm thankful for but that would be my top one. I love that I get to choose, I'm not told what I can do and what I can't. Thank you. Thank you to those fighting now and those who have fought over the last 200+ years. This truly is a blessed land. Those who fight against it will not win.

My Soapbox

So recently I've been feeling this barrage of political turmoil in my life. It's not so much my political feelings as much as I feel like I'm constantly being attacked with other peoples opinions. Normally this probably wouldn't be a bad thing, I just am tired of it. I have a hard time making up my mind about how I feel when I'm constantly having other's share their views with me. I don't want to turn this into a rant so I'll get to what I wanted to say.

I just started reading Pres. Hinckley's book, Standing for Something. I know that this is an older book and has been published for awhile but this is the first time I've ever read it. Already I love it! I loved the forward by Mike Wallace, the respect he had for Pres. Hinckley is just so amazing to me. I remember when the 60 Minutes interview happened and I remember wondering if it would be a good interview or a bad one. Looking back, I don't know how it could've been bad with Pres. Hinckley being the interviewee! He always handled everything so well. The introduction to the book just really hit home though especially after all that I've been feeling with politics and the division that has occurred in this country since the last election and before that. The introduction talks about America and how great this country is. We are so blessed to have been founded in the manner we were, with God in mind. I know that the founding of this country was inspired by Heavenly Father and it is that inspiration and guidance that has let this country prosper for so long. The fact that He used to be publicly recognized also made a huge difference. It saddens me more than I can say, that God is not longer allowed in public places. He has been taken out of public school and there are people trying to take God completely out of our lives I feel. This country most definitely was divinely inspired, God was at the helm and I can not agree with those who feel that it is offensive to hear His name and want it taken out of the pledge and oaths said in the courtroom. It offends me. In the introduction, there are two scriptures quoted that I liked. 2 Corinthians 3:17 says, "Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." Psalm 33:11-12 says, " The counsel of the Lord standeth forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord." I really like these three verses. I just think it puts things into perspective. Pres. Hinckley said, " Can we expect peace and prosperity, harmony and goodwill, when we turn our backs on the Source of our strength?"

I know this is kind of scattered and I apologize. Let me be the first to admit that I am not the most politically educated person in this world. To be perfectly honest I have shied away from politics most of my life because there has always been such conflict and I don't always know how to get an unbiased education. I have felt the need more recently to become better educated on what is happening in the world and still feel unable to find that unbiased education. I have both sides coming at me all the time and it's hard to know which to believe. I am definitely more conservative in all things. This last election was particularly difficult because I felt there was not a good solution in either candidate. Again, those are just my feelings, I don't have anything to back that up, other than the fact that I didn't feel either man had the countries best interests at heart. I know that Bush made mistakes in his two terms as president and that no man is perfect. I did however feel that Bush tried in the beginning to make the right choices for the country. I have not had that feeling with Obama and again, it may be my ignorance on the subject. I do believe that education on the facts isn't everything though, you also need to feel, through the gift we have been given, what is right and wrong.

I'm sorry again, if this doesn't really make sense to any one. I've just been feeling overwhelmed by everything that is going on around me and then reading this book was just what I needed. I know that this post kind of did turn into a rant and I'm sorry to those of you who don't like my opinions. I just feel very strongly that rather than argue about Republicans and Democrats, we should be focusing on fixing a struggling nation. A nation that, with God, will continue to be great. I feel like that is the fight we should be fighting, to have God acknowledged for the great blessings He has given us. Maybe I'm just preaching to the choir and everyone already knows and gets this, I'm just a little slow I guess!

Anyways, that is my speech on my little soapbox. Sorry again if it's all jumbled and confusing, it's been a long week and I'm tired!

Small Updates

I feel like I haven't posted in awhile so I'm just writing to say I'm still alive here in Tucson. I still haven't taken any pictures of my new apartment, so those are still coming. It's mostly all set up, I just keep forgetting about it! I do like it though, it's weird to only have one other roommate, I've always had at least 3 or 4 other roommates. Its quiet, sometimes really quiet! I'm just staying busy with work and I honestly don't know what else keeps me so busy, but this summer has just flown by and I don't know where all the time went! I do know where part of it has gone, I now have a pool at this apartment and I love swimming. I'm usually there most mornings before work. So this summer I'm going to have a nice tan at least! I mean I live in Arizona, I've got to have a good tan, right?

