Update

• Starting my last full week of work. I quit my job and my last day is Tuesday, April 3rd. I'll be working part-time (maybe?) for a few months before transitioning to my career as a full-time housewife.
• (nope, not pregnant)
• Going to Portland next week for Bruce's sister's wedding (!!!)
• Going to girls' camp in June. I'll be a 2nd Year Certification Leader.
• Campaigning to get Bruce to come for two days -- it's not working so far.
• My sweet peas are just starting to pop up out of the soil. So exciting!

It's going to be a busy / long week!

A growing fondness

Previous installment here.

When Bruce and I went running at the Baylands, I was surprised by how easy it was to talk to him. When we were alone together, he spoke more openly and was not as reserved as he was in our monthly home teaching visits.

I was very pleased when later that same week I got a text from him: "Been running lately?" I felt that I wasn't just a home teaching 'duty' and that he had also enjoyed our time together.

And so we went running that next Friday instead of going to the Mid-Singles (30+) conference. He ended up coming over to my house after our run and watched a movie with me. After the movie ended, we talked and talked into the wee hours of the morning.

That night when he left, I wondered why he had stayed so late talking to me. I wondered if he was even slightly interested in me. And then of course I wondered if I was even a little interested in him. My mind couldn't quite put us together, but I liked him. I felt rather fond of him, even. I decided that I would continue to spend time with him and not create a forced crush. That meant NOT talking to my girlfriends about him.

Even though I knew better than to talk to my friends about him, I just liked him a lot. So the following (abridged) gchat with my former roommate RM was, I suppose, inevitable.

She was already engaged to marry a redhead, so the segue was simple: I confided that I was, "rather fond of a red-head myself -- and rather fond is about its level."


gchat excerpt from 28 September 2009:

RM: 
why are you fond of bruce?
btw
his hair is not red
it defies color definition
it's like.....
orange
yellow
red
blue
green

me:
yeah
it's awesome
well we run together twice weekly
and I am just rather fond of him
that is all.

RM: 
oh yeah
is he fond of you?

me: 
oh, I think so.
we hug often
and we hung out the wknd of mid-singles conference
and he stayed until 2:15am talking with me
but I think it is simply mutual fondness
but I just find that I really look forward to seeing him
I had been wanting to tell someone but there isn't anything to tell
and I am okay with that, too
I mean I don't have anything I am driving towards
if that makes sense
in my head
or heart
no experiments

RM:
yeah
that makes sense
just growing fondness/attachment
sometimes that's a lovely way to go /feel

me: 
yes, it is good to have a friend
and I know he is my friend. so that is a great thing to me.

I think that my decision to just "wait and see" was possible because I had wiped my slate free, so to speak. In previous months or years, I think I would have just made a decision immediately and either have fed a premature crush or just blown him off. It was very pleasant - and refreshing - to have a simple affection for my new friend with, of course, just the tiniest bit of curiosity. :)

Next installment here.

Kind of a big deal

Yes, I am cheating and back-dating these posts. Give me a break! I have had a lot on my mind!

Why?

Because on Monday, February 22nd I gave notice at my current job and I am starting a new job on Monday, March 15th!

I'm so excited, but making the decision was an agonizing process. (AGONIZING).

I'm extremely happy with this decision, the 2 weeks off I have between the jobs, and my ridiculously wonderful boyfriend. life. is. good. (!!)

100 Things (1-27)

Rumor has it that if you write down goals you achieve them, and I've noted in a few places instances where people have written down life checklists. I am going to attempt to do the same here, but I'm only going to put 1-27 in honor my forthcoming birthday anniversary. I'm going to include major milestones that I accomplished in recent years in that age-old tradition of writing down tasks just so you can cross them off...

