Well, school has been a lot more intense than I had originally thought it would be. It's actually been a little stressful, and I'm definitely not complaining (it's good to be challenged!), but work has become a type of sanctuary from the rest of my crazy life. I actually look forward to being there and having fun with all the little kids that come in! I have one little girl who is there every single day i work except for Saturdays. Her name is Cassandra. She is 5 years old and she is so much fun! She LOVES to make me laugh! Her favorite thing to say to me is, "Brittney, you are such a laugher!" It makes me laugh even more. She is very extroverted and so she automatically assumes that other children should be just as friendly as she is. We'll have some really shy kids come in and she has a hard time with them not wanting to talk or play with her, so she'll come and ask me what to do about it. So I'll usually make a suggestion of playing a game or playing "tea party" to help them start playing together. It usually works and Cassandra always wins them over in the end. It is fun to be around her! Her favorite game is "Cooties". Did you know there was such a game? Well the condensed version of how to play is that you build bugs. She loves it and we have to play it every time she comes in. I always make mine with a tongue that sticks out. After we're done building them I try and make the bug "lick" her. She thinks that is the silliest thing and she just laughs and laughs so hard. Another thing she likes to do is see if she can scare me. She'll try and be sneaky and come up behind me and say "BOO!" But most of the time I'll turn around and scare her before she gets the chance and she'll get these really wide eyes and start laughing hysterically. I love it! She is just a bundle of fun! Her Grandpa (who is grumpy a lot of the time) came to get her right as we were laughing about something and he started laughing too. I had never seen him do that before!! He told me, "You are having just as much fun as she is aren't you?" I told him I most definitely was and he just nodded his head and said, "I like that!" It was funny that that made me so happy but I really was having so much fun with her!
A little boy came in to the cub house and his mom told him that he needed to watch out for his younger sister who was also coming in. He is probably 4 years old and his sister is 2. So anyway, he walks into the Cub House and he is so excited. He can't even get the words out of his mouth because he is stuttering so much. Can I just say adorable?! I'm sorry but I think that stuttering is so cute, I can't help it! He wanted to do the project so we sat and did it together while his sister colored a picture. Now, the project that day was "Edible Dirt" so every kid that came in was excited to make it. So I got him a bag with two graham crackers, and a couple of oreos. Then I got him a roller (more like a thing to use for hammering!) to break up the cookies to look like dirt. He loved it! He was goin' at it like no other. Then he told me that he needed to do his sister's for her because she told him she wanted him to (ummm...OK, seeming how she hasn't even talked to you the entire time she's been in here, but OK...), so he did hers too. After they smash up the "dirt" they get to stick in a couple gummy worms. He was just so excited about it he asked me if he could make his mom and dad one too. I just laughed and told him we needed to save some for all the other little kids that were going to come in later. He looked so sad when I told him that, so what do I do? I give in!! Who in their right mind could make a little kid sad like that? :) Anyway, so he did two more and then he wanted to start in on grandma and grandpa's dirt too. I finally had to draw the line, but it was so fun to see him get so excited about something so simple. That is the coolest thing about kids! They like the little things. I think that the most popular toy in the cub house is the birthday cakes. They are these little plastic cakes that have holes in the top for candles. That is the first thing to be pulled off the shelf, they just love it, even amidst all the really cool toys we have in there, they just want to play with the birthday cakes.
I love being with those kids! They teach me new things all the time. They teach me how to be silly and have fun, they teach me patience and understanding, and they teach me that sometimes less is more, the simple things are the best things. I just love being with them! They are all my little buddies and I love them to pieces!
My beautiful and wonderful family!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Sustaining
Yesterday I got a phone call just as I was going out to lunch with some girls in my jazz choir. It was a guy from my ward, Sam. He is the ward mission leader. I have gotten to know Sam a little bit and he just a really super neat guy. Very happy all the time, and he is very intelligent so it's fun to talk to him about things. Anyway, he called me and asked me if I was the visiting teaching supervisor for a girl in our ward who just got baptized. I was and so he asked me if I could help find a couple girls who might be able to go to a new member discussion that evening at the church, since she can't be alone with the missionaries. I told him I would so I got home from school with about 20 minutes to spare before I had to head to work. I started calling all the girls in my visiting teaching group and none could go, so I was trying to think of anyone and everyone I knew in my ward who could possibly go. I left lots of messages and told them to call me and let me know if they were available. I had to get back to Sam soon if things weren't working out, but I was determined to figure it out. I got a call from one girl saying she could go, and then a text from another girl. I was so happy that things were coming together for the discussion that night. I called Sam and left a message on his voicemail telling him not to worry and that I had it all worked out. He almost instantly called me back. I answered the phone and he just said, "Brittney you are my hero!" I just kind of laughed because I was just doing my calling and trying to help him out but he appreciated it so much. He just kept thanking me and then I told him that I would be more than willing to help him out anytime he needed something. For some reason that impressed him. But the thing that I got from this experience was the importance of sustaining others in their callings. We all need each other, that is for sure, but I haven't ever really recognized me helping others out as "sustaining" them. It was just kind of a cool realization for me. This is an incredible work that I am apart of and I am just happy to do anything it requires of me, because in all reality I'm getting more from it than I am ever really giving.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
An AMAZING birthday!
WOW! Talk about fun! This birthday was definitely one to remember! I'm now 22 years old! Holy Cow! It seems so weird to think I am that old! And looking back on things that have happened in these last few years since high school I have realized that I have done a lot! I have experienced many things and I am so excited to experience even more!
Anyway, my birthday was last week on the 3rd. The night before that I was a little sad I must admit. No, not with pre-birthday "oh-my-goodness-I'm-getting-old" blues, but I was just a little sad because I hadn't heard from Josh. I really wasn't expecting anything from him (he's on a mission for heaven's sake!) but I was still just missing him like crazy and wanted to hear from him. So I went to bed that night and my wonderful sleep was soon interrupted by a phone call at midnight! What in the world?! So I got up, rather groggily, and I saw that it was a number I didn't recognize. Hmmm...should I just ignore this call? Well I answered it and the conversation went something like this:
"Hello?"
"HI! HOW ARE YOU?!" It was a guy!
"Uh...I'm fine...how are you?"
"I'm great! Is this Brittney Chapman?" At this point I could hear a very heavy French accent...
"Yeeesss...Who in the world is this?"
"This is Elder Cheung!"
"WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?! Are you serious?!?!?!"
Lots of laughing..."Yeah!" Now an important thing to know is that Elder Cheung was a "mini-mission" companion to Josh. He was only with him for about two weeks. He is a convert of about a year and a half and he lives in France.
"Oh my gosh! I can't believe this!"
More laughing..."Well Brittney I have a message for you. I just left Josh today from being on my mini-mission with him and he made me promise him that this would be the first thing I did when I got home. He was very adamant about it. He wanted me to tell you that he loves you and that he feels really bad because he wanted to send you something but he knew it would never get there in time because the mail system is so slow here in France. He said to tell you that he hopes you have a wonderful birthday."
