Starting something new

Myles bulding out table from Ann with tools from my parents

Our Christmas and New Year went very well. We had fun and spent them with Myles family. I wont say it was easy not being with my family, if I did, I'd be lying but all in all I survived and I know it may not get easier, but I will be able to bear it better as time goes. We were blessed by many presents by others and were able to stick to a strict budget for our gifts to others so we didn't go under! It was a fun time and we didn't forget the true meaning of Christmas. We skyped with my family at the end of the day and they called me when they opened our presents to them. That, for me, started the ever lasting fight over the tears. I tried so hard not to cry all day. It was really hard. I made it through though! It didn't help that they were hanging up with me to go skype my not-my-husband best friend, Brother Jon and I didn't get to.

He's so handy

We spent the rest of Christmas week working and new years eve was spent watching Pitch Perfect. (I enjoyed the music but it was very crude at some parts) and shooting fireworks. I think my inlaws learned for themselves that I like sleeping and I don't like the cold. Myles woke me up from my couch nap to get me to watch fireworks and I was crabby and freezing!!

  

Our pathetic claim to snow. It sure was cold!

We helped Gpa Nielsen harvest Pecans

We are glad to start this new year!! :) It will bring adventures of every kind!

Myles shaking the nuts off the trees

2013 is starting off with a chill! We have had snow falling for nearly 30 hours. Guess how much stuck to the ground?? Maybe a total of 2 inches... It's mostly gone now. It's crazy to me that people "can't drive" in this. The roadway is completely clear of any snow! Nothing stuck to the pavement. lol It makes me miss home more than ever. Especially today... Anyway, the down side to the snow is that we can't work when there is snow on all our cars. That made it a little difficult for us this week, with them being closed on new years day, and then the snow, we weren't able to get as much done and got no where near our goal. A goal is just that though, a goal! You can set a goal and not make it because of elements of life you cannot control. Such as weather and what days people close their businesses.
Through all of this I'm trying to remember something that my dear friend and Freshman seminary teacher always said. "During trials, don't ask 'why is this happening to me?' but ask 'what am I supposed learn from this?' And so, even though that is the one of the most difficult, humbling questions one can ask themselves, that is what I ask.

What am I supposed to learn? Sometimes I ask myself that when I'm at church and the speaker is boring, or the lesson is not grabbing my attention. At that point I can usually teach myself something pretty great with the help of the Holy Ghost. However, when this question is posed in the face of a trial, the answer always seems to come more slowly. The answer is never apparent until far after the trial is over. I have decided for myself that in the case of missing being with my family, and having rough work weeks, that my answer is faith. That must be it! It's fairly general, but I can always use more! Faith, Hope, and Charity, right?

Today Myles and I watched a man with his dog,
who appeared to be homeless or at least lived a very meager life style. He had just purchased a warm drink from Starbucks and he and his dog tried to stay close together through the snow to be warm. The man was trying so desperately to assist his dog to climb a wall, when he put his drink down on the wall and squatted down so his dog could climb up him. On the dogs first attempt he didn't make it so the man moved a little bit and the dog jumped up him again. Only this time the dog bumped the scolding drink and it spilled, melting what snow was around it. Not only did the man not have a warm drink to keep him through the cold, but it had spilled all over his shabby bag. He helped his dog up the wall the rest of the way and stood up. He looked up at the skies and shook his fists in anguish. He appeared to be cursing God. My very first instinct when his drink spilled was, "quick! Do we have cash in the car? Find it before the light turns!" I wanted him to have his warm drink in the cold. We were not able to find anything smaller than a $20 in the car, and I almost wanted to give him all of it. I missed my chance and as we passed by him, he and the dog we finding cover under the awning of an empty building. I wanted so desperately to stop but we had work to do. What a lame excuse! I have been thinking about this all day long. Why couldn't we have stopped? If only to see if he had been burned! I wish so badly that we had chosen to show him that God really was out there and looking out for him. There are days that I want to complain about the things that I don't have, or about how such and such a thing went wrong. On those days I still know that God lives, and loves me! He is watching out for me and my family, and he always knows my heart aches. I usually don't make resolutions, but this year I did. This year my goal is to find someone everyday, who I can be an example to. I want to let everyone I come in contact with know that I believe in Jesus Christ! Not by my words alone, but by my actions as well.

Jesus Lives!