Thursday, June 27, 2013

always look up

I only have 7 real weeks of Summer before dance and school grab hold of my life again. I'm currently working 3 jobs, getting 3 different certifications from the NCCPT, applying for grad school, keeping my gym time consistent, studying for the GRE, applying for loans and house hunting, trying to volunteer my 200 hours for grad school, juggling 2 dogs, and cooking for a very busy and hungry hubby. Eric is working on average 13-15 hours a DAY, 6 days a week. Life is hectic. But I have been living in this constant awe of the blessings that keep happening in my life. The jobs basically were laid into my lap, and I'm doing what I love while doing them - so it doesn't really seem like I'm working. So many windows have been opened up, opportunities introduced, and I feel like everyday I'm getting closer and closer to the woman I want to be in a few years. 

Where do you picture yourself in 5 years? I know if I keep working hard, I'll get where I want to be. In the mean time, I'm so grateful for the tender mercies I receive constantly and am also grateful for the trials in my life. They make me so much stronger and make it easier to recognize the blessings as they come.


 "Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity... It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow." -- Melody Beattie

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Back in the saddle again...

The year is flying by and I already feel that Summer is half gone! I just returned a few days ago from our 17 day tour in Nauvoo, had a few days to catch up on sleep (I'll pretend that happened...), unpack, adjust, turn in costumes, etc. Tomorrow I start working my new job and am super excited (and nervous), but we will see how it goes. I've already put way too much on my plate for this Summer, so hopefully I can tackle it piece by piece and get every thing accomplished in the next 8 weeks! Yikes!

Tour was incredible. I could go on and on about the experiences, the missionary work, the fun, the laughter, the tears...everything. But to sum it all up, the past few weeks made me realize how blessed I am to be where I am in life, doing the things I am doing, and to have so many incredible people at my side sharing the journey. I know that many people don't understand why I keep dancing, sacrificing so much time and money into this program...but I know it is a gift from God and that it is what he wants me to be doing with my life right now. I have grown so much closer to him and all of his children through the experiences that have been given to me while being in folk dance. Here are a few (not even a splinter of all my pictures from tour...), enjoy!