GREAT NEWS!

Today I got some really great news. Really great. The past few months one of my biggest anxieties has been about this next year. Not the marriage and starting a whole new chapter in my life part - that's the fun part. It's been the whole "what am I going to do every day?" part that has been stressing me out. Mike will have some pretty long shifts he's working and if I don't have something to occupy my time, I'll go crazy. Simply put. For a while, I would add a new idea to my list of what I could fill that time with. Learning to sew, and then sewing all of my own clothes (Mike said he would NOT be wearing clothing made by me), teaching guitar lessons, teaching piano lessons, learning to paint, tutoring, working with autistic children, baking in large quantities.... this is just part of my list. The closer it has been getting to the wedding, the more I have fixated on this idea of "what AM i going to do??"

Well - yesterday, I had a phone interview for the 6th grade Language Arts position in Vernal. The interview didn't go so well, or so I thought. I was pouting about it and being a sourpuss about it all day yesterday. Then I got the phone call today, offering me the position. I feel a little silly that I put so much time in grieving over a job that I would eventually get. Sometimes life just turns out like that I guess! Needless to say, I am so excited, so grateful, and so mindful of my Heavenly Father's hand in my life. I have seen so many little blessings along the way of this transition. Mike and I are definitely being taken care of, and Heavenly Father definitley wants us to be in Vernal. Knowing that makes this move all the more exciting. I can't wait to see what life holds for us.

More Pictures for your viewing.

I finally uploaded the majority of our engagement pictures to a Picasa album. Follow the link to take a peek.... LINK. :)

Tender Mercies

Tonight I went over to the Quaker church by my church building to help with some of the books that were rescued from the fire. There were about thirty young single adults there trying to help in whatever way they could. It was touching to see how much everyone cared and wanted to help. We sat around for an hour cataloging the books. I wasn't there on Sunday to witness the whole event, so I don't know if I could adequatley describe what happened, but my friend Katie was telling me about some of the really touching things that happened on Sunday.

Across from our church is a Quaker church. On Sunday, they were holding silent worship. From what I understand - they pray for something and then begin a silent worship where they sit quietly and ponder waiting to hear God's will for them. No one is allowed to break the silence for the remainder of the meeting. The thing they prayed for that day was for ways to help their neighbors in the community. As they were sitting in silence, looking out their windows they noticed their neighbors from the Mormon church spilling out onto the lawn and their building in flames. Their leader broke the silence and asked if half of the congregation would come and help in whatever way they could. Promptly, they opened up their basement and nursery. A line was formed from our church to theirs and books from the institute library were passed down the line and into their basement. Only a few books were lost, and as I was helping organize the books tonight I was amazed at some of the books that we had. The Quakers have offered up their building for a place to hold FHE on Monday nights and they are allowing us to use their basement to organize and restore some of the books. Other churches in the area have offered their buildings for our congregation to meet. We have been told by our bishop that we will probably meet in a neighboring church or synagogue for the next few months. What a beautiful testament to Christlike love.

Fun and crazy weekend

This past weekend Mike's parents and brother came out for his graduation. I took the day off on Friday so I could spend some time with them around Boston. Mike's family is so great and we had such a fun time. Saturday we woke up and headed to New York City to see Wicked. This was by far the best one. I've seen the show three times now and I loved this one most of all. The actress that played "Glinda" was on one and I was laughing so hard. The drive back was eventful as we got a little misguided for a while in some Connecticut city :)

On Sunday Mike graduated from Pharmacy School. I am so proud of him! It took a lot of work and many sleepless nights for him to accomplish what he did - but he never gave up. I love how dedicated he is. After spending the day with everyone, I drove back to Boston. It was a little bittersweet because Mike would be leaving the next day to drive back to Utah. My Boston just won't be the same without him here this next month. I'm glad I get him for the rest of my life though.

Another crazy thing that happened - while I was sitting at Mike's graduation, I kept getting text messages from friends from church. Apparently everyone had to be evacuated from Stake Conference because the fire alarm went off. A few minutes later, after everyone was safely outside, there was visible smoke coming from the building and within an hour the entire church was in flames. The building was completely destroyed and it's a bit surreal. The story is here.

little adorables

On Mother's Day, all of my siblings that live in North Carolina went over to my parent's house to visit my mom. My cute little nieces got a chance to try on their flower girl dresses and they looked awesome! It's fun to see all the little flower girls together (minus Lilly and Natalie) and how much they love their dresses. My mom and sister did such an amazing job and I can't wait to see everything pulled together at the wedding. It's going to look so great.

On another note, today I packed up six boxes of books and binders and will probably have to pack up at least two more. Yikes! Also, I found a posting for a 6th grade Language Arts teaching position at Vernal Middle School. Cross your fingers and say your prayers for me - it would be a great job and I'm hoping to hear back from them in the next week or so.

On with pictures ....

a sneek peek

Tonight my roommate, and good friend, Bree, took some engagement pictures for me and Mike. Bree did an amazing job and we got some really fun shots. We're going to try for a few more on Sunday, so as to have a variety. Plus, there were tons of people around downtown so it wasn't easy being relaxed and doing fun poses. Anywhoo.... Here are some of my favorite pictures for you to peek at -

Time is flying

Some days drag on forever and some speed by so fast I don't even have time to catch my breath. Back in January, it felt like spring would never get here and that summer time was forever away. Now here we are in May, and I can't believe that school is over next month and my life is about to change - big time.

Getting married and moving across the country to a small town (Vernal, UT) I've never set foot in is going to be quite possibly the biggest adventure I've ever set out on. It will be a wonderful adventure, but one that makes my mind reel when I let it. I try not to let it. I try not to focus on the fact that I don't have a job for next year, that I don't know where I will be living, that I have to pack up my life and move across the country, that I will be finishing school and flying to Utah never to return to Boston again - all in the same day. I TRY not to think about those things because they tend to distract from the most important thing. The fact that I get to marry my best friend and spend the rest of my forever with him - that I'm not embarking on this crazy journey alone. It's nice to be able to experience such a huge change with someone you love by your side. And, oh boy, do I love this guy....

Stupid pigs

I've pretty much jumped on the bandwagon of nervousness caused by this darned swine flu. With every new case reported in Massachusetts, I get a little more anxious. Doesn't matter that no one in Massachusetts has died and that those who were diagnosed with the virus are now recovered and fine. Just the fact that some strange illness is running amuck makes me want to wash my hands a billion times. Today when i was in the middle of teaching about the fall of the Roman Republic and I broke out in cold sweats, my first thoughts were - hmm is it hot in here? Then when my hands started shaking and I could feel all of the blood drain from my face I thought - oh crap. I'm done for. I've got the stupid pig flu! It got worse from there to the point that I had to check out half way through my class and go home. I crashed for four hours - and am now just peachy. Turns out it wasn't swine flu. It was a bad egg. Yup. I ate a bad egg this morning. Does that count as bird flu?