Gobble Gobble

So growing up I would usually go to a friend's house for Thanksgiving. Ron grew up that you went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for Thanksgiving. This year we went to one of my favorite places on earth: The Temperini's house. We got there around 12 and ate wonderful snacks (I am still craving Ruffles and French onion dip and wheat thins and spinach dip). Then we did a white elephant exchange. It was fun trying to figure out what I wanted to get for that. I will say for the record: I HATE SHOPPING FOR GIFTS. Period. I am getting better on finding gifts for little kids, but I am pretty insecure when it comes to getting gifts for adults. Around 2:30, with a surprise visit by the missionaries, we finally ate Thanksgiving dinner. I love simple dinners with good people. It makes me feel so happy. And then I took about an hour nap. M&D have black out shades in their room and this awesome foam top that makes their bed feel like you are in heaven. So I had no problem crashing for a while. Then I got up and ate some turkey and people came over.

We left around 8pm. What a wonderful day.
I am grateful for a lot of things, but I feel like there is a lot of gratitude that I express personally. So I am not going to post what I am grateful for just because it is Thanksgiving. I feel it cliche and you are just going to have to read other posts to find out what I am grateful for. Or talk to me and I will tell you.

Peace out.

Explanation of Absence

Everyday I have a routine: get up, go to the bathroom, eat breakfast and look at blogs.
I always want to contribute by posting my own and I would, but my life is sort of evolved into a secret that I could not reveal until yesterday.

I AM PREGNANT!!!!!!!!

Sorry that I had to wait until 11 weeks to announce it on the internet, but I wanted to make sure we have an actual living critter inside this belly that makes me sick almost everyday. I had told some close friends and family that I was expecting, but that not to count on it because I am still in my first trimester and it is the most common stage for miscarriage, particularly the first time you conceive. So I told the select people that I would have my docs. appointment on Friday, the 16th, and then I would announce it to the world via facebook.

I would like to say for the record, pregnancy has not been super hard on my. I have only thrown up once because I was brushing my teeth, had eaten too much breakfast and it the back of my throat on accident. Other than that, I have had a lot of nausea, at first in the morning and now I have a hard time digesting food in the evening and so it is more acid reflux/indigestion instead of nausea.

I did have some spotting (the common and okay kind) for about 2 weeks and I was really worried, but I know my mom had a period in the beginning when she was pregnant with me, so I am going to blame it on the shift of hormones and my body getting used to the hormones of pregnancy.

Ron has been wonderful to work hard and to let me take it easy for the last two months. When we first moved here, I had a job working for a retirement community as a caregiver. The state of Washington requires that everyone who is in the care-giving field be certified or at least enrolled in a certification class within 90 days of hiring. Well, I got hired and got into the necessary class and started working. 2 weeks into working I was going to start my class. 1 week into working I found out that I was pregnant and was fairly nauseous all that week, and I think it would have been fine to keep working. The problems arose when I started the class and worked 32 hours a week also. My schedule was get up at 4:30, get ready, get Ron up at 5:05 have him drive me to work (because we share a car) work until 1:45, run to catch the bus about .5 mile away, get on the bus, rest for about 2 hours and then catch another bus to go clear across the city to get to my class by 6 pm and stay there until 10 when Ron would pick me up and we would go home and start all over. I was already having anxiety about working and going to the class at the same time, but when I started feeling so sick I was incapacitated, that's when we (Ron and I) had a great discussion and decided that I should not work right now.
It was definitely a blow to my confidence and to some of the goals Ron and I had set to help pay down our expenses before the baby came. But having had a month to really think about it and rest and just take it easy (I have a tendency to really push hard, even too hard sometimes) I feel more and more like this is a very good thing.

The good thing has paid off when I had my first prenatal visit yesterday. I had never had a gynecological exam before and so that was my first time. I really like how the nurse-midwife explained exactly what she was going to do and then told me what she was doing while she did it. We then had an ultra-sound to make sure there was a viable fetus and it was such a fun thing to see an actual live thing in my belly. We got to see the chambers "flutter" because they are moving so fast. We got to see movement of the limbs (it looked like we were being waved to) and then we saw some bouncing going on. I had to really just relax for us to see everything, but even Ron was surprised with how excited he was by seeing the baby moving.

