Mother's Day 2014

Last weekend was Mother's Day. Fortunately for me, I have the best mom there is. She has always been completely supportive and encouraging, and her example of love and faith has inspired me throughout my entire life. I credit the faith and strength that I have to her example. I would not be who I am today without her example to follow.

We gathered after church for dinner. These little guys are too cute. 

Jacob was being grumpy so Isaac and Dominika went to cheer him up. I'm not sure if they were successful.

Missionaries are allowed to call home twice a year: Christmas and Mother's Day. We were all excited to hear and see Thomas (we were planning to Skype with him). We had quite a few technical difficulties so we mostly just face-timed with him on Tessa's phone, but we did manage to get him up on the TV screen for a few minutes so everyone could see him at the same time. We're all really proud of him and his effort. I know he's struggling, all missionaries do, but he's pushing through and we love him for it. He's just starting his third transfer there, which was the hardest transfer for me when I was a missionary, so I hope talking to the family gave him a push of comfort and motivation.

Cooper. :)

Graduation

You can call me Master. Last weekend I graduated from Marian University with a Master's of Arts in Teaching. I feel pretty proud of this accomplishment, not because it was hard (I never once took a test and our assignments were usually one-page reflections), but because a master's sounds really impressive. No one has to know that it was the easiest grad program of all time.

Rebecca Forman and I were the only Teach For America teachers from our school who actually walked in graduation. The others were lame-o's who didn't want to pay to rent the cap and gown. I really don't blame them, since it ended up being the longest, most miserably hot graduation I have ever sat through.

Don't let this smiling face fool you. I had just sat through 2.5 hours of blistering heat. I ended up actually taking off my cap and hood and completely unzipping my gown because I couldn't handle the heat while what seemed like 1,000 names were called. It actually wasn't even that hot that day, but the sun was extra potent and we were wearing dark blue gowns and caps and hoods. We were all miserable. Once they got through all the names, I hurried and put my regalia back on when we had to stand and move our tassels.

This is Nicole. I'd never met her before that day, but when you sit and sweat together for a few hours, your bond becomes unbreakable.

If you'll notice, the bleachers behind me are nearly empty. When we walked in, they were completely packed. Apparently most people peaced out once their graduate's name had been called. I don't blame them. If I hadn't been sitting in the third row, I would've left for sure.

Tessa, Jacob, and Nalon came to the graduation, then my mom, dad, and Micah came up that night to go to dinner to celebrate.

Spring Performances

Growing up, I was always involved in choir and theater. If it involved singing or speaking and being on stage, I was in it. Because of this, I feel an increased responsibility to support my loved ones when they do anything performance-related. In the last month, I've attended Micah's choir concert, Emerson's choir concert, and Micah's American Pie concert, which is a concert put on by the history department at her high school. They explore history through the music of each decade, starting with the 1950s, and high school students perform all the songs. I was in it three times when I was in high school, and it was the closest I ever felt to being a rock star. There's even a pit full of screaming high school kids to round out the experience. It's so much fun. This time, though, I was chillin' in the big kid seats in the back. Micah performed "Venus" by Bananarama with two other girls, and she rocked it of course. 

Emerson's choir concert. She's the cute one in the back center that you can't see.

American Pie. Micah's not even in this picture, but she is cute.

Reasons I'm Still Single and Other Important Stuff

Remember how I'm in a bowling league and I've only been three times? I don't feel that bad because most of my teammates have missed a few times, too. Case in point: the last time I went, I was the only person from my team who was there. I also scored my highest scores of the season, thank you very much.

I go to a singles branch, which means that the church congregation that I attend is made up exclusively of young single adults. It is not hard to see that the purpose of these congregations is to help young people meet each other and get married. I say "help" because I'm going on 10 years of singles congregations and...well...I'm still attending one so I guess it's not quite working for me. In an attempt to aid in the mingling required to find a spouse, we have lots of activities and they always include food. And sometimes they include me scraping the bottom of the nacho cheese sauce pan with tortilla chips to get every last bit of cheese. Maybe there's a reason I'm still single?

As if to further beat a dead horse, even familysearch.org, the website I use to do family history, is trying to get me to find a husband. In case any of you were concerned, I actually AM aware that I should be getting married at some point. You are officially relieved of the duty to remind me.

The first week in May I had the incredible privilege to be in the temple when my family did the proxy temple work for my Grandpa Shoaf, who died a little over a year ago. He was never baptized a member of the Church so we were able to do the temple ordinances for him so that now that he's in the spirit world he can accept these ordinances if he chooses. (For more info on proxy ordinance work for the dead, click here). It was a beautiful experience to see my dad, along with his mom and 10 of his siblings kneeling around an altar as they were sealed a family for time and all eternity. I am so grateful to know that we do not simply cease to exist when we die. Our spirits live on, and we will eventually all be resurrected with the chance to live eternally with our families, if we so choose.