Anyways....I just wanted to give a little update. I'm still here and wishing that this summer wasn't so close to being over. Its been fun, but all good things must come to an end!

Movin' on Up

To the East Side....

So, this past weekend, I moved into a new apartment. No more ugly purple ghetto apartments! It was an incredibly tiring day. We were running on pretty much 4 hours of sleep and the day started about 8:30am and ended at 2am! It was quite a day. We were also without A/C for about 4 hours and Saturday was pretty warm. I am pretty proud of my roomie and I though. We had a couple of guys coming to help us move but by Saturday all of them had to back out except for one! So, poor Tyler was the only guy helping us move all of our junk! For the most part, it was just the three of us loading and unloading stuff. We were all pretty tired by the end, but I think Tyler definitely was more tired than me and Lindsay. He pretty much carried a couch and a heavy dining room table upstairs by himself. He's CRAZY! But we were definitely thankful for him and his superhuman strength on Saturday!

Our new apartment has a swimming pool, which I'm very thankful for! I don't know why this summer seems so much hotter than last summer but.... I went swimming this morning and it was GLORIOUS! There was no one at the pool and I loved it. I'll try and put up some pictures when we get everything unpacked. Right now it doesn't look too bad, but it's still not quite finished. We have this lovely stack of empty boxes by our front door that we have yet to take out!

Grateful

I know, I know, this is like my third post this week! Just bear with me, I'm sure I'll stop sometimes soon.

I'm not really sure how to start this post other than it's something I've been thinking about for awhile. Can I just say how truly blessed I have been in my life. Every day I am amazed at how much the Lord loves me. With that said, I've been thinking of the different ways I have been blessed and one of the most obvious is the people He has put in my life. I have an amazing family, I know that wasn't what I thought growing up but I have definitely learned to appreciate them in my life. I can't imagine having any other two people be my parents. They are amazing and I know that no other two people could've raised me the way they did, and taught me to be the person I am today. I love them for all that they've done and all the do in my life. I wish I had understood that as a kid! My sisters, four biological and numerous adopted, I can't even describe how grateful I am for them in my life. Again, I didn't understand how much they meant in my life until after we were older, but I'm very grateful for them. This is the second time I've lived in a city by myself, with no family. My parents are a lot closer this time but my schedule usually doesn't allow a lot of trips. So, once again I'm realizing just how much I need my family. My sister's mean a lot to me, they are amazing examples to me and I'm so grateful for them in my life. And even though my brothers came way later in my life, I'm so grateful for them. They are all such wonderful examples to me and even though they came later they are still great at being good older brothers. I always wanted one, and I was blessed with 3 awesome ones!

Both of my parents come from somewhat large families so I also have a ton of extended family which I'm also so grateful for. I've met people who don't know their cousins really well and it seems so weird to me. I grew up knowing all of my cousins and 2nd cousins and so on. I can't imagine not knowing them. It's a little different now that we're all grown up and moving and our lives are busy, but I still get to read about their families and hear about them from my parents. I'm just so grateful for the support system I have!

Lastly, I have been so blessed with great friends throughout my life. Sometimes those friendships are short and sometimes they last years and years. No matter what the time frame is, I have truly been blessed to have amazing friends. When I have been without family close by, I've had wonderful friends who let me be a part of theirs.

Sorry, I know this is long again, I just wanted to say Thank You to all those who have blessed my life by being a part of it. I hope you know how grateful I am for all of you. I'm sorry if I don't say it often enough. I'm so, so grateful for the people that the Lord has placed in my life at one time or another. Thank You so much for all of your examples to me.

Picture Time!

Ok, so here are some pics to go with the ridiculously long post a couple days ago! Most of them are self-explanatory. I didn't post any pics of the animals from the museum because there were a ton and it would've taken forever! Most of the pics on here are while we were at the zoo or leaving it though. We were really bad at taking pictures throughout the week. While we were leaving the zoo, we stopped at this pull-out area to take some pictures and we stepped out of the car and stuck to the tar! There were no signs saying it wasn't dry. I don't know if the heat was just too much but my poor little flip flops just stuck to the asphalt! At least is was a beautiful view. The other funny pic from the zoo was the ice-cream cones! I don't know if the guy making them was just dazzled by our beauty or what, but the things were huge!

