Saturday, November 29, 2008




Wednesday morning Ryan and I went to Plymoth MA. I figured I needed to go being that it was Thanksgiving and William Bradford is my great great...etc. grandfather. I had been wanting to go anyway and I thought Thanksgiving would be the perfect time. We got to see the Mayflower II and Plymoth rock... later we went to the cemetary where I hunted down Governor Bradford's grave... the funny thing is... one of the toumbstones says that his ashes lie beneath it, and the other says his body lies beneath... interesting... two bodies, one person... well who cares... it was fun anyway! It was beautiful down there, and the city is quite quaint. I had a great time!

My Town... Boston.





So last night Ryan and I showed his brother Brett around town. We went up to the prudential center... the view was unbelievable! I got some great pictures.



Next we went to the North End, which is the Italian section of Boston. We had dinner at a great (albeit expensive) restaurant, and then we had dessert at Mike's Pastry's... which is the best pastry shop in Boston (and believe me, it was amazing) I got a peanut butter crunch cookie, which was about the size of my head. Then we walked up through government center to the T. It was a great night.

Pictures: random cigar store, Ryan and Brett in front of the random cigar store, me on a budwiser bench, view from the Prudential center

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Gratitude

Well, it is Thanksgiving again, and time to reflect on all I have. I can't even begin to say all the things I am thankful for, but I will definitely try to at least put a few (in no particular order):
Family- I am so thankful for a family who loves me, for parents who have given everything so that I can be happy. I am grateful for all my ancestors who make me who I am. I am grateful for the opportunity that I can live with my family for eternity. I am grateful for a brother serving a mission for the Lord. Thankful for parents who support me, and help me in so many ways. Thankful for grandparents who are stalwart examples to me. Thankful for cousins (and cousins-in-law) who are so much fun to be with.
Friends- those people who I can call on when I need strength, everyone who makes me feel special, the people I love, and who love me despite how stupid I can be sometimes. People who I can laugh with, people who I can cry with... Friends.
School- yes school... amazingly enough I am thankful for it. Thankful for getting into a grad program, thankful for teachers who are kind, thankful for being able to get an education, thankful that I can choose what I want to do, thankful for doing something I love, thankful for my clients at clinic and how much they have progressed.
Church- thankful for belonging to the true church. Thankful for having served a mission for the Lord, thankful for the love I feel at church, thankful for the scriptures, thankful for peace, thankful for the priesthood, thankful for prophets, thankful for teachers... thankful
The United States of America- being here, in this wonderful country. Thankful for the founding fathers who sacrificed so that I could have my freedoms. Thankful for freedom, thankful for liberty, thankful that there are still good people in this country. Thankful that I can walk down the street without fearing for my life.
Boston- thankful for moving here. Thankful for the wonderful people here, thankful for the heritage here. thankful for the beautiful city, thankful for the Charles river, and how it reflects the lights. Thankful for the T... and how it gets me to and from where I need to go. Thankful for the Boston Common, which is beautiful year round, thankful for being able to walk around and see so much history. Thankful for the beautiful buildings.

ya know... I am so grateful for everything I have... there is no way I can name all my blessings, but those are a few.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Grace of God

