For some reason this morning I've been browsing through old posts on my blog and am struck with how much I have changed, how much I have learned, how so many things are different in my life and yet, how so many things are the same. It's all been very "interesting, very interesting" to me. :) I'd like to just share a few of my thoughts about these things and about what my life is like now.
One of the biggest differences in how my life was when I first began blogging to now is in how much I read! I've always loved to read, but for some reason my appetite for reading books became insatiable. I began keeping track of the books that I finished in January of 2007 and throughout the whole year I read 36 books. The hunger has continued into 2008 and I have already read 11 books in just the first 2 months! At the rate I'm going I could double the amount of books that I read last year! (If you want to see all these books I'm talking about that I've read since January of 2007, click here.) For Christmas, John made me a beautiful sign that accurately describes my sentiments! :)
And speaking of signs that John made me... he made this one for my birthday that I love as well. He's so talented! I love it!
Anyway, I decided I want to hang up my reading sign with a cross stitch piece that I finished a few years ago that I haven't framed yet. We've been working this past week on framing it ourselves. John, of course, made the frame. I don't have it in it yet though.
And, speaking of cross stitch, that's another thing that I've been avidly working on over the past year and it has been so much fun. John laughs at how often I express to him, "I just LOVE to cross stitch!" :) This is something that I learned how to do when I was 9 years old and have been doing it ever since. Here are the projects I finished last year:
This one is my little brother's name that I finished. It matches with my little sister's name that I finished quite a few years ago. Now that they are both finished, my mom and I are working on designing a custom frame for them that John can make that will have opening for pictures that she can put in. I'm excited for when these projects will be completely finished.
This letter "b" obviously pairs with the letter "a" above. The "b" took me about a month and a half to finish. I have patterns for every letter of the alphabet that are super cute like these. Each one of them is unique in it's colors and design. They are part of a larger project that I'm working on. Crazy as it sounds, I'd like to stitch all the letters and then have my talented sister-in-law help me to put them together on a quilt. I've thought about raffling off the finished quilt and donating the proceeds to charity. People think I'm crazy for doing so much work to give it away, but honestly, about 95% of the cross stitch that I have ever done, I've given it as gifts. Just because I love to stitch doesn't mean I love to keep it all for myself! Although there are a few projects that I have been adamant about doing for myself, the girl reading the book above being one of them. :)
This is what I'm working on right now in between letters. I LOVE tigers, and this is just a fun little project to keep me busy.
So, cross stitch and reading. In my free time you'll find me doing either of those, or catching up on blogs and emails online. In my other-than-free time, you'll find me involved in one of three things. I am the scholar dean at Zion Youth Academy, an LDS faith based private school where I also teach Book of Mormon in the mornings. I absolutely love being at the school. It has been an interesting road that led me there. I'm surrounded with amazing women and men and youth who love God and are seeking to fulfill their divine mission. It is inspiring for me and a hearty challenge which I love. The second thing you will find me involved in is volunteering as a CASA. It has been a long road, but definitely inspired. I am still coming to understand the reasons why I have been led in this direction. My heart goes out so much to those who are in the "captivity and bondage" of poverty and I want to do all I can to inspire them to see a light within themselves and to just be a good friend to those in need. I don't expect that I will ever stop learning from this volunteer position. And, since I am volunteering my services with those two positions, I have taken on a small cleaning position that helps to bring in a little more money to help us take care of our needs every month. I clean every day except Thursdays and Sundays. Monday, Wednesday and Friday I clean out at Sun River. John is able to come and help me on those nights. It only takes us about 2 hours working together, so it's nice. And we usually go around 8pm. On Tuesdays I clean the Zions Banks in St. George with one other girl. It takes about 5 1/2 hours to do so and is not really my favorite thing to do. We start around 5:30pm. On Saturdays I do the same thing at the banks except we have one other girl who comes with us and we start around 11:30 in the morning. It's not the most glamorous job by far, but I am definitely thankful for it because it fits within my schedule so that I am able to continue doing the things that I desire and love to do.
There's two other things that are really different in my life now too. One is that we moved from our house in St. George to renting a small modular house in Hurricane. Surprisingly, we both really love our new place and feel completely content and happy here. Our house was a wonderful tool we were able to use to help some friends and family when they were in need. While we lived there, my brother lived with us as we worked on helping him to become more independent. And then at the same time, we had one of John's best friends live with us for a few months, and after he left, then we had one of my best friends live with us for a few months. Both were really in need at the time and we were happy to be able to help them out. It's always so rewarding for me to see growth in other people and to know that my love and friendship may have created an atmosphere for them to grow in. So the house thing is different. I'm still planning on doing a post with pictures to show our "old" house and our "new" house, which is kind of ironic since our "old" house was new and our "new" house is old! So look for that coming soon. The second thing that is really different is what has happened in my brother's life. He was able to move out into his own apartment with the help of a housing voucher back in December. In the same month, our old bishop helped him to get a job washing cars at St. George Ford where he has been working consistently and been doing really well. This is such a miracle in and of itself, knowing where he was coming from. I am SO thankful to that dear bishop for helping Russell in all the ways that he has. Also, one of Russell's good friends who happens to be a girl, moved in to an apartment in the same building he lives in. And ever since Christmas, they have been seeing each other every day and have fallen quite in love. They are planning to be married in January of next year, surprise of all surprises! :)
Russell is preparing to serve a six month service mission, beginning within the next month or two which he is greatly looking forward to. It is just amazing to see the difference in him and his growth when we were beginning to wonder if it was really even possible. It is amazing what time can do to allow the flowers of faith to come out in full bloom.
All in all, I feel like the biggest change over the past year and a half has been in me. I feel so much more calm and peaceful in my heart. As I was reading over some of those past blogs I was struck at how energized and passionate I seemed. And while I would still use those words to describe myself, it's a different kind of energy that flows through me now. It's more steady and pure and gentle. And my passion is amazingly calm and assured. I just feel different. And while some things are still really hard, I feel so at peace with the way that my heart is aligned with my true desires. I know that things that matter most to me in my life are the things that I am directing my passion and energy towards. That just may be the overall difference right there. I feel more steady, strong, and at peace in my faith than I ever have felt before.