Being in the temple that night also reinforced to me the truth that there is never a "too late" or "too far" for Christ. My grandpa struggled with a lot of things in his life, and even though it seems that he had every opportunity to accept the gospel in this life (he was married to my grandma, a faithful woman, for over 50 years), he still has a chance to accept the gospel in the next life. There is nowhere we can't come back from. I know that Christ is ready and willing to accept any and all of us, no matter where we've been, what we've done, or how long it takes us to get back. He only cares that we come back.

My mom and I stayed down near Louisville that night so that we could go back to the temple the next morning to do more temple work. It was the weekend of the Kentucky Derby, so hotels were expensive and hard to find. My mom contacted someone she knew in the church down there and she connected us with this woman who opened her home to us for the night. She was incredibly kind, generous, and loving, and my testimony of the love of Christ was strengthened by her selfless example of Christlike service. Since it was Derby weekend, we felt it appropriate to try some derby pie. Totally worth it.

Nieces

These girls.

 

Easter 2014

For Easter this year, we did a brunch before church which turned out deliciously. We had lots of yummy food, but the coffee cake that I made still gives me fond memories. And my mom made adorable egg salad crescents. She's so creative. 

 After we ate, the kids did an Easter egg hunt in the backyard.

 I love this family of mine!

I already professed my love for tulips, but I took this picture because I thought it was so interesting that these flowers and the ones I had before them moved toward the light all on their own. I put them in the vase and they were all facing outward in different directions, then by the next day they had all turned toward the window and seemed to be reaching for the light. Especially on Easter morning, I was touched by the symbolism they held for our own lives. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the light, and it is only through Him that we can receive eternal life. Just as these flowers recognized their source of life (the sun) and turned toward it, we too must recognize our source of life (the Son) and turn toward Him and reach upward to where He is. When we do this, we'll find increased peace and happiness in this life and eternal joy in the life to come. I have felt in my own life that the times when I am focusing most on Christ are the times that I am most at peace. I know He lives and because He lives, we will live again and we can live in eternal happiness with our families.

Nalon's Baptism and Other Spring Stuff

Turkey will just have to be a project for another day. In the meantime, I've got some catch-up to do.

On April 12, 2014 Nalon was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He is such a sweet, faithful boy and I'm so grateful I was able to be there. He asked me to speak about baptism, so I taught him three acronyms I had found to help him remember his baptismal covenants: 1. Using a Kit Kat bar, the KAT represents the covenants we make at baptism. Keep his commandments, Always remember him, and Take his name upon us. 2. A CTR ring is commonly used to help us remember to Choose The Right, but it can also be used to help us remember to keep his Commandments, Take his name upon us, and always Remember him.

Almost everyone in our family was able to be there for Nalon's big day, including his cousin Emerson who was modeling a cute spring outfit.

Afterwards, Micah and I met Tessa at The Cheesecake Factory to celebrate Micah's 17th (!!!) birthday. Micah is an absolutely gorgeous, talented girl and I'm so glad she's my sister! I'm also really glad cheesecake exists.

One of my favorite things ever is having fresh flowers in the house. My not-so-secret dream is to have my husband bring me fresh flowers every few weeks so we always have some in the house. I don't need fancy displays; I'm talking cheap 5-dollar grocery store flowers, so I think it's a reasonable dream. Future husband, if you're reading, please take note. Spring is the best time for this because my favorites, tulips, come out to play!

In other news, I joined a bowling league with some friends from work. We've had games for the last six weeks and I have been exactly three times. Woops. I regretted my decision to join before I even played the first time. It's not that I don't enjoy bowling or spending time with friends, but committing every Wednesday night for 12 weeks in a row is a bit hard for me. And I'm terrible at bowling. I did buy bowling shoes, though, since it's cheaper than renting every week. At least I look official. And now my friend Amy and I match.

 A few weeks ago I made it to see Jonah, Emerson, Campbell, and Cooper play soccer. They play each week but it doesn't always work out for me to go. The day I went, Cooper was not interested in playing. He was staring into space a good chunk of the time. He did look adorable on that soccer-ball-made-chair, though. Apparently 9 is the lucky number in their league.

 Campbell and Emerson, on the other hand, are go-getter girls and they each scored goals.

After their games, we all sat and watched Jonah's game. Emerson found a four-leaf clover but it wasn't lucky enough to help Jonah's team win. :(

That day was so gorgeous. Spring is my favorite season because the good weather comes back, the colors in nature come back, flowers come back, happiness comes back. It's like the Earth wakes up and everything springs back to life. Plus, it means school is about to end which is the best thing ever. Our neighborhood was full of these blossoming trees, and I couldn't help but think of "Popcorn Popping" every time I saw them.