I was in complete shock! WOW! For Josh to even think of having him call me was so thoughtful! I couldn't even believe he had Elder Cheung do that! I just kept telling him thank you over and over. We had a great discussion about some of the things he had experienced while he was with Josh, and while we were talking he said, "Brittney, your brother is the man!! He is amazing!" I told him I knew that. I said, "I don't know if Josh has talked to you about his relationship with me but we are pretty tight and he has always been someone I've looked up to. He is amazing!" He told me about a girl that was baptized just that Sunday before, that Josh had baptized her and that everything he said was absolutely perfect and that everything went the best it could have possibly gone. He just kept telling me how wonderful Josh had been. It just made me so happy to be able to talk to him and to feel of the excitement he had. It was so neat! What an amazing way to start my birthday huh?! I was set! I felt like I was on top of the world and I was just so happy! My birthday was already perfect as far as I was concerned! I was so excited I ran into my parent's bedroom after the phone call and told my mom all about it! Of course she was way excited too! It was just awesome!
Then at 6 in the morning I woke up and had breakfast with my family, scrambled eggs with bacon in them, and English muffins! Yummy! Then I opened presents which was fun!
As I was walking out to my car later that morning to go to school I saw my car and wow! My friend Jillene had painted all my windows! It was so fun! It said things like "What a Babe!" "Honk I'm 22!" "Happy Birthday!" And then I had a "frame" painted on the driver's side of the windshield. It was so cute and how special was I?!
Then I got to the school and somehow everyone knew it was my birthday! Holy cow! Everyone was coming up to me and wishing me happy birthday and giving me hugs and making me feel so special! It was so neat! We started jazz choir that day so I went to that and we had a blast in there! Right before class I decided to treat myself and buy a "Naked" juice. Oh my! I love those things! Way too addicting! Anyway, so I went and got one of those, and was talking to everyone in the room before class started and one of my friends started to walk into the classroom. I was so excited to see him I yelled hi to him before he walked in and he smiled at me and kind of motioned with his finger for me to go outside with him. He was hiding something behind his back and he pulled me behind the door (which was open by the way). He said "Happy Birthday Brittney" and then he pulled these gorgeous flowers out from behind his back! What?! This doesn't happen to me! How sweet is he?! I couldn't believe he was giving me flowers! WOW! I just kind of half screamed half gasped in shock and just wrapped my arms around him and gave him a big hug and just kept saying thank you and that I appreciated it so much! He just kind of laughed at me and said "You're welcome" and we walked into class together. As I walked in I realized that everyone's eyes were glued to the door. Remember that the door was open? Well they pretty much heard everything I said and at least saw half the "action" I was giving him behind the door. I almost just started busting up laughing when everyone just looked at us like something was up. Ha Ha! Believe me! It was nothing! This guy was actually my husband in a play I did this summer and we had just grown to have a really neat friendship. Anyway, for some reason during class I was just on this super big high and I was just a crack-up if I do say so myself! I was just plain goofy! Even more so than normal, but it was fun! We had a great time in there and everyone sang me happy birthday. I just felt so special! Then I came home and my mom asked what I was doing the rest of the day. I didn't have plans til that evening so she asked if I wanted to go get a pedicure for my birthday. FUNNESS! My mom got me the deluxe package which came with amazing bonuses during the pedicure. It was amazing! We had 4 different massages on our legs! We had a salt scrub, a mask (it smelled like chocolate!), then they put massage oil on our legs and used hot rocks (oh my gosh! That was one of the greatest things ever!), and then they rubbed in lotion too! I definitely felt pampered! Then of course they did my toenails and painted on this amazing flower design with glittery stuff. They were just so cute! Then I also got a manicure! I can't even remember the last time I painted my nails! So that was a fun treat too! We had a great time together! Another fun part about it was that my mom had never gotten one before so it was a first time experience for her so it was great to be with her for that!
After that I had to hurry home and get dressed up. I was going to dinner with one of my best friends that night. Cassi! She wanted to take me out so we got all cute and dressed up really nice and I told her I wanted to go somewhere I'd never been before so she was going to surprise me. We went to "My Big Fat Greek Restaurant"! It was AMAZING! WOW! They had these huge tumblers that our lemonades came out in and then we had an appetizer. Greek Fries! Can I just tell you that it was a completely new taste experience for me! It had this sauce on top of it that we figured out was vinegar and a melted sharp goat cheese. It had garlic and fresh oregano and feta cheese on it too. Really good! Then I ordered the "Award Winning Greek Platter" which was slivered Gyro (roast lamb) with lemon pepper potatoes, fresh squash, pita bread, and a sauce for the lamb to be dipped in. It was amazing! There was so much food though! I hardly put a dent in it! Cassi got Mousaka (if you've seen 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' you'll definitely remember the line "Moose Caca?!" Yeah, it's the same stuff!) It was layers of eggplant, zucchini, a spicy meat, and sauce with a hugely thick piece of cheese melted on top. She liked hers as well! We were both so full that we were dying but our waiter came and brought us two completely new silverware rolls. He said, "You are going to need these. I'm bringing you out a special treat!" I looked at Cass and she just put up her hands in surrender and said, "I promise I didn't tell them it was your birthday!" Anyway, he brought out Baklava. Oh baklava, how I love thee! It was seriously one of the most amazing desserts I have ever had in my life! It was like 27 layers of philo dough with layers of hazelnut, chopped almonds, honey, and cinnamon in between. It was all melted together atop a platter drizzled with honey in this criss cross pattern, with two dollops of whipped cream on either side of the platter containing a mint leaf for garnish. It was so elegant looking! WOW! Anyway, it tasted just as amazing as it looked! We were both in heaven! It was AMAZING! Then we came back to my house and we both fell asleep on my couch waiting for our friend Jason to come over to my house after he got off work at 11:30. Once he got here we talked for about 45 minutes and then we all decided we were too dead to be awake any longer, besides the fact it was a school night!
All in all it was an amazing birthday! I had the greatest time with my family and friends! I also have to say that my family and I had celebrated my birthday early since there was a holiday weekend, and we went out to eat and went to the movies so that was a lot of fun! And then we also had a big family party on Saturday night! It was so much fun! I really enjoyed being with everyone! We celebrated my little cousin's birthday too! She is turning seven this month and so we combined our birthdays. She is such a cutie! She was even sweet enough to let me blow out the last candle on our birthday cake! She is so cute! We had a fun time! I just love my family! They are just the greatest!
Well there we go, my birthday update! Also I have to thank everyone who wrote on my facebook and gave me a call! I had so many people do that for me and I so appreciated it! It was just so great to feel so loved all day! What fun I had! It was definitely a great time!