So there it is: My explanation of absence. I have been blessed to have this in my life at this current time. I personally known many struggling to conceive and it has been hard for me to share this news with them because I know it is sensitive information. It amazes me how much the Lord is really in charge of EVERYTHING in our lives, collectively and individually. But I also know that no blessing is forsaken, only by disobedience, and even then, we are given multiple chances.

I love life and learning and here is yet another chapter of trial to come.
 




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Written in our hearts

The General Relief Society Broadcast for my church was last Saturday, so not yesterday, but the week before. Women all over the world gather to receive guidance from our leaders on this evening. The General President, Sister Burton said something to the effect: "We must have the atonement written in our hearts". I read several blogs, most of who are women. They write there thoughts in blog format and then publish for the world to see. Often times I read their words and feel much sorrow for them. But there is something that screams in my heart: You know about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Why don't you use it?

My intent is not to come off self-righteous because I am one of those struggling with mortality. I have moments where I weep at lost dreams and ideas that will not come to pass in this mortal sphere. But there is something inside that beckons me to continue and not lose hope or trust (faith) in the promises that God has made.

So often we feel alone and sad. But just as President Eyring stated this morning in the 4th general session of conference, It is not the Lord who covered his face with the pavilion. It is us who hides ourselves from Him. My dear readers, even though there are few of you, please listen to my words: I KNOW GOD is Here with me and with you. He has not forsaken you or me. He is in ultimate control of our plans. If you feel anguish or anxiousness it is because you have thought your plan was better than his. Anguish, or more so anxiety in this context, is the result of not relinquishing our will to the father's. I have encountered many people in my little mortal experience and I have found some who's eternal progress is somewhat halted because of their inability to enact humility in their lives, repent and move on. The Lord loves us and wants us to be happy, to have joy and peace in this existence.

I know it and feel it and hope that if you have questions, "you will ask the missionaries" or leaders how you can overcome this challenge.

Life is precious, and short. Why waste it away by asking questions that don't lead to progression?

Survival of the Fitest

We have made it to Washington.

Lets just say, THIS IS THE RIGHT PLACE FOR US TO BE! Everything has fallen into place. People are so friendly. Our ward is just like our previous ward: Seasoned with the flavor of life and are so willing to help. I found a job and I start tomorrow. Ron loves his job and feels good about the direction it is going. We have a great apartment. Just the right size for just the right price. It makes me think of the apartment I lived in for a 1/3 of my mission: Fontana. Not the worst area, but not the best. Just in the middle.

I love that it is green everywhere. I love that there are still mountains around (Mt. Hood, Mt. Saint Helens is not too far away, you can see it on a clear day). I love the crisp, cool fall weather. I love that there are weirdos here.

Things I miss about Utah:
The red rock-even though I only went to Moab once, I love the red rock and I think it would look great next to the green.
MY FRIENDS- I was thinking that I should set up a skype date with my girlfriends and their kids. Because I can actually attend now (I am working swing shifts).
My family- I love being where we are now, but I miss being physically proximate to my family. I know this is going to be a lot harder to keep in touch and make the effort. I really took for granted how close they were. Now it is a 12 hour drive to get to them. Not too bad, all things considered, but still, 3.5 tanks of gas :(.


Those are just a couple of thoughts. Love to all.

