March Miscellany

I know, I know... I never re-capped on my prayer experience and 25 day walk with Christ... I guess I've been waiting for the right moment to review thoroughly and take personal inventory, but the short answer is I really enjoyed it. I had some great experiences, and I feel like it changed me on more than just a superficial level. 

Long mental pause... I was going to write some cool stuff, but I don't really remember what it is now. I've been going country dancing twice a week for about a month now and it is fun fun! A few guys have done some nifty lifts with me which is a real treat, and dancing to fun music has been a wonderful way to get out, be social, and enjoy life! I've made a few friends and have really enjoyed myself. I also can't complain about trimming off some of my winter hibernation jiggles... :) . 

These past few days my knees have gone senior citizen on me. We had a 7 hour rehearsal on Saturday that left me pretty sore and exhausted, then dancing Monday night and again Tuesday night. Tonight I went to the temple and was standing up/sitting down a fair amount in my brief visit (40 mins or so). They were buthering me enough that at one point I wasn't paying good attention to the section and instead was thinking of my old roommate Ananda and that she had once recommended a great joint supplement to me. FOR THE RECORD: I contacted Ananda a little later and she told me the supplement is Move Free. I intend to find some. Hopefully on my way to work tomorrow.... not that my knees are feeling achy still, no of course not! I do feel like I'm strengthening my knees a little, especially making my bad knee work harder and hopefully build muscle. I can still visually look and see the difference in muscle tone. I'm not sure why it's so hard for me to maintain that strength on my left leg. Any athletic trainers read this? I'd love a few tips on how to target my inner quads that attach to my knee and build those up! I also have had tight muscles all around, which contributed to lower back pain on and off and on since December. I've decided to look into yoga and see if stretching will help that stuff out. Taking the last year+ off dancing kind of took it's toll. But in my defense several of those months I was kind of taking time off from life too. Enough about my rebuilding journey though. 

Speaking of rebuilding - lol - I may very well be moving in the next few weeks! Like, for real! One of my roommates from last fall in Fort Union is buying a house and was looking for roommates! We got along well, and I know she's really fun and social. I also think I'll be a better roommate this time around, too. After all the searching and wondering and waiting, it turns out I very well may be living with someone I know AND be in one of the YSA wards that I've heard extremely positives reviews about. I feel good about it and am excited with the prospect of moving on and continuing to renew my life as spring comes and renews the earth. So sentimental, I know....

Sigh. Life is decent. I'm pretty happy. I'm content in my job. I'm healthy. Aside from not going to bed at 10pm, I've got healthier habits going on in my life: physical, emotional, spiritual, mental, etc. I don't have any recent pictures, sadly. In fact, I don't think I have any pictures showing my new, slightly darker blonde hair color! Well, Saturday is the SLC St. Patrick's Day festivities, and I'll be sure to bring my camera with me on that adventure. In the meantime, here are two older pics to commemorate Irish dance, Ireland, and the joy of posing for photos to go in your own Master's thesis. Yes, those are my legs and feet. Good? Bad? I passed my thesis defense and have my MA now so I'll just go with it.  :)

Answers all around...

I believe that God guides our steps, especially when we are trying to follow him and asking for specific blessings. I don't think there coincidences in timing. I'm impressed by how inviting the Spirit into our lives more though small actions can influence the big things. I don't have proof right now, just inklings of thoughts. I still need to do that recap.... But if these new realizations and experiences are any indication of an internal change, then I think I will be eternally happy that I spent 26 days focused on improving my relationship with The Lord.

Day 26: What is prayer to you?

If you've paid close attention, you'll realize that I didn't do my math very well. I thought 25 days would get me through the end of February, but I find myself blessed with an extra day! Due to my December eye condition returning, the late hour, and the BYU basketball game that filled the preceding 3 hours, I'm going to opt for something easy, but thought-provoking. 

I saw this on Facebook today - actually my mom found it and mentioned it to me - and I just had to find it and share. Corrie Ten Boom is an inspiration woman who had her own profound learning experience with prayers. If you have never read her book,  The Hiding Place, I highly recommend it. She and her sister help Jews during WWII and eventually get caught and sent to a concentration camp. Her sister has great faith and devotion and really utilizes prayer and their small Bible to sustain her. Corrie's "conversion" to her sister's point of view takes time, but I think it reflects many people's journey towards faith and God. We go step by step, sometimes more than a little skeptical. I feel that our desire to move on that path will eventually lead us to the moment shown above, where we ask ourselves what prayer means to us. And I bet for many of us, it really is a steering wheel that guides us, not just a spare tire in case of emergency. 

I will be honest. Despite the many things I was facing during the autumn months (jobless, still getting over heartbreaks and disappointments, not sure where to live etc) I wasn't really driving my life with prayer. It was a spare tire. I was doing many other things right - reading scriptures, attending the temple weekly, attending church and activities, etc - but I was letting prayer fall by the wayside. It was just hit or miss. Perhaps it will be one of those things that I just have to really focus on and make it a priority in my life. I've really appreciated this opportunity to focus on it. 

This is starting to sound like my recap, but it's very late and I'm very tired. I'll wrap everything up with a conclusion for ya'll... but mostly for me! I've loved that this blog has been a way to kind of chart my progress, and I'm excited to go over it and give the big wrap up. And I'm excited to pray and go to sleep!! 

Drive your life with prayer, people! It's way better than a spare tire. Love you all, thanks for reading. 

:)