Learning a Lot

That seems to be the best summary of this week... Learning a lot.

Bret, as you would expect, has been learning a LOT in school over the past three months. He just aced his anatomy test last week. (He won't be happy if I tell you HOW good he did, so I'll just say that if you assume he really did ace it, you'll only be one percent off!) He perfers that I don't brag about him so I usually don't, but I am really proud of how hard he studies. He takes his classes really seriously and I appreciate how much effort he puts into everything he does.

My mind has mostly been turning to mush, but this week I tried to combat that by reading a good book, "The Scarlet Pimpernel." I'm all about re-reading books (I'm so forgetful that it never feels redundant) so I pulled this one off our shelf and got hooked. It makes me want to see the play now! "We seek him here, we seek him there, those Frenchies seek him everywhere..."

I have also attended two work-related meetings and learned more about my job and the things associated with it, although I seemed to leave both meetings with nearly as many questions as answers. The first meeting was three hours of payroll, insurance, etc. It was a lot of new vocabulary (deductible, PPO, workers' comp, etc) but I feel really lucky that I get such great benefits even though I'm not an actual teacher! The second meeting was with the girl who I'll be "aiding." My biggest concern, however, is figuring out just how much "aiding" she wants me to do. I will feed and change her a couple times during the day and will be in her classrooms, but I will be more of a classroom aide unless she needs my help. She's awesome though. She has cerebral palsy and is in a wheel-chair. She can make some noises and can whisper some words, but if she needs to say more she types it into a machine that speaks for her. She's really smart and expressive though. I feel like we'll get along great, but I really don't want to let her down. I know Heavenly Father wanted me to get this job (because I can't think of any other reason why I'd qualify for this over Target) so I hope He doesn't let me down either! :)

One more thing I learned to do today: PAINT WALLS! I helped my visiting teaching companion, Robyn, paint her soon-to-be-nursery today. We only did the first coat, so it looked a little rough, but I think I did a good job and I'm glad that someday when I have a home to paint I will have had some experience!

As Missionaries Do

We love the missionaries here in San Angelo! On Saturday I went teaching with the Sisters while Bret went teaching with the Elders. (They just so happened to ask each of us, individually, to join them on the same night!) I loved being a tag-along missionary! Today the Sisters called to see if I wanted to come teach another family. Of course I had nothing else to do so I was excited for the opportunity. But...

After such a great, spirit-filled lesson the last time I joined them, I'm afraid I got a skewed perspective of missionary work. The truth: IT IS HARD! They are teaching a woman who is eager to learn and can feel the spirit. However, her husband sat in on the lesson today and he was all over the place. He had lots of questions, which was GREAT, but he countered each answer with his own biases which were extremely inconsistent and confusing. He went on major tangents and told awkward stories; it was hard to feel the spirit. He wasn't trying to argue, but he wasn't willing to really listen. The Holy Ghost will always confirm to our minds and hearts that this gospel is true, BUT ONLY if we have "a broken heart and a contrite spirit." We must earnestly want to know the truth and be willing to act on the answers we recieve.

Teaching with the missionaries, praying for the investegatorts, and studying with a new perspective has really strengthened my own convictions of the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the only religion containing all the components that existed when Christ was on the earth: Prophets, Priesthood, Faith, Repentance, Baptism by Immersion, the Holy Ghost, Covenants, Revelation and Temples. I am grateful for the Plan of Salvation, for a just and merciful God who gave us the opportunity to come to this earth to learn and grow. Graciously he provided us with a Savior whose perfect example and incredible sacrifice give us hope for an eternal life with him. I am grateful for the Holy Ghost who testifies of truth and comforts us as we go through life. I know these things are true and I look forward to sharing this testimony with others.

"I want to be a missionary, to teach and preach and work as missionaries do!"

Thought for the Day:

“Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.”

- James Barrie
(Author of Peter Pan)

These are a few of our FAVORITE THINGS...

Beautiful Fresh Flowers.

Maddie brought flowers when she came over for dinner on Sunday. Isn't that thoughtful!

Late night snacks. (When too many things sound good, eat them all!)

1. Our bread-maker. I tried a new recipe today and made cinnamon-swirl bread.
2. Buying mega-amounts of meat to freeze it. I won't have to buy ground beef for months!
3. "Lemi Shine." This one is the BEST ITEM OF THE DAY! Our dishes have been getting a terrible residue on them and I thought it was the detergent but it's actually the hard water build-up. A woman in my ward recommended "Lemi-Shine" so I drove stright to the store, bought it, used it, and REJOICED. My dishes are shiny and clean. Yay!
4. Also featured is the "Kitchen Witchen" who watches over our food and magically prevents kitchen catastrophes. (Sometimes she gets lazy though, because occasionally they still happen!)