So Long, Farewell

Today I was visiting some of my favorite people on earth. It was such a delightful day. Friends that I haven't seen in a really long time, and ones that I will probably not see for another long time. I must say, one in particular apologized for not keeping better contact. I told her, "But you are not the type of friend I have to talk to everyday so I can fill fulfilled." I love that about this friend. (Shawna)

There were a couple of things I was retaught today. Here they are:
1) Really this life is about rediscovering who you are (an offspring of Deity), recognizing that it is really him who gives you all that you have, that happiness is dependent upon Obedience to Truth (almost always), and that if you have the pure love of Christ in your life, you are motivated to do anything it takes to get home.
2) I have decided that there is a reason I don't have a lot of super close friends. Really when it comes down to it, I don't like negativity in my life. So if you present that to me, I don't really want to be around you. Sorry for you, but not sorry for me. I CHOOSE happiness! I CHOOSE goodness! So, sorry if you don't choose the same things, because I feel sorrow for you. Your life could be so much happier.  Light attracts light. Darkness attracts darkness. I choose light. And if you don't respond with a beacon, I usually just don't continue the association. Just saying.
3) If you don't know the whole situation, give or take a grain of salt with the situation. Don't throw down someone's experience just because it is not your own. If someone present's an idea, take it in, process it, and then place it appropriately.
and Lastly
4) If people communicate a clear signal to you that they don't know something, do not give them the service of having you pound something into their heads by repetition. This might work with a child, but adults are adults. If you have that much pride that you can't get over the fact that they didn't know something, or they didn't accept what you had to say, get the (________________) over it. There is probably a reason someone is doing what they are doing, and until you have been commanded to tell that person otherwise, leave it alone. Who are you to play the role of God to others? Seriously people, get over yourselves.

This is my last post from Utah.

I will write again when I get to Washington.

So about 2 months ago, Ron and I were driving to Costco to get some gas and then we were heading
home. I had asked him how job hunting was going and he said, “Same old, Same old.” Ron hadn’t had a
job from the end of January to that point. He had done some contract work, but not a steady job. So out
of my mouth comes this comment, “Maybe it’s a sign we aren’t supposed to be here!” Ron looked at me
and said, “Maybe. Where would we move to?”

Me: “Portland, or somewhere else.”

Ron: “How would we do that though?” (Keep in mind, last August when we went on a second
honeymoon to Portland, on our drive back I felt like it was time to leave Provo. We seriously considered
Portland, but we wouldn’t have residency and Ron was still in school at Provo College.)

Me: “Well we could see everything and move there. I don’t know we could stay with the Temperini’s
maybe and see what we could do.”

Ron chewed on that for a little while and kept asking questions and I kept playing Devil’s advocate and
then we went up to Ron’s sister’s house and were like, “What do you guys think?” Also keep in mind,
this sister has been married 10 years and has moved 10 times. Pretty much knows how painful moving
really can be and unless it is needful, that you should just stay in one place.

That was 2 months ago.

Since then, we have sold two of our bookshelves, a dresser, and a pink recliner. That is pretty awesome
all things considered. We have had one DI trip already and will probably be doing another. When I first
spoke with a good friend about it, she was really cautious. She is like a second mother to me and she
voiced realistic concerns. But it is the same feeling that I have had before, when I decided to serve
a mission, and when I decided to marry my best friend. Peace, peace, peace. Goodness and almost
giddiness. Mind you, there are still moments when I am like, ummmm, this is a little scary. Moving
yourself about 800 miles away from the place you have called home the last 9 years, yeah. That is a little
bit to take in. But there is so much that is coming that I can barely take it in.

I know there are challenges ahead, especially because it is a major life change, but there is so much to
be said for the adventure we are about to embark.

The official journey begins November 1st (our contract is up on Halloween) but we might be starting it
sooner. All things in there time.

But here is what I look forward to:

I can officially say it

So, remember that post where I talked about loving my husband....it still applies.

I can finally put it out there for the public to see.


WE ARE MOVING!!!!!!!

To the beautiful area of Portland/Vancouver.

I am pretty excited for the fact that we are moving from Utah. It has been over 4 months of pondering, thinking, researching, praying, fasting, all of this list multiple times.....to decide it is the thing that Ron and I are needing to do. He found an AMAZING program at Clark College and he will be attending there in January. He still will be doing online classes with UVU so that he can get those GE classes out of the way, but I am so excited.

We are truly being blessed for this move and even though I have been SUPER HESITANT at things going too fast, I feel like everything is working out for the best.

We are excited for this adventure, and it will be an amazing thing!

-Will you keep you updated on how everything goes in the next couple of weeks.

Hannah