Consider the Lillies

I'm just having a lazy, contemplative morning this morning. As I was browsing through people's facebooks and blogs, I came across a link to this song. I've always loved Consider the Lillies, but in recent months it has taken on a special meaning.

As I listened to it, I was brought back to a special, sacred Sunday in a hospital room. It had been an intense week filled with tests and lots of unknowns. Isaac was still on his mission, something that was hard for each of us. As we stood around the bed of Isaac's father who was just diagnosed or would soon be diagnosed with a severe malignant brain cancer, we held a special Sunday meeting there for him. The Spirit permeated the room as we all joined together in prayer. My mother and I had prepared this song to sing as part of this special devotional. We hardly got through the first verse before the tears began, but we were able to make it through. The last verse seemed to especially ring true in my heart as I sang, "Consider the sweet tender children, who must suffer on this earth." And then of course the chorus, "...and he will heal those who trust him, and make their hearts as gold."

As I thought back to that moment, I could remember the peace that filled each of us, the peace that comes in knowing beyond any doubt that God is with us. He is mindful of us and always will be. No matter what trials we may find ourselves in, we have to know that God will not leave us. We have to know that "all these things will give us experience and will be for our good." He knows each lily in each field. He knows how they grow and how they wilt, especially when they encounter things completely out of their control.

Today, I realized once again how blessed my life really is. I'm so grateful for the peace that the knowledge of the Gospel can bring. Isaac's father is still with us, stubborn and determined as ever. It's been almost a year since that day, and for the past year we've witnessed so many extensive miracles. So even though, from an outsider looking in it may seem like this trial is unfair, undeserved. I like to think that the miracles we have witnessed and the blessings we have received are the unfair, undeserved part of this all. It has been a humbling, faith testing experience, but God continues to watch over us and bless us. He will never cease doing so as long as we have our faith.

We just have to believe in Him. 

School has begun, and we'll be moving soon.

It's been a while since I've updated. Life has been pretty busy.

Isaac just started school on Thursday and both of us are happy. He's really excited to have more productive things to do, and I'm really excited for him to have more productive things to do. :) It's a win-win. It sounds like this semester will be keeping him pretty busy, and I know he's gonna do really well.

Speaking of school, I finally finished my grad school application and will likely be hearing back from them (or not) this week. If I do hear back, I'll have an all-day on campus interview to complete and then I'll know if I'm in or not. If I don't hear back from them, I guess I won't be going to grad school in the fall! :) Either one I'll actually be pretty content with, so we'll see.

Beyond that, life has been pretty normal. We're already starting to look at new places to live. We've liked our current apartment, but our lease it up at the end of March and we're hoping to find a 2 bedroom apartment closer to campus so that Isaac can ride his bike to school. Right now, Tech is about 15 minutes away and it's costing us a lot in gas money. Isaac nearly curses at the idea of having to move again, but I think he finds solace in the fact that this could likely be our last move for the rest of our time here. As for me, I kinda think moving is fun. I love organizing and setting up a new home with new looks. (But don't tell Isaac I said that...)

It's kinda funny, too. Isaac and I just barely got callings at church. He's teaching 16-17 year old Sunday School, and I'm teaching Sunbeams. Isaac is enjoying all of the punk teens in his class, trying to show them that learning the gospel is "cool." He's doing a good job. And I kind of love the Sunbeams. Originally, I was put in Nursery, but when I told them I worked with 2-year-olds all week, they thought they'd give me a change of scenery... so now I'm with 3-year-olds. haha Luckily, I never tire of children. I just love them a bunch. Also, Sunbeams kinda cracks me up. For instance:

The other Sunday, my co-teacher was teaching. (We switch off every week.) She was teaching a lesson on bodies, and how we came to this Earth to get bodies so we can be like God and Jesus, who also have bodies. She decided to use the story of Joseph Smith seeing God and Jesus as an example of how they have bodies just like ours. She put in an animated, old fashioned movie about Joseph Smith for the kids to watch. She had forgotten, however, that the movie began with Joseph as a young boy, getting his leg operated on. We decided maybe this could teach about how Heavenly Father heals our bodies. Little did we know how traumatic it was going to be for our little 3-year-olds. As they sat there watching Joseph cry and the doctor with the knife, I looked around the room. All I saw were 3-year-olds sitting completely still, some with tears welling up in their eyes, and all of them with a shocked look on their face. Not unlike the picture below.

