Write This Down

I have promised myself that I'd be a better blogger if I was using it as a substitute journal. I'm just not very good at keeping a journal so I've been relying on this blog to help me out. However, it doesn't do much good if I don't update it very often. I envy my friends who religiously keep a blog and have vowed to be more like them - mostly so I don't forget things down the road. So for my own benefit, I'm going to try and write something once a week. It may be really short, or it may be a chapter book, as we said in elementary school. Either way, I'd like to be better about writing things down, even if they aren't entertaining or beautifully written.


I've also decided to really follow through with a goal I once had that was inspired by President Eyring's Conference talk, "O Remember, Remember". I really recommend going back and reading this talk.

"When our children were very small, I started to write down a few things about what happened every day. Let me tell you how that got started. I came home late from a Church assignment. It was after dark. My father-in-law, who lived near us, surprised me as I walked toward the front door of my house. He was carrying a load of pipes over his shoulder, walking very fast and dressed in his work clothes. I knew that he had been building a system to pump water from a stream below us up to our property.

He smiled, spoke softly, and then rushed past me into the darkness to go on with his work. I took a few steps toward the house, thinking of what he was doing for us, and just as I got to the door, I heard in my mind—not in my own voice—these words: “I’m not giving you these experiences for yourself. Write them down.”

I went inside. I didn’t go to bed. Although I was tired, I took out some paper and began to write. And as I did, I understood the message I had heard in my mind. I was supposed to record for my children to read, someday in the future, how I had seen the hand of God blessing our family. Grandpa didn’t have to do what he was doing for us. He could have had someone else do it or not have done it at all. But he was serving us, his family, in the way covenant disciples of Jesus Christ always do. I knew that was true. And so I wrote it down, so that my children could have the memory someday when they would need it.

I wrote down a few lines every day for years. I never missed a day no matter how tired I was or how early I would have to start the next day. Before I would write, I would ponder this question: “Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our children or our family today?” As I kept at it, something began to happen. As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day. As that happened, and it happened often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done.

More than gratitude began to grow in my heart. Testimony grew. I became ever more certain that our Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. I felt more gratitude for the softening and refining that come because of the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ. And I grew more confident that the Holy Ghost can bring all things to our remembrance—even things we did not notice or pay attention to when they happened.

The years have gone by. My boys are grown men. And now and then one of them will surprise me by saying, “Dad, I was reading in my copy of the journal about when …” and then he will tell me about how reading of what happened long ago helped him notice something God had done in his day."

So starting today I'm going to take his advice and write down a few lines each night of how I saw the Lord's hand in my life that day. At least it will be something for me to look back on.

For today's issue of my blog, I will share with you how I saw the Lord's hand in my life today.

It was simple, and almost the last thing I heard someone say to me today, but in the circumstance, it meant more than most times. Three little words. I love you.

Proverbs 3:5-6. "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct they paths."

Happy Sunday :)

It's Summertime

For those of you who actually pay attention to things such as what time someone posts a blog, you may notice how late (or early) it is. Why in the world am I up at this time, no less blogging? Well it's a little thing called I HATE FINALS IN THE SUMMERTIME. I'm trying my best to study, but it's just not happening, so I thought I'd take a little break and blog again. It's way more fun than studying.

So I guess I'll just give a little update on my life.

I currently love my jobs. I work full time in Utah State's new student orientation office and I love it! The people are so great and there is never a day that I dread going to work. My other job is amazing too. I get to travel around the state and check out service projects that 4 FFA chapters have done through a grant called "Living 2 Serve". Last weekend took me to parts of Utah that I've never been before and I sure wasn't disappointed. I put a ton of miles on that university vehicle but had such a good time.

I stayed in a little town called Alton with my friend who's working down in that area for the summer. Alton is about as picture perfect as it gets. With just over 100 people in the town, they are all so friendly and welcoming. I was on a run one night and ended up stopping and talking to this older man for about a half hour. He said that I was welcome back any ol' time I wanted...I think I might take him up on that offer :).



This picture really doesn't do a justice, it's just too hard to see. But this town was so cute. It's located about a half an hour south of Panquitch and an hour East of Cedar City.


One of the cutest parts about this town were the "Stop" signs.


