Music = Therapy.

A friday night in. Sick. Alone. And yet, everything is okay! Why? Well. After watching the US Olympic Trials, a few episodes of Monk, Price is Right, Father of the Bride II (which I laughed and totally cried through), and PostGrad, I had a desire to look up music. Yes, a hobby of mine you could say. The cool thing is, you always find just the right songs to blast and make you feel good. Good reminders that all is well and that some day I will be "well" and will be able to dance and get all dressed up and do fun things. :) Tonight was going to be my first appearance at a ward function for my new singles ward...but this stomach flu/cold that I got this week has proven me weak still. I was a pretty disappointed that I would be completing another day of the week, home...putting off the new social life I need to start.

BUT, alas. All is well. Because why do I have any right to complain? I was productive today! I did 3 loads of laundry AND i showered. :) So they are big steps. And tonight, strangely is very theraputic. A reminder that I have a lot to look forward to.  Who knew a movie like PostGrad would do that?  haha. But really.  It reminded in a moment of weakness and lonliness that everything will continue, and continue for the better. It's not really what we decide to do job wise etc that mean the most. It's who we do all of that with.  I have to remember that and realize how very blessed I am to be able to be where I am in life. I have lots ahead of me. Although I don't know everything, its OKAY! Thank goodness for the tender mercies that remind us of that. That life is so much more than just...a sick day, or a sick week. There's forever ahead.

So tonight. Some of my favorites I'm listening to...some good Luke Bryan...love his song "Drunk on You", Prince Royce, he's my boy "Las Cosas Pequenas", Glee Cast "Roots Before Branches", Gym Class Heroes "The Fighter", and even some Mercy Me "Hurt and The Healer".  How grateful I am for the different therapies we have in life, especially one as powerful and amazing as MUSIC. <3

LIFE AFTER THE MISSION...thus far!

From Florida to California, Utah, Hawaii, Idaho, California, and Back to Utah!
February - June 2012

From one home to another, I left the Florida Tampa Mission and returned to California on Feb, 29, 2012. It was hard to leave my new family, harder than I ever thought it would be. But coming home to my family I had left 18 months before was the best feeling. Oh missed them and LOVE THEM!

Coming home to my new niece, Olivia, was such a tender blessing. I ADORE this girl. This is her famous "Muscles Pose". She's the cutest thing in the world!

Such a blessing with coming home at the right time was being able to be there for my sister Michelle's wedding on March 10th. It was sooo amazing to be see her and Josh be sealed in the Oakland Temple. I am So excited for them and their future. Tender mercy for sure to have been able to be there for her special day.

After about a month and half home, for my birthday, my parents sent me to HAWAII with my dear dear friend Carrie Budge (one of my mission compas). We had a whole week Oahu. It's my paradise there. So much needed therapy took place :)

After Hawaii I got to spend a whole month down in LA with Kris and Aaron and Olivia! What a blessing! We had a blast with beach days, hanging at the apartment, chasing Livi around, etc. Thanks to the Ericksons for letting me come! Time went by way to fast!

While in LA I got to catch up with some friends in the So Cal area. One of which was my good friend from the mission, Mike Marchetti. He took me to my first Dodger Game! Pretty awesome.

Mom came down to LA for Mothers Day! It was soo much fun having her there. We had some much needed mother-daughter talks. Oh i love her.

June came around and we were back in Livermore. The siblings were reunited! So much fun. It was so neat to have some time with Chelle and Josh before they headed off to their new home in Missouri! Lots of nights playing Mario Wii, pool days, flashlight tag and more. It was a week I won't ever forget.

Part of the adventures was our trip to Monterey to see the Aquarium. It was beautiful, and so fun to be with family. Mom and Dad even treated us to Bubba Gumps. Yummm. I can still taste the delicious food! Such great days.

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Life after the mission....
SOO much to write, hence the picture summary above. But needless to say, I have been a busy traveler for the first 4 months of being home from the mission.  Coming home was so bittersweet, but it felt right. One thing I learned on the mission many a times is to trust the Lord. It all works out. Just do your best and have faith. It's a lot simpler than we make things out to be. Of course, since I thought I learned all that on the mission, the Lord is putting it to the test! :) Which is as is should be. But I have definitley been reminded of how much life is a continual lesson of faith, love, and trust.

Three weeks in California (major event: Michelle's wedding! Still kind of weird to think my little sister is married! But, it strangely feels right :) Gotta love that. ) Three weeks in Utah (visiting family and friends that I hadn't seen for 18 months and Michelle's open house). Drove to LA with Carrie Budge to embark on our trip to Oahu! (one week of paradise. beach. food. hawaiian bliss!). One month in LA with the Ericksons (spending time with Kris and Aaron and Livi. suuch a blast! And getting to see old faces and new faces. Trying to figure out where to settle eventually. Beach days. Beach nights. Bliss). Then back to the Bay Area  (chill time with the family). Idaho weekend (Boise for Shauna, my old roommates open house for her wedding, and Malad for Memorial Day Family tradition). Back to Livermore for about 10 days with the family to party with Michelle and Josh before they left for Missouri.

After all the moving around and not being in one place for longer than four weeks, I was ready to finally be done packing...Deciding where to try to find work was a harder decision than I thought it would be. But I ended up going with my back up plan and felt good about it. Settling back in UTAH. :) Never thought I would want to live in Utah after school, but I have grown to love this place. I am living with my grandparents in Provo, and how grateful I am they are letting me live with them. It's been so neat to be able to spend time with them. Grammy just had knee replacement surgery, so we kept busy with taking care of her and me looking for jobs. I had a big whirlwind of a job search experience last week- with getting offered a job after two interviews, but in the end, it didn't feel right, and it was in sales. Not really something I want to do. So. I trusted my gut, and turned it down. That week I also heard that the sister missionaries are getting taken out of my favorite area that Hna Lai and I opened about a year ago.  It tore my heart out. It was a reminder that my heart will forever be attached to those people and places of Florida.

This week I was thrown a curve ball and caught a stomach virus. Of course! :) But I guess I was about due. I haven't had that since I was a kid. At least anything like it...And my sister Kris just had it the week before. Sympathy sickness? Perhaps :) But needless to say. I have been out of commission. I've eaten a banana and drank two gatorades as of Monday night til today...Thursday. haha. I officially feel and look like a vegetable. minus the green part. :) BUT, I have been SUPER cared for by my dear family. Grandpa has been the nurse for both grammy and I. Back and forth from home to the care center. I seriously couldn't be recovering like I am without him. And Michelle and Josh for running errands for me. All the notes, texts, and calls to my sisters and parents have been therapy. Thank you thank you.

SO. I'm hopin I am on the up! Things have been trying...but yet soo good. I have been sooo very blessed the last four months.  Tender mercies still continue each and every day.  The temple has been a place of refuge that I find myself at more and more. The simple answers still apply in real life, just as they did on the mission. I just have sure gained a lot of sympathy and apathy for the people I was teaching on the mission. Its definitley a lot harder on this end! :) But. The answers are still the same. Church. Pray. Read. It truly does keep my heart going.There is way too much to update on. But I thought I should at least summarize. Hopefully this novel isn't extremely boring. But if anything, its been a reminder to me to see how the Lord's hand is in each of our lives. Things happen for a reason. The people in our lives are there for a reason. We have so much to learn and enjoy from each other. How blessed I am to have such AMAZING people in my life. Now....the journey continues. Once I am back to my peppy self, its back to the job hunt! :) And all the summer fun that comes along with July!