Giving the Lord Equal Time

As I was sitting on my living room this evening, I decided to turn to good ol' BYU TV.  Elder Ballard was giving a CES firside talk.

I wasn't able to hear his entire talk, but he said something that caught my ear :  Are we giving the Lord EQUAL time?  (you can listen to his talk)

As I was reflecting on his words I realized and recognize that it is very very easy not to give the Lord EQUAL time.  I have to work more actively to give the Lord at least equal time. 

I also realized how there must be a balance on all things.  Elder Ballard didn't say we needed to give him ALL our time, but just equal time.  

I am grateful for a loving, and understanding Father in Heaven. He really is aware of me and knew I needed a husband that would make it easier for me to slow down and not be so busy.  He knows John brings balance into my life.  I know I am not perfect and need to do better in living the basic doctrine. I'm glad we have apostles who reminds of the things we should be doing.

A Picture is worth a 1,000 words

Let the force be with you...

       Today gave me a glimpse of what the future with children will look like.  In the morning I woke up to an empty bed, and though oh John must be studying.  I was going to be so proud of him.  Well... it turned out he wasn't studying he had just woken up earlier than me so that he could get some time in to watch Saturday Morning Cartoons and play some video games.  After I woke up, we cleaned the house, and made some breakfast (it was really lunch time, but we ate breakfast), and then we decided that we would head up to alpine to go and do our laundry.  On the way up to Alpine we drove through the Alpine loop and survived a snow storm going over the top.

       On our way down from the top of the Alpine Loop we drove through a curtain of rain. We literally were driving down the hill and it was sprinkling a little, and we looked out the window and saw one half of the sky empty and the other half was a gray curtain of rain.  When we drove in the the curtain it was as though we drove into a car wash! Well, needless to say we made it out alive thanks to John's awesome car driving skills.

       While we were doing our laundry at mama nash's house we were able to enjoy how beautiful the area is. The colors on the trees were still brilliantly colorful, and the clouds were so low, it felt like we were in a dream and living in the clouds, like the care bears, only a little less 80's. I wish i knew how to use John's camera better so that I could have captured the moment better, since John was busy as always studying Arabic.

       On the way home John and I stopped at Williams-Sonoma.  I think it is one of John's favorite store and this is the reason why:

Yes, they are StarWars cookie cutters!  I have to admit, they are pretty nifty. We ended up spending our Halloween making cookies, and well eating them.  We were going to take some to our Visiting and Home Teachees, but we didn't make any frosting, so we are going to decorate some tomorrow and deliver them.

I am excited to see if my future will be like Saturday morning; sleeping in while John and the kids are watching saturday morning cartoons/video games while living in the clouds.  Knowing John he will make sure there is a Care Bare movie in our home to make it real for me.

Tonight I made sugar cookies all by myself in my Blue Steel kitchen aid.  I didn't realize that the dough needed to be thick so the cookies could turn out soft.  I soon learned that after my second batch.  Here are some pictures.  For those who are close we might just have to have a starwars party and make you some awesome cookies. Just kidding... I don't have the right program on my computer so, come back later and you'll see our pics!

to stay or not to stay.....

I feel like my life is like a box of chocolates at times. Never gonna know what you gonna get.... For this week the new "chocolate flavor" is whether or not to stay or go to Egypt for the full semester next year. Jen, you might have some good advice for me.

Before we got married, I knew I was going to be away from John for at least 3 months, and I was ok with that. I figured I would work and save up so we can both enjoy a month out in Egypt and not have to worry about my bills. I know he will be taking 15 credits and will be super busy trying to take in the culture, go to school for at least 6 hours, and then study for at least another 5. I would be busy with Festival stuff and with my Health Fair in October. Needless to say I would have enough to do and wouldn't have a lot of time to be "sad." Besides what would I do in Egypt, I would get so bored if I didn't have anything to do. I would go crazy!!! I don't know Arabic, so I would be lost.

This week as John was at his speaking appointment with Mike, he found out some interesting information:
*A previous student said the biggest mistake he made was not brining his wife to the study abroad.

*Those husband who didn't have their spouses during the semester were more prone to depression

*They felt the extra expen$e is worth having their spouse

Now the pressure is on. I would love to go to Egypt, but I am not a student that can just take off a semester and then come back to study. I actually have my biggest projects those first weeks. I have programs to run and people to keep alive.. (J/K :))

John would like me to go, and who wouldn't. I would make life so much better, and hey I might even teach Zumba out there! ( I already checked and there are 4 different places near Cairo that teach Zumba.) He is very understanding though, and knows I have work and the extra $$ wouldn't hurt anyone.

As we have been reading the reviews of previous wives, I feel like I could be doing something out there. Some of them worked with NGO's and projects and were able to experience the culture even more so than their spouses. Which would be super cool. I could learn some great cuisine out there too...

On the other hand, so much can happen from now until next August. My current Executive Director might resign and not be around. If that were to happen I don't know if the new Director would allow me just to get up and leave for 4 months and then come back. My program assistant might be going on to Grad school next fall so that wouldn't be good. I wouldn't have anyone who I could trust to keep the work going.

To stay or not to stay... that will be the new chocolate for us. There will be a lot of learning in the process and a lot of prayers of faith. I am sure the Lord has a plan for us, and I hope I can have enough faith to act upon it.

Centro Hispano

 

So what do you do now?

I work for Centro Hispano....

I would of never thought I would be still living in Provo, married, and working for a non-profit. But I am and I love it! (maybe not so much the Provo part, but definitely the married and the non-profit part) I work for one of the best organizations in the world. Centro Hispano is a place where we help the community with information, referrals, and skills to help them improve their life.
I think I get to work in the best program we have to offer. My program is called ¨Your Health in Action¨ Pretty catchy don´t you think. I came up with it. I get coordinate and teach ZUMBA classes, yoga classes and aerobic classes. I never imagined being an instructor since I consider myself to be more of a sporty girl. One that loves to play soccer and run when it rains, not one that wears spadix, or short booty shorts. But here I am... dancing my little heart for an hour. If you haven't tried ZUMBA, you should try it.
I love to ZUMBA with the ladies, they are mostly older ladies who want to be in better shape. They love to laugh and yell; which makes my job so much more enjoyable.
I also get to find new recipes that are healthy and delicious and teach the community that eating healthy doesn't mean eating bland food. I am in charge of putting together Health Fairs and kids events and bring needed medical resource and screenings the community might not have access to otherwise.
My newest project is called RESPIRAUTAH, which is a statewide coalition/network to help educate and reduce the use of Tobacco in the Hispanic community. So I get to fight big tobacco and let my people know how harmful it is and the new ways big tobacco is trying to get them addicted.
I love my co-workers they are so much fun, and I don't mind not having the perks of a higher-paying job, with better benefits. I am happy knowing there are ladies in my program who have lost 50% of their body fat in the last 6 months, lost 25 lbs in 4 months (exercising and eating healthier), 15 lbs in 3 months with no change in their diets, or their doctor taking them off their hypertension medication. That is priceless.  BTW, all our classes are FREE.  I'll be posting videos of my Zumba classes so watch out!!

I am so grateful for my job and for the amazing opportunities I get to make the world a better place.  I am also grateful for a husband that is supportive of my many projects and allows me to work on them!  

Sesame Street: Smell Like A Monster

So here I am trying to be all spiritual and as I am expressing my problem of youtube and blogs, John ask if I was trying to upload the following video.... Men...

Since I think I figured it out here is my husband first video post. It is making fun of the old spice ads that can be pretty funny.

enjoy

Continue in Patience