My Baby Sister

I came into this world as little sister to an amazing big brother. A few years later I became a big sister to a little brother... and then another little brother... and I started to get worried. Brothers are awesome, but there was something in me that needed a sister.

I think I started praying for a baby sister the moment I could speak. I also asked my parents for one, but they obviously couldn't be trusted to do that right. I had a cute dark haired Cabbage Patch doll that I named Angelica. She would have to do until the real thing came along. I did everything with her and continually reminded both my parents and my Heavenly Father of my need for a real sister. 

Then when I was six years old (which is a LONG time to wait!) I had a beautiful spiritual experience that is much too personal to share on the internet, but as a result I knew that she was coming. When I woke up I ran in to tell my mom that she was pregnant and that Angelica was on her way. My mom really was pregnant, but she hadn't told anyone yet and it was much too early to know the gender of the baby. She was too sweet to let me get my hopes up again, so she tried to tell me all the great things about having another brother, just in case. But I knew.

Three days before my seventh birthday I got the only thing I had ever truly wanted in my life up to that point. My beautiful baby sister was born and I needed no other sort of birthday present. All I wanted to do for the remainder of that summer was hold that sweet baby girl in my arms. I was constantly stealing her away from other people because I knew the best way to rock her to sleep or get her to smile, and really I felt like I had some sort of claim on her. She was obviously mine! I knew other people loved her, but I had prayed my entire life to get her here! If they wanted to spend more time with her maybe they should have shown more initiative!

I was so excited for every step of our journey as sisters. I couldn't wait to teach her all that my little seven year old brain had already stored up. I hoped she would love Cinderella and the Little Mermaid as much as I did. We would get to do those girly things together that I couldn't do with my brothers! I was fairly certain that there would be nothing but sunshine and roses on our path.

Of course that didn't turn out to be entirely true. But there is one thing that never changed, and that is that I love my baby sister and I still feel like she is mine more than she is anyone else's. 

Two weeks ago I dropped Sister Angelica Strasser off at the MTC. She will be serving the Lord as a full time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for the next 18 months in the Denver Colorado Mission. I am so proud of her! But leaving her there was one of the hardest things I have ever done. Because she is mine! And as I held her in my arms one last time and kissed her on the forehead I had to question myself. Did I set a good example for her? Have I taught her the things she will need to be successful? Have I shown her through my words and my actions that I know the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true and that the work she is doing is the work of God? Does she truly know how much I love her? 

I hope the answer to those questions is yes. 

Because though I will miss my Angelica terribly, I have never been more proud to call her my baby sister.

Go GREEN or go home

It has been a long while since I blogged and I could tell you all about why, but right now I have something more important to share. A few hours ago I was just a single girl with a happy life. But as you will soon see, I may have just become something much more.

So brace yourself.

I am about to tell a story that may shock you.

I have lived in my apartment for almost 18 months now. It is a beautiful third floor apartment with 9 foot ceilings and crown molding and I have been very happy here. My roommate and I work to keep it tidy and I had never ever seen a single unwanted creature with an exoskeleton lurking in any of its well vacuumed or dusted corners. I say 'had' because today it finally happened. My roommate is out of town so I was alone in my kitchen dishing up some Blue Bell while watching the season finale of Bachelor Pad when I saw something run across the counter and realized I was not actually alone. (I realize there is more than one part of the previous sentence that makes me sound slightly pathetic, but if you can overlook that I would greatly appreciate it.)

My heart dropped into my stomach. Not only do I hate almost all creatures with exoskeletons, but there is no man in my life who kills bugs for me (though I honestly almost called my home teachers) AND to make it worse it had been so long since I had been called upon to kill a bug that I felt terribly out of practice! I have no bug killing sprays or devices in my apartment simply because I have not needed them!

So with my eye on that dirty little intruder I squatted down to open the cupboard under my sink and felt around for any bottle with a sprayer on it. The winner was a 97% naturally derived all-purpose cleaner that I found at Target. Now up to this point that repulsive creature had not moved an inch. He merely stood there taunting me. But as soon as I aimed that bottle he started to run. With my left hand I attempted to move things out of the way of my spray and with my right I sprayed with all my might.

The chase lasted for what seemed like an eternity, but as you can probably tell because I am alive to tell the story, I ended as the victor and he ended drowning in a pool of naturally derived foam. (Which, as a side note, I feel is a much more humane way to kill bugs seeing that it was 'green' and all.)

After a last victorious spray directly up into the air and a maniacal laugh I looked around at my kitchen.

Not a single moveable appliance was in its place and neither was anything else. That tiny exoskeletanous creature (yes, that word is made up) had set fire to a rage I didn't know existed inside of  me and turned me into a monster. 

And with that realization came another:
I am pretty much THE INCREDIBLE HULK.

So I cleaned up my kitchen, which I had already conveniently sprayed down with a wonderful smelling green cleaner, and basked in the greatness of my new found super powers.

I guess a hero just doesn't know he is a hero until he has to fight a villain.

Adam and Sugar

Sometimes you arrive at an event and find yourself improperly dressed for the activities being done. When that moment comes you have two choices: to abstain from the activities deemed "inappropriate" for you attire, or to disregard what others might say and have fun. I strongly recommend the second option.

