Stand Up Comedy?

If this isn't you, then you might not like what I have to say...
If this is something you like, then please read on!

About twelve years ago, I was told I should be a stand up comedian. Mind you, at the time I was told this, I was in a 10 ft by 10 ft room with screaming children and somehow I found that amusing and my best friend was practically rolling on the floor laughing at my quick witted statements. Well, this last week, I was playing my guitar and playing a few of my mission songs. Songs that by themselves, are pretty funny. Add a few comments here and there between lines, to provide a more vivid picture, and I had three grown adults gasping for air because of laughter. Suddenly my husband says, "I think she should do stand up comedy!" Ha, so what I am gathering is that I can be pretty funny. And, thanks to my father, can make any one smile with just about any story that I share.

That being said, I would like to tell you about my day the other day...
So, on Wednesday, we had "Active Shooter Training." Okay lets think about this for a second... I sit at the front desk, unprotected, about 15 feet from the front door. Before the meeting, I thought to myself, "Hey, maybe they can give me some pointers about what I could do should someone come into the Rec Center and start shooting people?" Well, I show up to the meeting late, walk all the way to the other side of the room to the only open chair left, hoping people wouldn't notice the smell of the "gift" Levi gave me all over my pants just 10 minutes before... Two minutes into the presentation, I wanted to quit my job! They were saying things like, "It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when." and "If you can't run or hide then you start using improvised weapons." I try to picture my desk.... I got a stapler, a tape dispenser, and sometimes a pair of scissors... by this point I'm wondering if there is a knife throwing class in the area where they can teach me some of their sweet skills! Then you have Preston who works the 2nd shift and is a former cop. He just says, "I'll just pick up my chair and throw it at him!" Ha yeah.... right... pick up a ten pound rolling chair and chuck it over a desk at a guy, 15 feet away while trying to avoid the slew of bullets bound for your chest... I think I'll jump over the concrete wall and run for my life.

Ain't no body got time for dat!

It was at that point that I realized I really have no chance. Awesome. Love my job. All you readers out there, what's your job like? Have you had a similar experience? Let me know!

Moving back to the point of me writing today... If you know me, you know that I LOVE to make people happy. Whether through service, a joke, or just a sincere felt hug, I would do almost anything for someone to help them feel happy, important, and love life a little more than when I found them. Though sometimes being a new mom is super frustrating, I really do love my life. There have been times in my life when I lost sight of that and felt like life wasn't worth living and I have come close to giving into that lie. However, thanks to several loving people and my testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and by His loving grace, I am still here; surrounded by those who love me and whom I love more than anything in the world.

One of those people being my husband, Jorge. He recently made a commitment to be more faithful in posting to his blog, and I would like to join him and his cause to share the goodness. My main goal is to help people, first and foremost, to find hope in this life. These are the last days and sorry to tell you, but this world is going to get much, much worse before it gets any better. This being said, I want to help people smile! Whether it's through a touching story that brings "happy tears" or through a bad day made into a written stand-up comedy skit, I just want people to know that there are still things to smile about no matter what their situation. Lastly, I want to hear about the things you love and the things that have made you smile when you've almost lost all hope in humanity.

Being a Mom is tough but look at his cuteness... totally worth it!

Let us lift one another and share the "wealth." If a picture is worth a thousand words, I can only imagine what a simple smile would mean to someone.

Life. Love it. Live it.

Drum roll please

Have you ever been asked to go somewhere you never knew existed? Or maybe just when you got settled, you were asked to quit your jobs, find a place to live, new jobs, say goodbye to friends, and do so within 3 1/2 weeks? Or how about vowing to never live somewhere or with someone and then being asked to do so anyways? Well, that's my life in a nutshell. Packing a bag or a car and moving across the country in three weeks or less has been common place for that last 10 years and I wouldn't change a thing about it! My first big move happened the summer before my senior year and I haven't stopped since. I never really knew how much I liked change until it happened. 

Moving to Louisiana, I realized that I could be someone new. No one knew who I was. That's not to say I was invisible however. If people didn't know I was new from by the looks of me, they knew by the first word that rolled off my tongue. I learned about the culture of the south and I feel in love with their hospitality. To me, this was the thrill of new adventures! Not only were you in a new place, but there were new expectations, common knowledge, new phrases, new friends, and many adventures I would have never dreamed of! 

Since that time I have lived in Idaho (in 6 different places), Oregon (in a town where most people live there because they either work for the railroad or took a wrong turn and never found their way back out). Most recently, we

lived in Idaho Falls while I finished my bachelors degree. 

As of two weeks ago, I am a college graduate of BYU Idaho and earned my degree in Marriage and Family Studies. 

About a month before graduation, we had every intention of staying exactly where we were and were planning a dream vacation to Florida. One night, my husband and I were talking about where we would live is we HAD to live with either of our families? We had decided that we would want to live in California with his parents. Little did we know that that little conversation was a foreshadowing to the near future. 

In the following few weeks the impressions started coming. Impressions that I have felt several times before. I knew that our comfortable lives were about to be turned upside down. 

I had tried so hard to stay out of the state of Nebraska. Don't get me wrong, it's a great place, its just not my favorite place in the world. Ever since I was in high school, I've been running. Running away from things that happened there. Things that I have swept under the rug instead of working through them. I guess you could say that it was my way of coping. As you might have imagined, or maybe even experienced yourself, this is not a suggested, nor effective, coping strategy. 

Although I was extremely hesitant about this move, I reflected on the blessings of my moves in the past: Louisiana introduced me to my best friend, Idaho helped me find those who helped me get through school and made it possible to help me serve a mission, and Oregon brought me the greatest blessing of all, my husband, Jorge. In thinking about these blessing, I found my faith in the Lord and His plan for me, and it helped me gain the courage I needed to press foward in peace.