Some of them even closed their eyes, or put their hands on their face. We were both laughing, feeling bad for giving all of our little Sunbeams PTSD, so we fast-forwarded to the part where Joseph prayed in the grove. Most of the kids rebounded after us explaining over and over that Heavenly Father helped make Joseph healthy again, but one girl was particularly disturbed. She just kept asking the rest of class with a really sad expression, "Why they cut Joseph Smith's leg off?" We kept explaining that they didn't, but by the end of class she still wasn't convinced. This last week, one of the first things she said to us in class was, "They didn't cut off Joseph Smith's leg, huh? They didn't." We were glad she hadn't been permanently damaged.

 I guess that just goes to show that not all of the stories of the Gospel are appropriate for 3-year-olds. I can only imagine if we taught them about Laban's head getting chopped off, or Joseph being killed by the mob. Yeah, maybe we'll save that for when they get older.

Anyway, I'm sure I'll be updating again sometime soon. :D

3 months

Today is Isaac and I's 3 month anniversary, and you know what that means? Actually, it doesn't really mean a whole lot, unless you're a big celebrity because then you'd be making some kind of record being married this long.

Anyway, yesterday Isaac and I looked through all of his pictures on facebook. We were reminiscing about the old times we had together. It's a fun thing for us to do. I'm so glad we have so many fond memories of our pasts together and that there was nothing we ever did that we would regret looking back.

Isaac was making me laugh the whole time. I would look at a picture like this one:
 

And say something like, "Oh yeah, I was mad at you that day for something. I can't remember what, but we were arguing." (Which is easy to tell from my expression.) Several different pictures I'd remember something specific about, like "Man, that day was so crazy, we were so annoyed with each other that day." or something like that. Isaac had no recollection of any of the arguments or conversations we had that were attached to pictures. Then all of the sudden, we came across this picture:

And Isaac said, "Oh yeah, we were playing that one game where you try to bomb each other on my dad's palm pilot!" I just looked at him. We both started laughing. Out of all the things he could remember, he remembered that we were playing a game.

Anyway, so times around the Olive household have been good. Our works are going well and life is just life. I've started on some more of my independent study classes and Isaac is eager to begin at Tech in a week and a half or so. We also found out that we qualified for even more grants than we thought we qualified for. God has not forgotten us, I tell you. Things continue to happen that make everything we need to do possible.

I hope everyone had a great holiday season. I'm excited for the new year and all that it will bring. Here's a video I found on Isaac's camera that I thought would be fun to share.

Hard to believe that it's only been 3 months since this video was taken. I'm so glad our apartment doesn't look like that anymore.

A Special Time of Year

 It's been a while since I've blogged and mainly that's because I've been so busy. Lot's has gone on and I'm excited to finally write you about it!

First, my big brother, Dayne, got married on Dec 20 in Utah so I got to fly out there for a short trip and hang with my family. Isaac had to stay home. It was the first time since he got back from his mission that we've been apart so that was a little rough, needless to say, we got through it. :) The wedding was great though. It took us all by surprise when my brother announced he'd gotten engaged, but we've all come to the conclusion that Allison (his new bride) is the best thing that's ever happened to him. I'm really excited to have her in the family, and I'm looking forward to getting to know her better.

 

 While I was in Utah, I was able to go see one of my best friends and her newborn, 3-day-old baby. It was awesome to see them both and to hold that little guy. While I was just holding him and looking at him, I just kept thinking, "Dang, I dunno if I'm ready for this yet." It's an intimidating thing to think you could be solely responsible for something so helpless. But I know my friend is gonna be an amazing mom. I'm so excited I was able to see them.

After the Utah visit, I came home with only a few days left until Christmas. Isaac and I had already done most of our Christmas shopping, but I had a special project I still needed to finish. In a random bout of extreme craftiness I decided to make a nativity for Caitlin, Isaac's sister. I knew it would involved many hours of delicate work, but I was excited. So after I got back to the wedding I got started on it.