So I am thankful for my blessings, the way the Lord works in mysterious ways. This morning I was on time getting ready. I was dressed with hair done, makeup on, and coat buttoned up at 8:00. Though this is a strange occurrence I figured that I had time to wait for JM to get ready and come with me so we could sit on the T together. I thought to myself that it would be a far more favorable ride if my sidekick was... well... by my side. I waited and we got off about 10 minutes later than I would have wanted, but hey, there was still plenty of time to get to school. I prayed as we ran down the stairs that I would be able to get to clinic on time, and that I would even have time to spare to run up to check my mailbox. Everything went so smoothly. We got to the t-stop and only had to wait 2 minutes. The ride was fast, and enjoyable as we talked about who knows what. JM got off at Boston University East at 8:31, way ahead of schedule. "Hooray" I thought, "I am going to be a good 15 minutes early." as we descended into Kenmore I said a prayer of thanks that the T was running so smoothly today. Hynes Convention Center virtually flew past, we squeeled into Copely at 8:39. Good... early... so much less stress! "Next stop, Arlington, doors will open on the right" said the T voice, and I breathed a sigh of relief, and then we stopped. No big deal I though... happens all the time, we must be waiting for the other one to leave the station. The conductor's radio seemed to be going nutts... everyone talking... "this train is a test train, no passangers will be allowed on or off" said the T-voice on my train... "ha ha ha" everyone laughed... Wow this is taking longer than usual... "ladies and gentelmen we are sorry to report there has been an accident at the Boylston T-stop and we are unable to move" I tune into what the radio is saying in the conductor's booth (I happened to sit up there today). "Two train collision. . . I hear screaming and static from somewhere on the line. . . multiple injuries. . . should we evacuate the trains. . . ambulance on its way. . . its really bad . . ." uh oh... what is wrong. Everyone in the train starts to grumble about having to be somewhere, do something. Gosh dang it I think... for once I am going to be early instead of just getting there in time... and now this. 40 minutes pass... and I realize... if I had left my house 10 minutes earlier when I had wanted to... I would have been on that train... how can I complain about being a half hour late to clinic when by the grace of God I am whole?

Ryan's B-day




Ryan's birthday was last week... and so we celebrated... twice... once at our place, and once at his. This first picture is at his house... awww the three musketeers... second one is the awesome gift we gave him... and the third one is the three of us with the cake we made him. Happy Birthday Ryan!

Pictures





So I was just thinking how I have been lax in posting my pictures recently- which is the entire reason I even got a blog in the first place- not so you could all read my ramblings on about my life, but rather so you could see it all... feel like you are here with me etc. Well now I have gotten the hang of blogging and can't seem to get enough (on the days where I just want to talk about something to the world) and I have forgotten my real intentions in blogging in the first place... so here are some pictures (so I still can't get them to turn the correct direction) but here is a day where JM and I went on a tour of the city... not meaning to but we discovered bronze trash (cuz we needed more trash in this city- especially some that you can't get off the ground) JM and I eating a watermellon we got for a buck at haymarket (which is this place that they sell produce that is going to go bad soon for way cheap) we broke the watermelon in half on the government center steps and enjoyed the jucy deliciousness on a cold wintery day. There is also a pic of me and JM in the T station (so you can see the place I talk about so often) and a picture of the T

Monday, November 10, 2008

Rejoice

I know my Heavenly Father loves me. So, those of you who read my blog this morning will know that I am stressed out. I was having such a hard day and trying to get over it. All I wanted was something, some way to know that it would all be ok. I decided that I would go and get a beagle for lunch and try to relax for a bit. As I walked up the street I heard bells... bells I have never heard before ringing from a church. As I listened more closely I realized that I recognized the tune, "Rejoice the Lord is King" the song rang out "Lift up your heart! Lift up your voice! Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!" and again the bells sounded, "Lift up your heart! Lift up your voice! Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!" and I realized that I would be alright. Everything would work out. I would get over my problems. I would see the light of day again. I have so much to be thankful for. I must rejoice in my blessings. I will lift up myheart, I will lift up my voice. I will rejoice, yes, I will rejoice.

