Avery's 2nd Birthday!

On the 21st Avery turns 2!  I can't believe how fast the last two years have gone.  This year my little girl learned to talk (3-4 word sentences), jump, sing (off tune, but she's learning!), her alphabet, her colours, her numbers, and how to count to 12 (reliably without #5).  I'm sure there are tons of other things she's learned, like how to be an awesome big sister, and how to give the best kisses and hugs in the world, but I digress ;).  We decided to have her party today due to my impending surgery on Monday.  Here are a few pictures:

I'm really bad with taking pictures because I prefer to enjoy events but we got a few.  She LOVES Paw Patrol and she LOVED the decorations and cake. She had a blast.  Love this girl to bits!  Happy 2nd birthday Avery!

Recap--The bad, the good, the better

Hi all,

It's been many months since I last wrote, and much has happened.  A few weeks after my last post, my grandfather passed away.  He had been suffering from bladder cancer and it finally claimed his life.  I was with him in the hospital when he died and I am grateful that he didn't suffer for very long.  He had been battling this for years and it was under control until the last 2 years.  He didn't experience any severe pain until the last 2 weeks of his life.  Very merciful indeed.  He would have been 91 tomorrow.  I love him, and I miss him, and I think about him often but I'm glad that he is now with my grandmother again and we can do his temple work next year.

April and May were kind of a blur, with funeral plans, starting a second job, wedding plans, and still teaching seminary.  I feel like we may have alienated a few of our friends during this crazy and difficult time.  It's not because we're engaged and don't want to hang out with you guys, trust me, we do want to.  A lot.  Please contact us and hang out with us.  We will make time for you. 

As for wedding plans, things are going very smoothly.  My sister has been taking care of everything and just letting us know what we needed to do when we needed to do it.  It's really been a load off.  All of the big things are done-invitations, DJ, rings, temple bookings, endowment interviews (1 down 1 to go), new apartment, new job (for me, starting the end of August!), bachelorette party, wedding shower, and much more.  The only big thing left for me is to finish my wedding dress.  I have a 4th fitting with the seamstress next week and it should be almost done!  I'm really excited for the final product. 

All of that, working like crazy, getting jobs, losing jobs, getting released from callings, and attending the temple at least once a month, it's been tiring.  But we're finally feeling on track and that things are starting to cool off.  We'll be in a flurry about a week or so before the wedding,  but the next month should be relatively smooth sailing.  I'm really looking forward to getting my endowments in a few weeks.  It's going to be great!  That's pretty much the main update right now, but we'll try and keep you posted!

Until next time!
-J

Exit Plan A

Alright, so for all you curious people, here is our story.

Jon and I first met back in January of 2011 (What?  When?).  As we recalled how long he's been in Ottawa and our circle of mutual friends, we remembered that we indeed had met at our friend Carl's New Year's Eve party in January.  I had to admit, I barely remembered him there, and he only remembered me because of my very memorable best friend Sierra :P.

In July 2011 I came home to Ottawa to start my year off.  When he 'met' me, I looked something like this:

Yep, that's how I roll.  First day back at church, back in Ottawa, back in single's ward, and I decided to go blond and spikey.  That's me.  :)

As I got back into the swing of things, I was invited out to a number of social engagements.  I began to get to know Jon, and thought he was a pretty awesome guy.  Referring back to this post, that tells you how we began dating.  Our first date was Jan 24, 2012.  We went out to the Notre-Dame Cathedral and to Dunn's in the Market for dinner afterwards.  We went on another date on a tour of the Parliament Buildings and dinner at some little Mexican food place in the Market.

We saw each other every day for 4 weeks and we were already talking about marriage.  But, we needed to pray about it.  So we did.  And we each got our own answers.  Mine came while I was reading through old journals.  I was reading about other guys that I have dated and this feeling of peace just came over me.  It reassured me that this time it was different and I knew I had my answer.

As I was driving Jon to the bus stop that night, I told him I had gotten my answer.  He said he got his too, and then he just popped the question "will you marry me?" right then and there while I was driving.  Of course I said "yes" and I had to pull over because we were so excited.  That was almost two weeks ago, and since then, we've started wedding planning and we went to the temple yesterday.  The guest list is almost finalized (we're trying to keep it small to accomodate our student budget) and we're working on finding a place to live for August 1st.  "Save the dates" will be sent out soon so keep posted!

Until next time,
Jess

Life's Unexpected Turns

The past few years have been such a growing experience for me.  I've gone through significant life changes, family and disease struggles, and testimony-trying experiences.  Somehow (ok, I know how) I've been able to come out on top, time and time again.  I know that the Lord has been helping me in my life and directing me in all the things I need to do.  In the last year, I have felt the companionship of the Holy Ghost almost constantly because of my Heavenly Father's helping me to become a better person and leave my past behind me.  I've been happier than ever before in my life and I finally understand that when the Lord asks you to do something, it's for a good reason.  Even if it seems inconvenient for you and your life plan, things will always work out for the better.  The Lord knows what He's doing and will only direct your paths for good.

All of that being said, I was finally at a good place in my life.  I was happy, healthy, and looking forward with faith to my future.  There were very few feelings of lonliness.  Seminary and Relief Society have given me the strength and capacity to love the people I'm teaching and serving and have made my interactions with them more meaningful and real.  They have fulfilled me in a way I didn't think was possible.  I love my callings. 