Anyway, my birthday was last week on the 3rd. The night before that I was a little sad I must admit. No, not with pre-birthday "oh-my-goodness-I'm-getting-old" blues, but I was just a little sad because I hadn't heard from Josh. I really wasn't expecting anything from him (he's on a mission for heaven's sake!) but I was still just missing him like crazy and wanted to hear from him. So I went to bed that night and my wonderful sleep was soon interrupted by a phone call at midnight! What in the world?! So I got up, rather groggily, and I saw that it was a number I didn't recognize. Hmmm...should I just ignore this call? Well I answered it and the conversation went something like this:
"Hello?"
"HI! HOW ARE YOU?!" It was a guy!
"Uh...I'm fine...how are you?"
"I'm great! Is this Brittney Chapman?" At this point I could hear a very heavy French accent...
"Yeeesss...Who in the world is this?"
"This is Elder Cheung!"
"WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?! Are you serious?!?!?!"
Lots of laughing..."Yeah!" Now an important thing to know is that Elder Cheung was a "mini-mission" companion to Josh. He was only with him for about two weeks. He is a convert of about a year and a half and he lives in France.
"Oh my gosh! I can't believe this!"
More laughing..."Well Brittney I have a message for you. I just left Josh today from being on my mini-mission with him and he made me promise him that this would be the first thing I did when I got home. He was very adamant about it. He wanted me to tell you that he loves you and that he feels really bad because he wanted to send you something but he knew it would never get there in time because the mail system is so slow here in France. He said to tell you that he hopes you have a wonderful birthday."
I was in complete shock! WOW! For Josh to even think of having him call me was so thoughtful! I couldn't even believe he had Elder Cheung do that! I just kept telling him thank you over and over. We had a great discussion about some of the things he had experienced while he was with Josh, and while we were talking he said, "Brittney, your brother is the man!! He is amazing!" I told him I knew that. I said, "I don't know if Josh has talked to you about his relationship with me but we are pretty tight and he has always been someone I've looked up to. He is amazing!" He told me about a girl that was baptized just that Sunday before, that Josh had baptized her and that everything he said was absolutely perfect and that everything went the best it could have possibly gone. He just kept telling me how wonderful Josh had been. It just made me so happy to be able to talk to him and to feel of the excitement he had. It was so neat! What an amazing way to start my birthday huh?! I was set! I felt like I was on top of the world and I was just so happy! My birthday was already perfect as far as I was concerned! I was so excited I ran into my parent's bedroom after the phone call and told my mom all about it! Of course she was way excited too! It was just awesome!
Then at 6 in the morning I woke up and had breakfast with my family, scrambled eggs with bacon in them, and English muffins! Yummy! Then I opened presents which was fun!
As I was walking out to my car later that morning to go to school I saw my car and wow! My friend Jillene had painted all my windows! It was so fun! It said things like "What a Babe!" "Honk I'm 22!" "Happy Birthday!" And then I had a "frame" painted on the driver's side of the windshield. It was so cute and how special was I?!
Then I got to the school and somehow everyone knew it was my birthday! Holy cow! Everyone was coming up to me and wishing me happy birthday and giving me hugs and making me feel so special! It was so neat! We started jazz choir that day so I went to that and we had a blast in there! Right before class I decided to treat myself and buy a "Naked" juice. Oh my! I love those things! Way too addicting! Anyway, so I went and got one of those, and was talking to everyone in the room before class started and one of my friends started to walk into the classroom. I was so excited to see him I yelled hi to him before he walked in and he smiled at me and kind of motioned with his finger for me to go outside with him. He was hiding something behind his back and he pulled me behind the door (which was open by the way). He said "Happy Birthday Brittney" and then he pulled these gorgeous flowers out from behind his back! What?! This doesn't happen to me! How sweet is he?! I couldn't believe he was giving me flowers! WOW! I just kind of half screamed half gasped in shock and just wrapped my arms around him and gave him a big hug and just kept saying thank you and that I appreciated it so much! He just kind of laughed at me and said "You're welcome" and we walked into class together. As I walked in I realized that everyone's eyes were glued to the door. Remember that the door was open? Well they pretty much heard everything I said and at least saw half the "action" I was giving him behind the door. I almost just started busting up laughing when everyone just looked at us like something was up. Ha Ha! Believe me! It was nothing! This guy was actually my husband in a play I did this summer and we had just grown to have a really neat friendship. Anyway, for some reason during class I was just on this super big high and I was just a crack-up if I do say so myself! I was just plain goofy! Even more so than normal, but it was fun! We had a great time in there and everyone sang me happy birthday. I just felt so special! Then I came home and my mom asked what I was doing the rest of the day. I didn't have plans til that evening so she asked if I wanted to go get a pedicure for my birthday. FUNNESS! My mom got me the deluxe package which came with amazing bonuses during the pedicure. It was amazing! We had 4 different massages on our legs! We had a salt scrub, a mask (it smelled like chocolate!), then they put massage oil on our legs and used hot rocks (oh my gosh! That was one of the greatest things ever!), and then they rubbed in lotion too! I definitely felt pampered! Then of course they did my toenails and painted on this amazing flower design with glittery stuff. They were just so cute! Then I also got a manicure! I can't even remember the last time I painted my nails! So that was a fun treat too! We had a great time together! Another fun part about it was that my mom had never gotten one before so it was a first time experience for her so it was great to be with her for that!
After that I had to hurry home and get dressed up. I was going to dinner with one of my best friends that night. Cassi! She wanted to take me out so we got all cute and dressed up really nice and I told her I wanted to go somewhere I'd never been before so she was going to surprise me. We went to "My Big Fat Greek Restaurant"! It was AMAZING! WOW! They had these huge tumblers that our lemonades came out in and then we had an appetizer. Greek Fries! Can I just tell you that it was a completely new taste experience for me! It had this sauce on top of it that we figured out was vinegar and a melted sharp goat cheese. It had garlic and fresh oregano and feta cheese on it too. Really good! Then I ordered the "Award Winning Greek Platter" which was slivered Gyro (roast lamb) with lemon pepper potatoes, fresh squash, pita bread, and a sauce for the lamb to be dipped in. It was amazing! There was so much food though! I hardly put a dent in it! Cassi got Mousaka (if you've seen 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' you'll definitely remember the line "Moose Caca?!" Yeah, it's the same stuff!) It was layers of eggplant, zucchini, a spicy meat, and sauce with a hugely thick piece of cheese melted on top. She liked hers as well! We were both so full that we were dying but our waiter came and brought us two completely new silverware rolls. He said, "You are going to need these. I'm bringing you out a special treat!" I looked at Cass and she just put up her hands in surrender and said, "I promise I didn't tell them it was your birthday!" Anyway, he brought out Baklava. Oh baklava, how I love thee! It was seriously one of the most amazing desserts I have ever had in my life! It was like 27 layers of philo dough with layers of hazelnut, chopped almonds, honey, and cinnamon in between. It was all melted together atop a platter drizzled with honey in this criss cross pattern, with two dollops of whipped cream on either side of the platter containing a mint leaf for garnish. It was so elegant looking! WOW! Anyway, it tasted just as amazing as it looked! We were both in heaven! It was AMAZING! Then we came back to my house and we both fell asleep on my couch waiting for our friend Jason to come over to my house after he got off work at 11:30. Once he got here we talked for about 45 minutes and then we all decided we were too dead to be awake any longer, besides the fact it was a school night!