This is what it looked like after I had drawn only 3 of the wise-men.

 We got all of the pieces from Hobby Lobby. The manger is a little cardboard box lid, and the stable is a tissue box cover that has a piece you can slide in the back to store all of the nativity pieces.

So I drew what I wanted on each of the pieces.

 After I was satisfied with what I had drawn, I began painting each piece. This part took a long time. Painting wood is nice because it dries so quickly so you don't have to worry about smudging the paint, but it's also annoying for that same reason. There's little room for error because it's hard to get the paint out of the wood once it's on. I'll admit that I ended up taking a nail file to a couple of the pieces and sanding down some parts I messed up on.

Isaac wanted to help so I gave him the job of painting the stable and the animals. Isaac will be the first to tell you that craftiness is not a talent he has. In fact, any amount of craftiness really stresses him out. But I figured that all of those pieces only require one color to be applied, so it couldn't be that stressful. He still got a little frustrated, but he made it through alright.

This is what it looked like after the first night of painting.

 It took a lot of supplies and an entire kitchen table, but I  was able to finish the whole nativity by Christmas Eve morning.

 I was really proud the finished product.


After Isaac got off work on Christmas Eve, we were able to drive down to my parent's house. It's so awesome that our families are such good friends, because it means we didn't have to pick which family to have Christmas with this year. They were both in the same place!

I've never missed a Christmas with my family, and I think it would be a hard thing for me. I know that eventually, we may not be able to go to my family's house, but for now, I'm really glad we can.

Since Christmas was on a Sunday this year, we opened our stockings in the morning and then waited to open presents until we got back from church. It was fun doing it that way. It kinda made Christmas last longer. I took a few pictures with my phone, but I'm thinking I need to be better about my picture taking.

This is Hannah opening her much-awaited dishes. It's a family tradition that once you turn 16 my mom buys you a bunch of stuff to start preparing you for college. I got several different types of dishes and cookware for all of the birthdays and Christmases after I turned 16. Hannah was super excited... as you can tell by this picture.

This is Ethan opening his new computer desk, definitely the biggest present in the stack this year.

Anyway, I feel very blessed to have such an awesome family. Christmas is all about family, and in the week preceding Christmas I was able to witness a marriage, cuddle with a brand new baby, and spend some great times with my family. It's been a great Christmas.

Updates and Crafts

Today, one of my kids at day care asked me about a little red mark on my face (probably from a previous zit or something). She asked, "You have boo-boo?" and I replied, "Yup, I have a boo-boo, but it's ok." And I smiled at her to assure her I was fine. In a continued look of concern she replied with complete seriousness, "Did the boys kick you in the face?!" It was filled with anger when she said it. I laughed really hard and assured her that no, the boys did not kick me in the face. It cracked me up that she would jump to that conclusion.

All day the kids say funny things like that. I seriously think 2 year olds are the best. I'm sure all you mommies out there are shaking your heads right now, but I love them! They are right at the age where they can finally start telling you what they want, and you can finally start helping them understand what's acceptable. There's so much exploration involved. Sometimes I can't help but laugh when I watch them. I wish I could video tape them for my blog, especially during "dance time" or something. I'm pretty sure there's nothing more adorable than a 2 -year-old, curly headed girl shaking her little hips with maracas in her hands to the song We're going on a bear hunt. But, I guess the day care has a policy about that. Maybe sometime I could sneak a few pictures. :)

Anyway, I honestly didn't intend to get on here and blog about my kids at day care again. ( They are just so adorable, I can't help it.) I came on, really, to give a general update. :)

Isaac is doing well. His work is going really well other than the fact that he gets pretty bored. We found out that he is officially accepted to Tech and he'll be able to start in January, so that's awesome. Also, he was able to get a full Pell grant which is a huge blessing, even if it solidifies the fact that we really are that poor. He's excited for school to start so that he can study at work and it'll give him something more productive to do. Sometimes I have to remind myself that he only got off his mission 4 1/2 months ago and that down time is still a hard thing for him. But overall, he's doing really well.