Our Bread! Yummier than it looks.

Suprise packages from the Wardles!
Bret's mom sent us a package with t-shirts from the Wardle Olympics and a DVD of finest moments. Our favorite part was when Jay, Millie, Karina and Marissa came out dressed like zombies doing the "Thriller" dance for the family talent show!

The new addition to our family: George.
Yesterday I was bored and went on an adventure to Goodwill. That place was like a gold mine! I got this George Forman for $5 plus a black dress, a retro pink skirt, and a chunky belt for $10. Rock it.

Bret wondered why I was "all dressed up with no where to go." I told him it was kind-of like playing dress-ups. I was happy 'cause he told me he liked my new skirt! He's a keeper.

And here is a picture of Bret heading off to his first day of "Executive Secretary duties." I just put it up 'cause I think he's so handsome. :) I'd also like to mention that he did very well on his Neuroscience test this week and I'm really proud of him.

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens are okay, but these things have made us really happy this week!

One More Thing Biting...

I neglected to mention one thing that's biting in the last post... the misquitos! I have 23 bites below my knees! I woke up around 2am this morning frantically trying to itch my legs in my sleep. I got out of bed and sat on the couch, trying to think of how to get the itching to stop. I decided to try the Cortizone cream again, even though it has never worked. As I sat in half-sleep-mode on the bathroom floor, trying to will the cream to magically cure my crazy itching, I realized the cream expired in 1998. Yep, my grandma gave it to me a couple years ago when I had an itch and apparently we never checked the date! Needless to say, I gave up, scratched a little more (which only made it worse... it always does yet its so tempting!) then got back in bed and exercised extreme self control as I stared at the ceiling thinking, "Don't itch, don't move, don't even readjust. Fall asleep. Fall asleep. Don't itch!" Whew!

Tonight I made Bret come to the store with me so I could get some REAL anti-itch cream. Wish me a peaceful sleep!

Biting into Arms and Brownies

Yes, that's right... today in nursery a little boy who was visiting BIT another little boy's arm. 2 mintues later I could still see the marks. 15 mintues later it was still red. That is NOT what kids are supposed to do in nursery! Then again, they're also not supposed to dump 5 cups of water on the table, pull eachother's hair, or steal toys from someone and then hit them on the head with it. I love being in nursery, but 17 kids (including the aggressive visitor boy) plus 2 nursery workers equals not a very peaceful Sabbath.

Bret's Sunday was pretty eventful too. He taught the Priestood lesson today and got called as the ward's Executive Secretary. He also has a new best friend, a two year-old named Tyson. He's one of the Skidmore kids who I babysat on Friday and who came over this morning before church and sat with us through Sacrament since their mom was out of town and dad was at Bishopbric meetings. This little boy thinks Bret is the coolest thing ever (and I agree). Bret's gonna be a great dad someday, that's for sure.

And finally, our day ended by biting into some delicious brownies that the Skidmore girls helped me bake. Yum! We had Maddie and Luis over for dinner and feel so blessed to have such great friends. We admire both of them.

What an interesting and wonderful day!

We've Finally Got a Social Life

Usually this is me...
Doing little projects by myself in our house. I get a lot of quality time with myself! But this weekend I had so much company! On Thursday, Bret and I went swimming at the apartment pool.

We had a blast soaking in the sun. I love spending time with my best friend in the whole world!

Later that day I got to play tennis with a friend in Bret's program. We're getting pretty good! And like Bret predicted, we girls wouldn't be able to socialize quite enough over the net, so we eventually took a walk and had a much needed "girls chat." Thanks Maddie!

On Friday I babysat for the Skidmores, a family in our ward, all day. It was really fun! We played lots of games and spent about 3 hours at the pool. An added bonus was that I got to drive their golf cart around!

I got to see these kids again today (plus many more) at the Primary party. (Whose idea was it to celebrate Pioneer Day on the 17th instead of next Saturday on the 24th?) I ran the relay race where they took pioneer/cowboy clothes on and off. I've gotta say, my experience teaching dance and running summer camps really comes in handy when things don't go as planned and I have to improvise!

Tomorrow the Skidmore kids are coming over before church while their dad is at meetings, I get to hang out with all my 2-year-old buddies in nursery, and we're having Maddie and another friend, Luis, over for dinner. FHE with some church friends on Monday, Relief Society activity on Tuesday, and Sister missionaries over on Friday.

I LOVE HAVING A SOCIAL LIFE! Whether it's with my husband, his school friends, adults in our ward, or a bunch of kids, its SO NICE TO HAVE FRIENDS!