Reality Check

Ok, so I have had so many people tell me that my blog is totally positive and that I can seem to put things that are negative in a positive light, so I am going to let you all see that life isn't always fine and dandy. I mean I am sitting here outside my class where I just failed (and I mean totally failed) a test which I actually bothered to study for (amazing I know that I would study for a test) it just so happens that I happened to study all the wrong stuff... and I mean all the wrong stuff... I only KNEW about 1/10 of the stuff on the test at all... and could BS about another 1/2 of it (which I guess was a totally piositive thing). I have no idea what happened. I mean seriously I STUDIED I even went to the library for like 4 hours (I didn't even know where the library was) and I tried really hard... but hey I guess I am already failing like 2 other classes so why not fail 3. It is getting to the point in the semester where I am thinking there is no way I am ever going to dig myself out of this awful pit that I am in. I can't get less than a 3.0 in my classes otherwise I get kicked out of the program and I will have wasted... well... bacically my life... aside from the thousands of dollars. I guess it could be a good thing if I get kicked out of school because, then I could work... I don't know what kind of crap job would want someone who has a useless degree... and I am pretty sure that that kind of job isn't something I even remotely want to do... yeah cuz pushing papers and flipping burgers isn't exactly something that interests me. So I guess wht I am saying is that life sucks... I cried all morning (and that was before the test) because I am so stressed, and I even woke up my family at 5 because I just really needed to talk, and that just made me feel more like crap because, I had awakened them... well, I guess I need to be thankful for a family who is willing to talk to me at 5am. I should also be thankful for the fact that some girl gave me her seat on the T this morning even though it was totally crowded (I think that she was my angel, cuz I was able to get a bit more studying in... even if it did me no good) and some lady just passed me in the hallway right now and smiled at me... which made me feel less... I don't know crappy. I guess I should also be thankful for the fact that I did really well on my Neuro quiz last week... which gives me tons of hope for getting my grade up in that class (two weeks in a row of almost perfect quiz scores... even if I still don't know what I got on the test that is pretty good) I am also thankful that I got lots of my reports done this weekend... and I am thankful for friends who make me happy (thanks JM and Ryan... and everyone else) I am also thankful for church... and how it can make me happy even when nothing else can... I am thankful for God... how he loves me, even when I procrastinate and do stupid things... and fail classes and tests... I am thakful for my Savior- who gives me peace... I am thakful for scripture which sooths my soul and calms my mind... so I guess my life is actually pretty good... even if today is a hard day. I will totally live... I just am having a reality check (and guess what... its ok)

Monday, November 3, 2008

Different Perspectives

So I am sitting here on the T (I just realized my life must revolve heavily around the T because I seem to be talking about it in 9 of every 10 of my blog posts) thinking about how wonderful it is. I happened to get on the best train ever tonight, the big window in the front of the cab is stretched before me and I can see the beautifully, intriguing labyrinth stretch before me. Tunnels merging and diverging one after another, bulbs casting strange forms on the walls in slightly orange light, lines of electric cables scurrying across the walls, beautiful. I guess I haven’t thought of how beautiful functionality can be.I have often thought “I wish this train would go faster,” or “I hate how it seems that the C train and the D train and even the E train come faster than mine, the B train, and yet today, all I can think is how thankful I am to have this public transportation. I can’t believe how much time, and money, and stress it saves me. Then... I listen. The people next to me are complaining... “I didn’t miss this about Boston.” “It is the s***iest system in the world” “Murphy's law always applies on the T, your train is never the first to come, you always have to wait forever, and then even if it is the first train to come, it never makes up for all the times you have to wait forever till your train comes. I can’t stand it.” Strange I think... they arrived after me to wait for the train tonight... yeah it took about 10 minutes, but hey, it came. And... and, there were seats. Besides, it is the best bit of culture I get here... the accents... the languages... it is like heaven on earth. I love the T. Odd how people sitting on the same train can have such different perspectives.

Laughing at oneself

So, I am constantly doing stupid stuff. I have broken my ankle in Versailles, I have burned giant chunks of skin off my elbow with a curling iron, said the most random, most stupid stuff ever in classes, and done all sorts of other things which I can't think of right now. Most people just get overly embarrassed and slink away from the situation. I, on the other hand, feel like it is my duty to the world to let myself be laughed at, to laugh at myself... to embarrass the embarrassment. No, its not easy, and yes I would prefer to do as the common man does and try to be invisible, but who does that help? It doesn't help me, it doesn't help anyone else, but if I laugh I tend to feel better about it all, and everyone seems to feel a bit more at ease. So laugh people, laugh at yourself... laugh at me... its ok... life is so much better when you do. Laughter is the key to happiness (ok not necessarily, but it helps)