All in all it was an amazing birthday! I had the greatest time with my family and friends! I also have to say that my family and I had celebrated my birthday early since there was a holiday weekend, and we went out to eat and went to the movies so that was a lot of fun! And then we also had a big family party on Saturday night! It was so much fun! I really enjoyed being with everyone! We celebrated my little cousin's birthday too! She is turning seven this month and so we combined our birthdays. She is such a cutie! She was even sweet enough to let me blow out the last candle on our birthday cake! She is so cute! We had a fun time! I just love my family! They are just the greatest!
Well there we go, my birthday update! Also I have to thank everyone who wrote on my facebook and gave me a call! I had so many people do that for me and I so appreciated it! It was just so great to feel so loved all day! What fun I had! It was definitely a great time!
Monday, September 1, 2008
A Call To Be Better
At the moment I am feeling a little chastised, but out of complete love. Today is Josh's P-Day and he wrote an e-mail to our family. It was full of wonderful things! He had his first actual Baptizing experience on his mission and it was a beautiful service full of the spirit and it brought so much peace to everyone present.
Well in the end of his letter he began to chastise me a little. He reminded me of some things that are definitely important that I need to do better. I wasn't at all bothered by what he said but I definitely felt the heat! I am so grateful that Josh loves me so much! He really has been such an incredible example to me of what's right and what is worth pursuing and acheiving. I love him for that!
So now everything is in my hands. I get to decide how to make some things work better in my life. Perhaps I will update everyone on my blog in the future and let you know how I'm doing, I know that everything he talked to me about is important and I know I can do it! It will all work out the way it should. I am going to be a better person and I am going to learn A LOT! Thus starts the endeavor...
Well in the end of his letter he began to chastise me a little. He reminded me of some things that are definitely important that I need to do better. I wasn't at all bothered by what he said but I definitely felt the heat! I am so grateful that Josh loves me so much! He really has been such an incredible example to me of what's right and what is worth pursuing and acheiving. I love him for that!
So now everything is in my hands. I get to decide how to make some things work better in my life. Perhaps I will update everyone on my blog in the future and let you know how I'm doing, I know that everything he talked to me about is important and I know I can do it! It will all work out the way it should. I am going to be a better person and I am going to learn A LOT! Thus starts the endeavor...
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Lots of thinking...
So today in our single's ward we found out that our bishop was just diagnosed with abdominal cancer. It was a HUGE blow to everyone. Even I, who haven't been in the ward that long, took it pretty hard. He is a wonderful wonderful man. I have really appreciated him these last couple months I've been in the ward. He will be having surgery on Tuesday to remove the cancer. We are all fasting for him. I was deeply touched today as our first counselor spoke about him and asked us to fast. There was an instant feeling of unity and love in that congregation. I was amazed at the concern everyone had for him and his wife. I was asked to give the closing prayer in sacrament meeting today and as I was asking for blessings on our bishop I was overcome with a great love for him and empathy for him and his family. I know what it feels like to receive news of a serious diagnosis like that. My mind was brought back to last year, a year from today to be exact, when I found out that my grandpa had terminal cancer. I started to understand today what it means to have your bowels filled with compassion. I know how his family must be feeling. It's so hard to deal with something like that. I just hope that this surgery is a success and that he heals well, that there will be no more concern after it is done. We shall see, but until then , my thoughts and prayers are with them.
Calling #2
WOW! So I seem to just be a calling magnet! I had two in my family ward and now I have two in my single's ward! CRAZY! I was just called to be the Relief Society pianist as I mentioned in an earlier blog, but I was just called to be a visiting teaching supervisor! So exciting!! I am very very very pumped about this calling! It should definitely be a learning experience for me! The visiting teaching is a little different in this ward because we have visiting teaching "groups" rather than one-on-one visits with the girls. So I have stewardship over a group of about 6-8 girls! I am still getting used to this new way of doing things, but I am already seeing some benefits to it. I am planning on doing a group activity at my house, or going out to eat so we can just get to know each other or whatever. I think it will be so great to get to know more people and draw closer together! I am just so excited about this!! (Can ya tell?) YAY!!!
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
People
I was thinking this morning about all the things that have been happening to me lately, all the things that I think are so exciting that I want to tell everyone about. There has definitely been a lot going on with school starting and whatnot, but there is always a common theme in my excitements...people! I seriously just love people! I love experiencing things with people, relating to people, talking to people, accomplishing things with people, meeting people, and spending time with people. It just makes me happy. I am truly in my element being back at school! I love it so much! I have had the opportunity to meet lots of new people in my classes. It is fun for me! Getting to know others and connecting on different levels. I am definitely one that enjoys being with others more than being by myself, although there are those times when being alone is a good thing, I would much rather be doing something with someone else. Even if that means just sitting in complete silence with someone while we both do homework or whatever. I just like it better.
I started my music theory class yesterday and everyone seemed to just be grumbling the whole class hour about how hard the class was going to be, how they were never going to pass it, and how they were just not excited to be there. I thought that was kinda funny, just because I was SO happy to be there. Yeah, I will admit, the class is definitely hard, but our teacher really does want to help us out and I appreciated that. Our teacher asked us yesterday if someone wanted to come to the board and finish up some chords and label them for the class. There was instant tension and everyone just looked down at their books. (Amazing how that happens when a question is asked, it's almost unconscious it seems...) Well I knew that I had somewhat of an idea of what to do but I raised my hand to go up and do it and it was fun! I kinda joked around with it and made it more relaxed instead of everyone freaking out because they forgot everything. Then other people tried too, and we all started having a good time with each other. I think I have definitely gotten over being embarrassed in front of a crowd. It doesn't bug me if I don't know something and I make an idiot of myself in front of a class, we are all in the same boat and learning the same things and no one really makes fun of you, maybe teases you, but it's not out of meanness. I find it rather refreshing to have discussion in a class. It brings people together and helps you connect more. Maybe that's why even going into a "hard" class like that doesn't bug me. I know that it's going to be hard, but I know I can figure it out, especially when people are open about what they don't understand. That may have all been a bit confusing to read, but at least I understand what I'm saying! Ha Ha! :)
Yeah, so people make me happy! I have noticed that my mood is almost directly linked to the relationships I have with others. Sometimes that's not such a good thing, but usually I feed off of people and their moods, and try to just make things better, whether they be happy or upset, it doesn't matter. I just love people! Aren't we all just amazing?! Pretty cool to think about how complicated each one of us are, and how we are each different, we each have different needs, we each deal with things differently. Yeah, pretty much I'm amazing...and so is everybody else! :)
I started my music theory class yesterday and everyone seemed to just be grumbling the whole class hour about how hard the class was going to be, how they were never going to pass it, and how they were just not excited to be there. I thought that was kinda funny, just because I was SO happy to be there. Yeah, I will admit, the class is definitely hard, but our teacher really does want to help us out and I appreciated that. Our teacher asked us yesterday if someone wanted to come to the board and finish up some chords and label them for the class. There was instant tension and everyone just looked down at their books. (Amazing how that happens when a question is asked, it's almost unconscious it seems...) Well I knew that I had somewhat of an idea of what to do but I raised my hand to go up and do it and it was fun! I kinda joked around with it and made it more relaxed instead of everyone freaking out because they forgot everything. Then other people tried too, and we all started having a good time with each other. I think I have definitely gotten over being embarrassed in front of a crowd. It doesn't bug me if I don't know something and I make an idiot of myself in front of a class, we are all in the same boat and learning the same things and no one really makes fun of you, maybe teases you, but it's not out of meanness. I find it rather refreshing to have discussion in a class. It brings people together and helps you connect more. Maybe that's why even going into a "hard" class like that doesn't bug me. I know that it's going to be hard, but I know I can figure it out, especially when people are open about what they don't understand. That may have all been a bit confusing to read, but at least I understand what I'm saying! Ha Ha! :)
Yeah, so people make me happy! I have noticed that my mood is almost directly linked to the relationships I have with others. Sometimes that's not such a good thing, but usually I feed off of people and their moods, and try to just make things better, whether they be happy or upset, it doesn't matter. I just love people! Aren't we all just amazing?! Pretty cool to think about how complicated each one of us are, and how we are each different, we each have different needs, we each deal with things differently. Yeah, pretty much I'm amazing...and so is everybody else! :)
Monday, August 25, 2008
Ok, the 1st day of school update!