Catchin up!

Well, I've gotten behind on this whole blogging thing. I'll have to play catch-up I guess. I can't believe that it's already July and how fast the summer is going. My vacation is over and I'm already ready for another one! My vacation was fun. I didn't go anywhere exciting but there was eleven blissful days where I didn't have to go to work. And seven of those days, I got to spend time with one of my best friends, Bethany! She flew down from Idaho to see me and it was awesome. We didn't plan a whole lot of stuff but just kind of took it easy and had fun. We did got the Sonoran Desert Museum which is basically a zoo of all desert animals. It was actually a lot of fun! I've lived in Tucson for two years and have never been there. I work at a hotel and I always recommend that people go there, I just hadn't gone yet. The drive out there was amazing. It reminded me why I love the desert so much. The view driving in and back out was just so gorgeous. We also had amazing Mexican food as much as we could! There just isn't anything in Idaho as good as in Tucson (at least in the way of good mexican food)!

I'm getting kind of out of order. So Bethany flew in on Monday at like 8am! I was going to drive to Mesa and stay with my parents on Sunday night so I wouldn't have to drive 2 hours that early on Monday. I didn't make it to Mesa however, I only got halfway there. So, I still woke up unbelievably early on Monday so i could get to the airport on time. I left way too early though and spent like 45 minutes in the cell phone parking lot waiting for her flight to land. I got a nice nap though! Anyways, we went to the temple on Monday just walked around and watched the Joseph Smith movie at the Visitor's Center. I always cry in that movie, it's just so amazing still! There was a sister missionary there from Guatemala, which is where Bethany served her mission so we talked to her for awhile. I mostly just listened, because I don't understand Spanish at all! I also introduced her to Bahama Bucks which, for all of you uneducated people out there, is the best shaved ice place EVER! I don't know why it is so amazing, but it truly is. Unfortunately, there are very few places that have them. Mesa is lucky and there are a couple there, I go there whenever I'm in Mesa. Bethany told me before she came that this trip had better result in a good tan for her, so Tuesday we went swimming to try and help her out! It worked out real well for me, I just got a darker brown, she and Lindsay on the other hand turned a nice shade of red! I found it funny, I don't think they did though. Wednesday, we did some shopping and then went to my new favorite restaurant, Guadalajara's Grill. It was even more amazing this time! Whe had DELICIOUS food, and we ordered virgin margarita's and usually they come in a pretty small glass, they're only $2, but the bartender was feeling generous that night and we got huge glasses! They were delicious though, so we didn't complain, and they still only cost us $2! Thursday and Friday we hung out with some friends in Tucson, we went and saw a new movie and played games and just had fun. I cut my hair, as you know from my last post. Then on Saturday we went to the Desert Museum and had more good Mexican food. Sunday, my stake had like an emergency stake conference. Elder Neil L. Anderson came down for this. I was in the stake choir so I had to sit up on stage while we were told that they were splitting our stake to create a new one and then they also re-did our boundaries. The choir couldn't hear like anything that was being said though. That kind of stunk, just bad acoustics in the building we were in. Oh well, I did get to meet Elder Anderson and shake his hand, that was cool. Bethany was a sport and sat with a couple friends of mine since I was in the choir as were all of my roommates. We had fun the rest of the day, it was weird being done with church that early, we are usually at church until 4:30pm. We mostly just enjoyed the afternoon we had free. Monday we had to drive back to Mesa so she could catch her flight back. We stopped at this restaurant there and they apparrently have this kids night every Monday where they have a guy that does balloon animals and stuff and this lady paints faces. We really didn't look like little kids but the guy still offered to make us balloon animals and I can't resist an offer like that. I didn't get an animal though, he made me a balloon hammer, which was pretty awesome, and Bethany got a love monkey, which is a monkey with a huge heart on the end of her tail!

Sorry to bore you all with those details but this has kind of taken the place of my journal so I wanted to remember what we did! It was a really great week! It went by too fast and I wish Bethany could've stayed longer. It's so nice to see old friends and just have fun! I'll post pics later. This is already too long!