It was so much fun to visit the Enterprise, Long Valley and Delta FFA Chapters and check out their awesome projects. I couldn't believe that I was getting paid to do it!

And while I'm thinking about it, here's a little picture of Kole and I, (especially for you, Angela) who I am hoping stays awake tonight while driving home. He's baling hay right now and not only has an hour drive home, but is leaving for a family camping trip this weekend that he'll have to drive to tomorrow. So thanks, Kole, for keeping me up worried all night!! :) (just another excuse to not study hehe)


I hope you all have a great 4th of July Weekend! Watch lots of fireworks, eat lots of watermelon, and enjoy the warm weather :)

Crazy Train...of Runners.

It's been a while since I've blogged! I've been a little busy lately and every now and then I have the thought cross my mind that I need to update my blog, but then it goes away and I forget about it :) So now that I have an extra minute, I thought that I'd get on here and do a little blogging.

A couple of weeks ago, Mandy and I finished the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay. We'd been training for weeks and weeks and we were finally able to put that to use. For those of you who aren't familiar with the race, it's the largest relay in the world (this year 1,050 teams of 12 with a few exceptions for ultra teams which consist of 6 runners). The course takes a back route from Logan to Park City, Utah and covers 188 miles. You load up into 2 vans, with 6 runners in each and run day and night until you reach the finish line. Our team, "Project Runaways" ran it in just over 29 hours, which is actually a pretty good time. The only thing that I didn't like was that my running buddy, Mandy, was in van 1 while I was in van 2. Here's part of our team at the start line at ICON in Logan.


Here's my van and our driver at the first major exchange where the last runner in van 1 hands off to the first runner in van 2, which happened to be me. This is at the Eden City Park. We had such a fun van and there weren't even any fights :)


Here are a few pictures of some of my teammates. I didn't get pictures of all of them because I didn't have my camera, but below is Leslie on her first leg-in the sweltering heat of the day.


And here's Alex trucking it up one of the many hills that the course had to offer.


Here's Isaac and I attempting to get some rest at the 2nd major exchange at East Canyon State Park. I was hoping to get some rest in because I was up next and this leg was sure to be a killer. I began the run at around 10:00 pm and the hills in this run were quite the adventure...

All of the team, minus runner 6, at the 3rd major exchange. I was ready to get my last leg started!


Katie giving Isaac water on his 3rd and final leg, which looks nice and flat right now. He had a nice little hill to climb before he got to his exchange.


This is a view from the top of the mountain that runners 9 and 10 had to climb in a matter of just under 8 miles. It's called the "Ragnar Hill" because of it's crazy steep incline (8.5%!) Katie and Leslie did an amazing job hauling up this hill. So many runners had to stop and walk quite often up this hill because of how steep and dusty and hot it was.


Here's Leslie, runner 10, heading up the Ragnar Hill. I wish that we had a picture of how steep this run really was, because you just can't tell in this one.


When Alex heard that our team was called "Project Runaway", the first thing he thought of was Runaway Bride. This was his 3rd year running Ragnar and he has a tradition of dressing up. So, in honor of Runaway Bride, he purchased a $70 wedding dress from the D.I, complete with an 8 foot veil, and ran his entire last leg in it, which was 5.5 miles in the heat.


It's also tradition to match while running across the finish line, so we all wore veils



And finally, here's Mandy and I after the race was finished. When we decided to run this race, we thought it would be neat to dedicate it to Uncle Jeff who passed away while doing what he loved, running. Family reunions won't be the same without him and his great sense of humor and kind heart. So this one's for you, Jeff!


This was such a fun accomplishment and it will be something that we do every year! So if you're ever in the mood to put yourself through the hardest but most fun time you've ever had, give us a call and we'll help you out :)

It's A Great Day To Be Alive

I feel like I have so much to catch up on! Life has been pretty fun the past little while and I've been a major slacker when it comes to blogging. For Krista's birthday, Mandy and I took her to the Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan concert in Salt Lake. So much fun! Normally it's just Mandy and I that go to the concerts because Krista is off in some foreign country, but having her there was the best! The only thing that would have made the concert better would be if Angela was there!