Alrighty! I made it!! I got through the first day! And let me tell ya it was as wonderful as I imagined it would be!! I didn't even have to start my day until 11:15 which was nice! So I started out with choir and we already started singing which was awesome! We're doing a motet by Palestrina which sounds amazing and we are also doing a song called "Afternoon On A Hill". It sounds so beautiful already!
After choir was done Ed (our choir director) has a tradition that we do "put-ups". He was going to give an example to all the new kids of what one was and he said, "Brittney, where are you?" I just thought, "Oh no! Something embarrassing is coming I can just feel it!" So I got up and he told me to come stand by him. He put his arm around me and told everyone my name. Then he told them that he looks for me everyday because there is something that I do that just seems to make everything better and makes him happy. He then turned to me and said,"Ok Brittney will you show them what you do?" I just started to laugh and then everyone else started laughing. He just hugged me tighter and said, "See! It's that smile! She smiles and it just lights up a room! It makes you happy!" I appreciated it so much! But that wasn't all! He then told everyone that he knew I was going to be in his choir before I was even born. And he had a picture taken that he was now going to give me. He hands me this picture, it's black and white, with three goofy lookin' guys from the 70's. I just looked at it and was like, "What is this Ed?" He then pointed to a guy and said, "Who is this?" I looked harder and realized it was him. I was right! Then he pointed to the guy next to him and asked who he was. It was then that I realized it was Dr. Lunt!! Oh my gosh! I was speechless! I just looked at him so stunned and he started laughing. I told him, "Thank you so much! I love it!" and then everyone just clapped for me! It was so nice! I felt so special! Then we had some of the voice faculty come in to talk to the choir. Afterward I went and thanked him again. It was so thoughtful of him to think of me! He gave me another big hug and told me he knew I'd appreciate that. I most definitely did! What a neat thing!
Here's the pic! The two in the front are who I'm talking about. The one on the left is my director right now, Dr. Edmund Hughes, and on the right is Dr. David Lunt.
After choir I had lunch with a good friend and then I had my psychology class. WOW! I was already excited about this class, but after meeting the instructor and going through the class period, I am definitely ecstatic about being in there! I am already so intrigued and it's just the first day! I am actually excited to read the chapter for Wednesday! I love it! Our instructor is half Puertorican, he teaches two of the psych classes there but he also has his own practice. I thought that was so neat because he is really right in the middle of all the things we are going to be talking about! He really brought the class together so fast for a first day! We were all so ready to talk and listen to each other and ask questions. It was impressive! And another cool thing he said was that he wanted and hoped that we would have fun in the class. He said, "Psychology is supposed to be fun! I love it! So we are going to have fun in this class." That was definitely a winning statement! He caught the class' attention that's for sure!
So today has been awesome! I am so excited for the semester! Things are really looking up and I am just so so so excited to get things really going!
After choir was done Ed (our choir director) has a tradition that we do "put-ups". He was going to give an example to all the new kids of what one was and he said, "Brittney, where are you?" I just thought, "Oh no! Something embarrassing is coming I can just feel it!" So I got up and he told me to come stand by him. He put his arm around me and told everyone my name. Then he told them that he looks for me everyday because there is something that I do that just seems to make everything better and makes him happy. He then turned to me and said,"Ok Brittney will you show them what you do?" I just started to laugh and then everyone else started laughing. He just hugged me tighter and said, "See! It's that smile! She smiles and it just lights up a room! It makes you happy!" I appreciated it so much! But that wasn't all! He then told everyone that he knew I was going to be in his choir before I was even born. And he had a picture taken that he was now going to give me. He hands me this picture, it's black and white, with three goofy lookin' guys from the 70's. I just looked at it and was like, "What is this Ed?" He then pointed to a guy and said, "Who is this?" I looked harder and realized it was him. I was right! Then he pointed to the guy next to him and asked who he was. It was then that I realized it was Dr. Lunt!! Oh my gosh! I was speechless! I just looked at him so stunned and he started laughing. I told him, "Thank you so much! I love it!" and then everyone just clapped for me! It was so nice! I felt so special! Then we had some of the voice faculty come in to talk to the choir. Afterward I went and thanked him again. It was so thoughtful of him to think of me! He gave me another big hug and told me he knew I'd appreciate that. I most definitely did! What a neat thing!
Here's the pic! The two in the front are who I'm talking about. The one on the left is my director right now, Dr. Edmund Hughes, and on the right is Dr. David Lunt.
After choir I had lunch with a good friend and then I had my psychology class. WOW! I was already excited about this class, but after meeting the instructor and going through the class period, I am definitely ecstatic about being in there! I am already so intrigued and it's just the first day! I am actually excited to read the chapter for Wednesday! I love it! Our instructor is half Puertorican, he teaches two of the psych classes there but he also has his own practice. I thought that was so neat because he is really right in the middle of all the things we are going to be talking about! He really brought the class together so fast for a first day! We were all so ready to talk and listen to each other and ask questions. It was impressive! And another cool thing he said was that he wanted and hoped that we would have fun in the class. He said, "Psychology is supposed to be fun! I love it! So we are going to have fun in this class." That was definitely a winning statement! He caught the class' attention that's for sure!
So today has been awesome! I am so excited for the semester! Things are really looking up and I am just so so so excited to get things really going!
"It's Raining, It's Pouring!"
This is what it looks like outside my house right now, but let me tell ya, this doesn't do it justice!! It is pouring!!