Yesterday I spent hours chasing Adam through bounce houses and going with him down slides just because he assured me they were "super fun!" I was in a dress, and for a moment I thought about telling that sweet little boy I couldn't play with him because I had come in the wrong clothes. But the more he said, "Come! Fun!" the less I could resist him. And guess what - he may only be 2, but he knows what he's talking about. I haven't had that much fun in a LONG time.

Luckily our adventures didn't end there. When we went home Adam and I decided to make cookies. I had forgotten how exciting that can be to a 2 year old. The best part was after he discovered the dough was delicious he splatted some on me. (I'm still trying to decide whether or not it was on purpose). Then he decided to help me get it cleaned up by licking it off my arm. Even better still was that it took him a good couple minutes to get it licked completely clean. 

Of all the roles I play, Aunt Sugar is becoming more and more my favorite as time goes on. 

Thanks, Adam, for giving me a break from my crazy life and helping me play and laugh like a kid again! I love you!

What doesn't kill you

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger... or so I've been told.

But honestly this week I was beginning to think that for me it went something like "what doesn't kill you makes you weak enough that they can kill you tomorrow" or "what doesn't kill you leaves you maimed and useless."

But the truth is that Heavenly Father loves His children, which includes you and me and everyone else out there. And the hard things that we go through are not to make us weak, depressed, or ashamed of ourselves.

"And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: 

knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

And hope maketh not ashamed; 

because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts

 by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us."

Romans 5:3-5

If weekends were forever...

Raise your hand if you loved conference!
You can't see it, but my hand is WAY up in the air.
This weekend was absolutely perfect. Not only were the messages given in General Conference exactly what I needed to hear, as always, but the rest of the weekend fell so happily in to place that I can't think of a single thing I didn't love.
Saturday morning I got to sleep in all the way to 8:00am, which NEVER happens! It was a beautiful morning and my brother and I went for a run together (one of our favorite activities) and danced around the apartment to Earth, Wind, and Fire (another one of our favorite activities) all before making waffles and settling down for Conference. After the first session we met up with family to watch Boise State kick Nevada's trash for 2 quarters, watched the second session of Conference, and then finished the game. (GO BRONCOS!!!) Sunday was equally wonderful. Again I got to sleep in, spend time with family, be spiritually fed, and in keeping with tradition get together with some very close family friends for a delicious feast between sessions.
After a seriously stressful week of work it was the perfect way to come back to reality and be reminded of the truly important things in life:
my FAMILY, my FAITH, and of course, FOOTBALL :)

Little Victories

I can't believe it has literally almost been 6 months since the last time I blogged. Guess who has been a busy girl these days... this girl. But I have decided that I feel a lot better about what I do day to day when it is recorded. Even if no one else reads it or ever hears about it, writing it down somehow makes me feel accountable for the work I have done and the time I put in. So it is back to the blog for me!

For anyone who did not have the pleasure of hearing Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk from the General Relief Society Meeting this past weekend I highly recommend that you click on the following link. "Forget Me Not" President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

In his talk I felt that President Uchtdorf spoke directly into my soul and because of that I have been turning his words over in my head all week long. The biggest subject on my mind has been being patient with myself. Long term goals are not going to be realized all at once. I need to find happiness in the progress I make towards my goals every day. I have found that too often I am putting myself down for not yet being where I want to be rather than looking at how far I have come since I decided to change. This is something that has been on my mind for a while now, but I didn't have any idea how to make it better. Then these words spoke right to my heart. "God wants to help us to eventually turn all our weakness into strengths, but he knows this is a long term goal... [your] successes may seem tiny to you and they may go unnoticed by others, but God notices them and they are not small to him."

And that is when I decided I want to start recording my "little victories" of every day. 

I now have a little notebook I have been keeping in my purse that I have officially set apart to document my little victories. My long term goals are written on the back pages and I have the whole book to get closer to them. So far my entries range from finally writing the letter to my friend in the Army that I have been meaning to get out for weeks to organizing my bills to hearing that one of my patients has actually learned from the asthma class I teach and was able to wake her dad up when she was having an asthma attack the other night and tell him exactly what she needed to come out of it. 

Honestly I have already started to notice a major difference in my day as I write these little victories down. They give me even more reason to smile. 

Are you a WARRIOR?

Once upon a time I moved into my own apartment and didn't get internet set up for a month..... so this is my first post in a long time, but it will be a good one!

I have a question to ask you - Are you a warrior?

Because I am.

How do I know I am a warrior you ask?

Look at this:

A picture says a thousand words, does it not?

Hehe. SO this weekend Casey and I ran a 5K called The Warrior Dash and it was pretty much  the most empowering experience of my life. I literally left there on an adrenaline rush that is still going strong and with a new feeling that I am invincible! How could I feel any other way after hurdling over cars, jumping fences, running through rivers, climbing cargo nets, crawling through trenches, jumping over a fire, and swimming through a mud pit all in the course of 5 kilometers? I think it is safe to say it was the craziest frickin' day of my life.

And then to top it off at the end I was given a medal and a furry viking helmet. As if I didn't already feel powerful, the helmet did me in! It was the best day I have had in a long while and I love that Casey Anne was there to do it with me! WE ARE WARRIORS!