In my personal life, I had taken the personal challenge to go on more dates.  In the last 6 months, I've been out on dates with a number of different guys (I think 6...).  It was all pretty casual and I had some fun times.  More recently, one of my friends came out of a relationship and I figured, why not?  I'll ask him out.  I knew that we had fun as friends so maybe we'd have fun on a date too.  He said yes, and we went on a few dates...that were actually pretty awkward.  Transitioning out of the friend-zone is never easy, for anyone.  We finally talked about it and realized that there was no reason to be awkward.  We could continue talking about everything we had talked about while we were friends (even the supposed date-taboo topics like past relationships and dating in single's ward) and not be uncomfortable about it.  Pretty solid agreement.

That being said, once the awkwardness was out of the way, our relationship was allowed to grow and now, for the first time in a very, VERY long time, I am officially dating someone.  It's new, and exciting, and we both feel good about it.  :D

Until next time,
-J

January Book Review

In January, I managed to squeeze in reading 3 books (ok, I cheated a little and started one just after Christmas, but close enough). 

First, Still Alice by Lisa Genova

 

This book tells about a psychology professor who is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease at the age of 50.  It goes through the terrifying identification stages, the dangerous disorientations, and the heart-breaking memory losses.  It highlights the randomness with which Alzheimer's attacks the brain and how some days are better than others.  It shows the difficulty in caring for someone like this because it's such an unpredictable disease.  A very compelling story.

Second, Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn

I read this book as an interesting commentary on religion and governmental control.  Essentially, the people of a fictitious island nation have a monument with the phrase "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" that is dedicated to the man who supposedly invented it.  The letters fall off one by one and the council agrees that it is this man speaking from beyond the grave telling them that they can no longer use those letters.  All words with those letters are not allowed to be written or spoken.  The whole novel stems from the idea that this statue of this man is dictating how language is to be used, rather than the scientific evidence that the glue holding the letters in place for 100 years is finally disintegrating.  An interesting read, but not one that changed my life in any way.

Third, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

A very compelling, somewhat-graphic, portrait of life in Afghanistan during the 1980s and a family who escaped to America for a short time, only to return to Kabul during the rise of the Taliban.  A devastating picture of the fighting between tribes, the poverty and the war-torn country and people.  It made me nauseated, happy, disgusted, hopeful, devastated, scared, and guilty.  It moved me so much that I was on the verge of tears several times.  It may just be that I have very little knowledge of events in the Middle-East during the 80s, but I am shocked by some of the things I read.  But it was a great novel and one I would most definitely recommend.

Until next time,
-J

So Good

Tonight I had the opportunity to go out to an appointment with the Sister Missionaries.  They are so awesome!  It's been so long since I went out with any missionaries, and I forgot how good it feels.  Tonight we taught this awesome guy.  He totally understands the Gospel, and he doesn't think he does.  I actually learned something from him tonight, because of his amazing faith.  To everything we taught him he said "It makes so much sense!".  He also really knows how to study the scriptures.  He found 1 Nephi 1:20 in his first reading and told us how amazing it is!  I didn't even really notice that verse until Elder Bednar's talk in April 2005 General Conference.  This investigator totally gets it just from reading the scriptures!  I had to have Elder Bednar speak to me through this talk in order to even notice this verse.  It got me thinking about when I first heard it.

I remember this talk in particular because it really struck me at that time in my life.  I remember exactly where I was and when it was that I heard it.  I was at my mom's office while she did some work (I didn't have my license at this point) and we couldn't get back to the chapel in time for the second Sunday session.  So I locked myself in an empty office, booted up the computer and started listening to the conference.  I remember lying on the floor, almost asleep, when this talk came on.  Suddenly I was wide awake and every word he spoke just stuck in my mind.  It was amazing.  Though I didn't remember anything specific about the talk, since then, the phrase "the tender mercies of the Lord" has stuck in my mind and I think about it often. 

In re-reading this talk tonight, this particular part stood out to me, because I have seen it in my own life:

"As I indicated earlier, the Lord’s tender mercies do not occur randomly or merely by coincidence. Faithfulness, obedience, and humility invite tender mercies into our lives, and it is often the Lord’s timing that enables us to recognize and treasure these important blessings...I repeat again, the Lord’s tender mercies do not occur randomly or merely by coincidence. Faithfulness and obedience enable us to receive these important gifts and, frequently, the Lord’s timing helps us to recognize them."

Since hearing this talk, I have recognized the Lord's tender mercies in my life.  Whether it was as huge as having the Spirit directly tell me, in words, what to do, or having a hymn or scripture come to mind when pondering on a specific thing I was having trouble with, the mercies do come.  I have cherished them.  I love them.  They help bring me closer to my Heavenly Father because they show that He loves me and I know He wants me to know it.

I want to thank that investigator for giving me the opportunity to re-live my discovery of this verse.  I want to thank him for being so in-tune with the Spirit that we had an amazing discussion tonight.  I really hope that he knows how special he is.

Until next time,
-J

I Am Nerd

Alright, recently I have managed to show my nerdiness in so many different ways.  It's just dawned on me how much of a nerd I am when it comes to things I like.  On Sunday I had a conversation about Final Fantasy with a friend and later, with said friend, managed to reference Nirvana, Moulin Rouge, and Gladiator all in the same sentence.  Then, last night at the Sens game, they played music that I correctly identified as being from Star Wars...but not only did I recognize it as Star Wars, I recognized it more specifically from The Phantom Menace.  Yes, it gets better.  I also identified that the trumpet player who was doing all the "da dun da dun da da...CHARGE!!!" music was playing on a C trumpet, not a Bb.  I'm that cool.  Video games, movies, music...oh and books too!  Pretty much sums up my nerdiness.