1. Graduate from college
2. Visit New York
3. Hear Joshua Bell perform
4. Visit Muir Woods
5. Receive my endowment
6. Work at the Temple
7. Visit Yosemite
8. Golf nine holes
9. Buy a condo / house
10. Learn how to cook an entire Thanksgiving meal
11. Get married in the Temple
12. Buy a car
13. Teach an Institute of Religion course
14. Read the entire Standard Works
15. Read Les Miserables
16. Visit Spain
17. Attend a live session at the Salt Lake Temple
18. Work in Spanish at the Temple
19. Give away a Book of Mormon
20. Hear Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2
21. Visit Paris
22. Earn an advanced degree
23. Run a 5k race
24. Visit Washington, D.C.
25. Paint a painting (watercolors or oils)
26. Serve a full-time mission
27. Visit Nauvoo

Quote of the Day

There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. Yet that will be the beginning.
Louis L'Amour

They shall have stars at elbow and foot;

Though they go mad they shall be sane,
Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again;
Though lovers be lost love shall not;
And death shall have no dominion.

for RM

full poem here

Ecclesiastes 7:3

By the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.

Proverbs 13:12

Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.

Psalms 37:7

...fret not because another prospereth in the journey.

Quote of the Day

We see ourselves in terms of yesterday and today, our Heavenly Father sees us in terms of forever.
Joseph B. Wirthlin

Galatians 6:7-8

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

Quote of the Day

Daily hope is vital, since the 'Winter Quarters' of our lives are not immediately adjacent to our promised land. ...An arduous trek still awaits, but hope spurs weary disciples on. Those with true hope often see their personal circumstances shaken, like kaleidoscopes, again and again. Yet with the 'eye of faith,' they still see divine pattern and purpose.
Neal A. Maxwell

Quote of the Day

Help us, O Lord, to remember thy love for us and help us to be fortified by thy strength when our eyes are blurred with tears of sorrow and our vision is limited.
Marvin J. Ashton

A Weekend for the Ages

This weekend was a very special one. One to always remember...

Allison isn't pictured here because she and Brady were having some qt down in lg. But I was surrounded by family and friends and it was a beautiful day.

Quote of the Day

Patience is a willingness, in a sense, to watch the unfolding purposes of God with a sense of wonder and awe—rather than pacing up and down within the cell of our circumstance.
Neal A. Maxwell

Quote of the Day

You do not need everything that you might wish. And the very struggle of your younger years will bring a sweetness and security to your later life.
Gordon B. Hinckley

Read the talk here.

Doctrine & Covenants 42:61

If thou shalt ask, thou shalt receive ^arevelation upon revelation, ^bknowledge upon knowledge, that thou mayest know the ^cmysteries and ^dpeaceable things—that which bringeth ^ejoy, that which bringeth life eternal.

Romans 4:20-21

20 He ^astaggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;

21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had ^apromised, he was able also to perform.

Alma 37: 17

For he will fulfill all his promises which he shall make unto you, for he has fulfilled his promises which he has made unto our fathers.

Patience, a Key to Happiness by Joseph B. Wirthlin

We will have genuine joy and happiness only as we learn patience.

Dictionaries define patience in such terms as bearing pain or sorrow calmly or without complaint; not being hasty or impetuous; being steadfast despite opposition, difficulty, or adversity.

I believe that a lack of patience is a major cause of the difficulties and unhappiness in the world today. Too often, we are impatient with ourselves, with our family members and friends, and even with the Lord. We seem to demand what we want right now, regardless of whether we have earned it, whether it would be good for us, or whether it is right.

We should not be unduly discouraged nor in despair at any time when we are doing the best we can. Rather, we should be satisfied with our progress even though it may come slowly at times.

We should be patient in developing and strengthening our testimonies. Rather than expecting immediate or spectacular manifestations, though they will come when needed, we should pray for a testimony, study the scriptures, follow the counsel of our prophet and other Church leaders, and live the principles of the gospel. Our testimonies then will grow and mature naturally, perhaps imperceptibly at times, until they become driving forces in our lives.

Read the full talk here.