Holy Cow!! It is raining SOOOOOOO hard right now!! Almost deafening in my house!! I ran from the driveway to the door and I am soaked!!! I am glad to get rain, but wow! This is just insane!!
Holy Cow!! It is raining SOOOOOOO hard right now!! Almost deafening in my house!! I ran from the driveway to the door and I am soaked!!! I am glad to get rain, but wow! This is just insane!!
New Calling
I received a calling in my single's ward yesterday. I am the new Relief Society pianist. WOW! Talk about scary! I mean I did play for primary, but lets face it, primary songs are not even close to as hard as hymns! I am definitely nervous but I know it will be ok. I hardly ever get a chance to play anymore and so this will definitely be good for me! Oh, I have to confess that the scariest hymn for me to play is "True To The Faith", just the number 254 gives me chills because I'm glad I'm not the one playing it. Don't ask me why but that's just the way it is! So guess what I had to play for the opening hymn in Relief Society yesterday?....you guessed it..."True to the Faith"! I was so nervous it was ridiculous! But I pulled through and I don't think I did half bad! Phew! What a relief!
I think the thing I am most nervous about is taking away from the spirit. Have you ever had a pianist who was just really having a hard time playing and it was very distracting? Well I don't want to do that! When I was 12 years old I was new in Young Women's and they asked me if I could play the piano. I only knew a couple songs so they chose one of them. I had never accompanied anyone singing before and I was nervous and my playing definitely showed it! It was a disaster and I was so embarrassed. My mom was in the Young Women's presidency at that time and I remember talking to her after church. She told me (in a very sweet way) that maybe I shouldn't play until I knew I had it right so that I wouldn't distract from the spirit that the opening hymn is supposed to bring. That has always stuck with me and I realize now how important it is to be prepared to play.
So we'll see how it goes! I am really excited for the opportunity! I think I may be praying really hard every time I get up to play, but there are worse things right? :)
I think the thing I am most nervous about is taking away from the spirit. Have you ever had a pianist who was just really having a hard time playing and it was very distracting? Well I don't want to do that! When I was 12 years old I was new in Young Women's and they asked me if I could play the piano. I only knew a couple songs so they chose one of them. I had never accompanied anyone singing before and I was nervous and my playing definitely showed it! It was a disaster and I was so embarrassed. My mom was in the Young Women's presidency at that time and I remember talking to her after church. She told me (in a very sweet way) that maybe I shouldn't play until I knew I had it right so that I wouldn't distract from the spirit that the opening hymn is supposed to bring. That has always stuck with me and I realize now how important it is to be prepared to play.
So we'll see how it goes! I am really excited for the opportunity! I think I may be praying really hard every time I get up to play, but there are worse things right? :)
First Day of School
You know you have to get one of these on the first day! Say cheese!
Today is the day!! I start school again! YAY!! And no I am not being sarcastic. I am really excited to start up school again! I only have 12 credits this semester which is nice, but I still have 6 classes, so my time is definitely filled up!! Of course I have all my music classes still, like music theory, AP, and my two choirs, but I am also taking psychology this semester. I am super excited about that! I haven't taken a "core" class for a couple years now, mostly because I'm done with all my generals, but this class counts for my music therapy major and instead of having to worry about it next year at ASU I decided to get it done now. I am soooo pumped to start all this exciting stuff! I just love my life!! :)
Today is the day!! I start school again! YAY!! And no I am not being sarcastic. I am really excited to start up school again! I only have 12 credits this semester which is nice, but I still have 6 classes, so my time is definitely filled up!! Of course I have all my music classes still, like music theory, AP, and my two choirs, but I am also taking psychology this semester. I am super excited about that! I haven't taken a "core" class for a couple years now, mostly because I'm done with all my generals, but this class counts for my music therapy major and instead of having to worry about it next year at ASU I decided to get it done now. I am soooo pumped to start all this exciting stuff! I just love my life!! :)
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Road show!!!!
Our Muscular Men!
Our world-premiere "Unwicked" cast
Preston and I
Silly girls!
Me and my silly girls
Cuties!
Last Saturday I helped out with a road show for my stake. I was an assistant director with a lady in my family ward. She is one of those amazingly fun people that you just love to be around. Anyway, our play was called "Unwicked". It was a play about a brother and sister who were moving to a new school and they were really worried about fitting in. They soon meet some of the "popular" kids in school. The sister (Abby) is in the girl's locker room and all the popular girls try to help her with her obvious popularity problem. They sing the song "Popular" from Wicked but afterward Abby meets this girl who is really nice and kind to her. Then it jumps to the boy's locker room. The brother, Connor, walks in to find a bunch of incredibly muscular guys. (All the boys wore muscle suits!) They were showing off with how many push-ups they could do and they start asking Connor about any cute girls he's seen. Then they all start telling Connor about how he can be popular and they do a parody on "Popular" with a song called "Muscular". Holy Cow! The boys totally got into it and hammed it up great! It was hilarious! then it shows Abby and Connor after school talking about their day and they end up making some really great friends. The kids on our group were in the 7th and 8th grades with a couple boys in 9th. I was so proud of all my kids! They did a fantastic job!
We had to build our own set and we practiced the songs all day. The cool thing our group got to do was they were able to record the songs before the performance. our director's husband has professional recording equipment and had them all recorded before. It was so fun for the kids to get to do that! They were pretty pumped about it! The whole thing just turned out wonderful and we got the "Goody-two-shoes" award! Ha Ha! It was so fun! I just loved all those kids! They were awesome!
Another really cool thing was that I got to be with Preston! He was in my group and he really enjoyed himself! It was fun to see a side of him I never get to see and I grew to appreciate him a lot more through this experience which was really cool! What a stud!
Our world-premiere "Unwicked" cast
Preston and I
Silly girls!
Me and my silly girls
Cuties!
Last Saturday I helped out with a road show for my stake. I was an assistant director with a lady in my family ward. She is one of those amazingly fun people that you just love to be around. Anyway, our play was called "Unwicked". It was a play about a brother and sister who were moving to a new school and they were really worried about fitting in. They soon meet some of the "popular" kids in school. The sister (Abby) is in the girl's locker room and all the popular girls try to help her with her obvious popularity problem. They sing the song "Popular" from Wicked but afterward Abby meets this girl who is really nice and kind to her. Then it jumps to the boy's locker room. The brother, Connor, walks in to find a bunch of incredibly muscular guys. (All the boys wore muscle suits!) They were showing off with how many push-ups they could do and they start asking Connor about any cute girls he's seen. Then they all start telling Connor about how he can be popular and they do a parody on "Popular" with a song called "Muscular". Holy Cow! The boys totally got into it and hammed it up great! It was hilarious! then it shows Abby and Connor after school talking about their day and they end up making some really great friends. The kids on our group were in the 7th and 8th grades with a couple boys in 9th. I was so proud of all my kids! They did a fantastic job!