As for me, I'm just working, applying to grad school, and getting my independent study classes done. It's been pretty good. Also, I've discovered the wonders of Pinterest as of late, and that's my new hobby. While Isaac plays video games, I "pin" all of the amazing crafts, recipes, or hairstyles I dream of attempting one day. In fact, I wanted to do a craft so badly the other day that I decided to make a co-worker something for our secret Santa exchange. She told me she liked turquoise and Breaking Dawn, so I decided to make something that had both of those elements in it. Her name starts with a "K" so I made her a collage of breaking dawn pictures with turquoise painted on the sides and back. This is the finished product: (the bow is just for presentation purposes)

 

I used Mod Podge to seal it all together and make it look cool.

It kinda gives it a shiny texture. Anyway, so that was my craft for the month or something. It was a bunch of fun to make. I think the best part about making stuff like this, for me, is the fact that when it's done it looks just like I wanted it to. When that happens I get excited and feel like I've accomplished something. I wasn't completely satisfied with it, but it was my first attempt to do something like that, so I think it turned out pretty well. I gave it to the co-worker at work today and she was more than excited about it. She was showing everyone. I definitely think I'll be doing this again for anyone I need to make a personalized and inexpensive gift for.

Anyway, long blog post, but I hope everyone is doing well! I can't believe Christmas is only a week and a half away. Seriously, where did all the time go? Good luck with the Christmas shopping!

Working with children

Yesterday, at work, a child that I've grown a little attached to who has a very rough home life (her mom is actually living in the shelter), was having a very hard time going down for a nap. I had already tried disciplining her, but that didn't really phase her. As I helped another child get to sleep, she would walk around, not really making noise, but definitely braking the rules. Finally, another teacher came in and starting trying to help her. We're fairly certain this child has fetal alcohol syndrome. Anytime she gets worked up about anything, it's very difficult to calm her down. She doesn't know how to soothe herself. Anyway, so the other teacher was trying to help her sleep without forcing a temper tantrum. At that point, my teacher, the one actually in charge of the classroom, comes back from lunch and sees that she's not asleep. After a long while of being patient and trying to get her to lay down, they began using force as a last effort. They held down her arms and feet, hoping she'd calm down, but that just made things a lot worse. She began screaming hysterically. They tried talking to her and singing to her, anything they could to calm her down, but she wasn't having it. I was just observing at this point. As I walked over there, she reached out to me with a hopeful look in her eyes. I didn't want to interfere, so I walked away and she continued to scream. 2 year olds can sleep through a lot, but after 5-10 minutes of her screaming, the rest of the class were all starting to squirm. I figured, I'd try to see if I could help. As soon as I went over there, she jumped into my arms and wrapped her whole body around me. I sat down with her and she quickly calmed down and put her head on my shoulder. I held her like that for 5 minutes or so as she fell asleep and then she woke up a little and climbed onto her mat to get comfortable. That was it. She just wanted to be held.

As I was holding her, I marveled at how much love I could feel for this little one. I thought of her life, what it must be like. I thought of what kind of teenager she is going to be, and how many of her actions will really be her fault. It really made me stop for a moment and realize that we can't judge people. We have no idea where they've come from. At 2 years old, I can already tell the difference between children that are getting what they need at home and children that call me "mom" because I seem to fit the description better than anyone else in their life. If that difference is so distinct at 2, I can't help but think that as teenagers and adults it'll be even more pronounced. Which means, I can't even blame the parents for everything that's going on. Maybe they are doing the best they can.

Maybe people are just trying to do the best with what they have. For that little girl, her mom came to the shelter, which means she came to get help. That's probably the best decision she could've made for her children, and hopefully she'll continue to make good decisions that could make the difference in the lives of her girls.

Anyway, I know that this was a long entry, but I was in a thoughtful mood. Hug a child close to you when you can, and just love them, because they need it.

It's that time of year again

Isaac and I would like to extend our Christmas wishes to all of you with this video.  Hope it makes you smile!

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/e9AnEqgyTiqObYjz