The weather has been so great the past couple of days and Mandy and I have gotten in some really good runs. Today was by far the best run of the week-in the difficulty level and weather. BUT...this sunshine has definitely been problematic in my schooling, which isn't a good thing since this semester is so demanding. Only a few more weeks and life will be a little less stressful.

Amidst the stresses of 6 classes, 3 jobs and a demanding church calling, I can't help but be grateful for how blessed my life has been lately. Although this semester has been some of the hardest 4 months of my life, and I have definitely been able to see the old saying, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" come to fruition, it's good for me to step back and take a look at life and realize that my blessings outweigh my trials.

My challenge to you is to look for the good things in life...even when it seems that life couldn't get any more stressful or hard. Take President Eyrings advice and ponder this question each day, "Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our children or our family today?" As I have done this in my own life, the blessings that the Lord has given me have become much more apparent and I know it will be the same for you!



Have a great week!!

Laughed Until We Cried

This was a weekend to remember. From Thursday until Saturday, Cedar City was filled with the unmistakable sea of blue corduroy. Two years ago, I was all nerves while running as a hopeful state officer candidate in that very town. Going back to help out with this years team was a blessing and I had so much fun while doing it. It seems like just yesterday that my state officer team was retiring at the Kent Concert Hall in Logan. It was so much fun to watch this years team go through a successful year and to put on an amazing convention. It was full of laughs and even a few tears.

Brittney and I ran the lights, sound and script and I'd have to say that we did a pretty great job being rookies! I got a notification on Facebook telling me that I was tagged in a couple of photos by an FFA member and I just had to laugh because they are quite the pics...but here they are since I didn't take a single picture. Here I am on the headset with Brittney and the SUU light and sound crew! Haha don't I look so serious?


I was also asked to give the invocation for the convention so here's a picture of me after the prayer.
The state officer team did an excellent job and the state president had me in tears as she gave her retiring address from a wheelchair. If there is anyone in this world who has a good attitude, it's her. In January she was in a horrible car accident, she lost the use of her legs, confining her to a wheelchair. She is a TROOPER.

I'm so excited to see this new team fill their year with awesome memories and good times. They are 6 amazing kids!!
This weekend was also a blessing because of a very special girl I met only 5 short months ago. As most of you know, I was Utah's National Officer candidate. Last October at the National FFA Convention I was able to meet some pretty incredible individuals who were sharing the same goal that I was at convention. I obviously wasn't elected, but have seen reasons why every day of my life. I am so content with the life I have today and I know without a doubt that the Lord knows what you need, when you need it. I know that He wanted me to run for National Office for reasons other than being elected. So anyway, back to the girl I said that I had met. The first time I met Miss Randa Braune was in the room that we took the test for office. Thanks to alphabetical order, that sweet, blond Texan and I were placed next to each other. One of the first things she said to me was, "I just feel so good about this, and about you and about everything, but I'm just so nervous and I just don't know how I'm going to do, but this is all for Jesus and He's lookin' out for us and it's just all for Him, all for Him, and can we just pray?......" At this point all I was thinking was, "this girl is one of a kind." I liked her a lot, but I just didn't know how to take her. As the week went on, I came to just love the girl. I was so excited when they called her name to become the Western Region Vice President and even started crying when she left the seat next to me to run to the stage.
We were fortunate enough to have her visiting for our convention this year and I am even more fortunate to have her staying with me until Tuesday. You see, her flight was supposed to leave from Cedar on Tuesday which would have left her stranded and alone from Saturday until then...and if you know Cedar City you know that it would be a boring place to be left. So they changed her flight to leave from Salt Lake on Tuesday and has been staying with me. She came to church with me yesterday, where my secretary in the Relief Society spoke in Sacrament and shared her conversion story. Isaac, her and I drove out to Dallin's missionary fireside in Lewiston and were able to answer the many questions that she had about the church. We gave her a Book of Mormon and bore our testimonies to her and my heart was so full the entire day. I had been praying for the past couple of weeks for a missionary experience and I know that the Lord answers our prayers. It was so incredible to talk to someone about the gospel and share the light that we believe in.

If for no reason other than meeting this sweet girl, the hard work it took to run for National Office was worth it. The Lord puts people into our lives for special reasons and I am so grateful to Him for that.

American Honey

Current favorite song.

That's all.

Enjoy.

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