We had to build our own set and we practiced the songs all day. The cool thing our group got to do was they were able to record the songs before the performance. our director's husband has professional recording equipment and had them all recorded before. It was so fun for the kids to get to do that! They were pretty pumped about it! The whole thing just turned out wonderful and we got the "Goody-two-shoes" award! Ha Ha! It was so fun! I just loved all those kids! They were awesome!
Another really cool thing was that I got to be with Preston! He was in my group and he really enjoyed himself! It was fun to see a side of him I never get to see and I grew to appreciate him a lot more through this experience which was really cool! What a stud!
A Very Fun Night!
Curtis with the lovely polar bear on Main Street
Peek-a-boo! I see you!
Curtis just hangin' out!
Me balancing on some stones in the middle of the water
Curtis
There were all these cool walls that had water on the top with a light shining through the bottom with all these cool colored stones. I liked the effect of this pic!
A timed pic with all of us. These tiers were pretty cool!
Curtis is much more sneaky than I am!
Just Me!
Curtis' powerful sermon!
The Hunt's begun! Ha Ha! (Total inside joke! Sorry I had to say it!)
This wall behind us lit up different colors. It was pretty much awesome!!
Oh cute little Julie in the pretty flowers!
Curtis on top of the big water wall thingy...sounds like a good name for it...
They do men's and women's nails! How exciting!
Julie and Curtis decided to look for jobs...
The lazy bums! Obviously that plan failed!
Curtis pretending to be like the cool climber guy...I think Curtis is a little cooler myself!
Julie and I playing an imaginary game of chess! It was intense!
I got to meet up with a wonderful friend, Curtis Gardner (who I knew from my EAC days), a few weeks ago and we had some fun times over the course of a couple weeks. On this particular night we were with another of our really good friends Julie Hatch. Oh I just love her! Anyway, we had a great time going to the temple, looking at the "Reflections of Christ" exhibit there, then taking lots of random pictures at the Mesa Arts Center, and then having a nice chat over Dairy Queen treats! It was such a fun night!! We all had a really great time together!
Peek-a-boo! I see you!
Curtis just hangin' out!
Me balancing on some stones in the middle of the water
Curtis
There were all these cool walls that had water on the top with a light shining through the bottom with all these cool colored stones. I liked the effect of this pic!
A timed pic with all of us. These tiers were pretty cool!
Curtis is much more sneaky than I am!
Just Me!
Curtis' powerful sermon!
The Hunt's begun! Ha Ha! (Total inside joke! Sorry I had to say it!)
This wall behind us lit up different colors. It was pretty much awesome!!
Oh cute little Julie in the pretty flowers!
Curtis on top of the big water wall thingy...sounds like a good name for it...
They do men's and women's nails! How exciting!
Julie and Curtis decided to look for jobs...
The lazy bums! Obviously that plan failed!
Curtis pretending to be like the cool climber guy...I think Curtis is a little cooler myself!
Julie and I playing an imaginary game of chess! It was intense!
I got to meet up with a wonderful friend, Curtis Gardner (who I knew from my EAC days), a few weeks ago and we had some fun times over the course of a couple weeks. On this particular night we were with another of our really good friends Julie Hatch. Oh I just love her! Anyway, we had a great time going to the temple, looking at the "Reflections of Christ" exhibit there, then taking lots of random pictures at the Mesa Arts Center, and then having a nice chat over Dairy Queen treats! It was such a fun night!! We all had a really great time together!
Monday, August 4, 2008
Lemonade Stands and Puppet Shows
Well, I was working in the Cub House today and there was a family that came in. Two boys and one girl. They were sitting at the art table, doing their craft for the day and I started to hear them talking about this "plan" they had. The little girl came over to me and said "Guess what?!" She was sooo excited! "What?" I asked. "My brother and I are going to have a lemonade stand!" Then her brother piped in adn said "Yeah, we're going to earn money for the family!" I thought it was so cute! Then their little borther who is about 3, and at least three years younger then his siblings, got really excited about the idea and said, "Me too! Me too!" The two older siblings looked at him a little disgusted and told him he wasn't allowed to. He seemed to be ok with that though. He just went about doing his thing. The whole thing just made me smile because I started to remember some times when I was younger that I would actually do those kinds of things. My brothers and I also thought that a lemonade stand was a genius idea at one point. In our little minds we were going to be rich and be able to buy whatever we wanted! If anything we'd be able to go to Bashas' and buy a doughnut or something. It was an exciting prospect! I remember multiple times, while we lived in Safford, setting up a "lemonade stand" with way too watery lemonade and sometimes even rice krispie treats or cookies we would make. We'd put everything by the road, stick a HUGE sign on the front, with our little kid scrawl on the front and patiently sit in our lawn chairs and wait. Well, more accurately put would be that we would try and wait patiently until we couldn't stand it anymore and we would either run to the neighbors house to ask them to "come see our lemonade stand," or we would get so hot that we would drink the entire pitcher of lemonade ourselves. We did usually have success though! We had some very kind neighbors and people that would drive down the street who would stop and buy lemonade from us. Oh boy, you should have seen how excited we got when someone stopped to get some! You would have thought we hit the jackpot, and to us, we probably had! We had paying customers and we were going to have money to get something we wanted. What fun we had! I loved those times as a little kid!
Another thing that was very popular for my brothers and neighbor friend to do was to put on puppet shows or plays. We would either write out a story line or we would do a play based on a story we knew. There were countless times when we would make a "set", or make stick puppets, or practice lines over and over again til everything was perfect, usually lasting most of the morning. We would then advertise our plays to the neighborhood by knocking on the doors of our neighbors and telling them what time it would start and then asking how many tickets they needed. (Yes, we even made tickets! Pretty fancy huh?!) Then we would usually hold the play in our neighbor's house or backyard. At the time of performance we would have someone taking the tickets and any "donations" they wanted to give. Everyone would sit down and we would announce the performance. We sometimes ended up with a whole room full of friends and neighbors! It was always so exciting! Then we would start the play and there would always be an intermission. (These plays usually lasted about 10-15 minutes, so an intermission was definitely necessary!) For the intermission someone would go out and start strumming a guitar and making up a song that had to do with the play. (Mind you that none of us knew how to play the guitar, but we did a really good job tricking everyone!) Then we would finish up and everyone would applaud us and we would do our bows. Oh it was so exciting! Then everyone would start to leave and of course compliment us on our job well done. We were all smiles! Then we would clean up everything and talk about "how cool" everything was and that we had really done a great job and we would get so excited about how many people had come to watch us.
Oh boy! Those are some wonderful memories! I love reminiscing about all those fun things I used to do with my brothers and friends. It's amazing the imagination we had when we were little! I definitely don't feel like it's the same now, but I sure am glad I had those experiences. It brought a smile to my face today to hear a brother and sister talking about that today. Little do they realize how important those memories and fun times together will mean to them when they're older. It's awesome!
Another thing that was very popular for my brothers and neighbor friend to do was to put on puppet shows or plays. We would either write out a story line or we would do a play based on a story we knew. There were countless times when we would make a "set", or make stick puppets, or practice lines over and over again til everything was perfect, usually lasting most of the morning. We would then advertise our plays to the neighborhood by knocking on the doors of our neighbors and telling them what time it would start and then asking how many tickets they needed. (Yes, we even made tickets! Pretty fancy huh?!) Then we would usually hold the play in our neighbor's house or backyard. At the time of performance we would have someone taking the tickets and any "donations" they wanted to give. Everyone would sit down and we would announce the performance. We sometimes ended up with a whole room full of friends and neighbors! It was always so exciting! Then we would start the play and there would always be an intermission. (These plays usually lasted about 10-15 minutes, so an intermission was definitely necessary!) For the intermission someone would go out and start strumming a guitar and making up a song that had to do with the play. (Mind you that none of us knew how to play the guitar, but we did a really good job tricking everyone!) Then we would finish up and everyone would applaud us and we would do our bows. Oh it was so exciting! Then everyone would start to leave and of course compliment us on our job well done. We were all smiles! Then we would clean up everything and talk about "how cool" everything was and that we had really done a great job and we would get so excited about how many people had come to watch us.
Oh boy! Those are some wonderful memories! I love reminiscing about all those fun things I used to do with my brothers and friends. It's amazing the imagination we had when we were little! I definitely don't feel like it's the same now, but I sure am glad I had those experiences. It brought a smile to my face today to hear a brother and sister talking about that today. Little do they realize how important those memories and fun times together will mean to them when they're older. It's awesome!
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Josh's Hump Day!
At the airport saying good-bye
The fam
The siblings (We just love each other so much!)
Yesterday was Josh's Hump Day! He has been out a whole year!! WOW! It seems so crazy! It feels like he just left! I was thinking about him a lot yesterday and I started reminiscing about memories I'd had with him to a wonderful friend of mine and we really had a great time laughing and remembering some of those crazy times we've had with Josh! As I was talking to her last night I just told her that I was so grateful that I have been able to have him as part of my life, to see him change and become this amazing guy. I miss Josh, I miss him a lot sometimes, but then I read his letters and I realize that he is blessing so many people's lives and that they need him there! He is doing so many incredible things. I love to hear about all of the experiences he's having and to see him growing more and more as time goes on! I have always known how amazing Josh is, but he is becoming even more impressive and he is so dedicated to the Lord and His work! I love it! It is such a wonderful blessing to see him grow so much!So it is celebration time!! One year down! Awesome job so far Elder Chapman! We are all so proud of you!!
First day in the MTC!
The fam
The siblings (We just love each other so much!)
Yesterday was Josh's Hump Day! He has been out a whole year!! WOW! It seems so crazy! It feels like he just left! I was thinking about him a lot yesterday and I started reminiscing about memories I'd had with him to a wonderful friend of mine and we really had a great time laughing and remembering some of those crazy times we've had with Josh! As I was talking to her last night I just told her that I was so grateful that I have been able to have him as part of my life, to see him change and become this amazing guy. I miss Josh, I miss him a lot sometimes, but then I read his letters and I realize that he is blessing so many people's lives and that they need him there! He is doing so many incredible things. I love to hear about all of the experiences he's having and to see him growing more and more as time goes on! I have always known how amazing Josh is, but he is becoming even more impressive and he is so dedicated to the Lord and His work! I love it! It is such a wonderful blessing to see him grow so much!So it is celebration time!! One year down! Awesome job so far Elder Chapman! We are all so proud of you!!
First day in the MTC!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Grandpa
I have been thinking about my grandpa a lot today and I was playing through some old tunes on the piano this morning that he and I would listen to together. I cherish the time I had with my grandpa and every time I think of him now I just have an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for the person that he was and the example he set for me. He is wonderful! And I just wanted to add some pictures of him on here, mostly for my benefit, and because I just love him to pieces and it's fun to remember good times!
Pres. Monson was my grandpa's mission president. Here's my grandparents visiting him in Salt Lake.
This was one of the most tender moments with my grandpa. I wanted more than anything for him to be at my jazz concert this last fall. He made it! I was so grateful. It was a very emotional moment for the both of us. He passed away one week later.
I love this picture! We surprised my grandpa and met him at Disneyland with the whole family. Here we are getting on "It's A Small World."
Grandpa was all about Uncle Remus stories! He did all the voices and sound effects. It was so fun to listen to him! Benny got in on it too this time.
I love this pic too! My Grandma and Grandpa are on the Roger Rabbit Ride. They are so awesome!
This is when Grandpa first got to Disneyland and we surprised him. He couldn't get over that we were really all there with him!
My birthday party with the family. My grandpa and I looking at one of our favorite old records. John Gary rocks!!
Ha Ha! My grandpa was the best marshmallow warrior you could ask for! He hid himself pretty well from our enemies!!
This picture brings back lots of memories. He was a thinker and this place we were at (Jarskey Springs) was a place where many a memory has been made. I can only imagine his thoughts as we were there.
On our family vacation to Greer. My grandpa was a huge reader!! He LOVED books! That was something that was really special to him and I. Here he is reading with my grandma.
Christmas at my grandparents house is always so much fun and we have some great traditions and lots of fun laughs!
My grandparents came to Thatcher for when Josh was ordained an Elder. This is taken in front of my college house.
Oh man! My grandpa was so strong! Here he is with Preston trying to teach him how to link arms and then stand up. It was always fun to watch him do stunts like this.
Pres. Monson was my grandpa's mission president. Here's my grandparents visiting him in Salt Lake.
This was one of the most tender moments with my grandpa. I wanted more than anything for him to be at my jazz concert this last fall. He made it! I was so grateful. It was a very emotional moment for the both of us. He passed away one week later.
I love this picture! We surprised my grandpa and met him at Disneyland with the whole family. Here we are getting on "It's A Small World."
Grandpa was all about Uncle Remus stories! He did all the voices and sound effects. It was so fun to listen to him! Benny got in on it too this time.
I love this pic too! My Grandma and Grandpa are on the Roger Rabbit Ride. They are so awesome!
This is when Grandpa first got to Disneyland and we surprised him. He couldn't get over that we were really all there with him!
My birthday party with the family. My grandpa and I looking at one of our favorite old records. John Gary rocks!!
Ha Ha! My grandpa was the best marshmallow warrior you could ask for! He hid himself pretty well from our enemies!!
This picture brings back lots of memories. He was a thinker and this place we were at (Jarskey Springs) was a place where many a memory has been made. I can only imagine his thoughts as we were there.
On our family vacation to Greer. My grandpa was a huge reader!! He LOVED books! That was something that was really special to him and I. Here he is reading with my grandma.
Christmas at my grandparents house is always so much fun and we have some great traditions and lots of fun laughs!
My grandparents came to Thatcher for when Josh was ordained an Elder. This is taken in front of my college house.
Oh man! My grandpa was so strong! Here he is with Preston trying to teach him how to link arms and then stand up. It was always fun to watch him do stunts like this.
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