James Family Photos

So Bad at this

Well everyone so sorry that it has been so long since I have given an update. It seems whenever life gets crazy it never slows down. I am still enjoying my time at school and learning new things. I have been able to learn a lot of make up tricks and I am really getting into creating some fun things. Ian and I are both very busy trying to juggle everything, but we are still finding time for each other which is of course good! We recently added another 3 buildings to our responsibility for Resident Assistant. We look forward to getting to know everyone! We just finished Thanksgiving with the family which was a lot of fun to go see everyone! Our nieces and nephews are growing and growing. They melt my heart so much! Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving and cheers to the Christmas Season!!!!

General Conference

So this past weekend was General Conference. I was only able to watch pieces of it here and there due to school. However I got a really good surprise in the Saturday afternoon session. My old mission president, Ian Ardern spoke. He talked about managing our time. It was so wonderful to see him stand there teaching the world. Many of the things that he spoke of reminded me of my mission. It brought back so many memories for me. It was a reminder of my testimony and the good times I had preaching the gospel. I am so grateful for the gospel and know that it is true. It has been restored to the earth and we do have living prophet and apostle here on the earth who receive revelation and help guide us back to our Heavenly Father! Eternal Life is possible! I do know that God loves us. I was also so touch by the message of President Uchtdorf at the Relief Society conference. If any of you reading this have not seen it I challenge you to watch it at www.lds.org it is powerful.

WE YOUR FRIENDS...WE YOUR FRIENDS TO THE BITTER END!

We have had some fun recently with our friends so here are some pics!!!

School!!!

Sorry that I have not been able to post recently. It truly has been so busy for Ian and myself with the start of school these last couple of weeks. So school officially started for me on September 20th. It was a little bit of a rough start, but I am truly LOVING it! Many stresses have been lifted instantly since quiting my job. LIFE IS SOOOOO GOOD!!!

So many of you probably want to know what it is like at school for me. My schedule is Tuesdays-Saturdays. I am on the clinic floor on Saturdays doing services that I am not certified and trained on. Other days are mornings in theory class with the afternoons on practicals with services that we are learning. Let's just say for the first 3 days I got manicures because we were practicing them...who gets free manicures at schools these days....yep...ME!!! I have been able to be a model for many services like a paraffin wrap, self tanning, chemical peel,etc. Again who gets this stuff any day while at school? HAHAHA!!!

So for any of you reading this please take note that I am on the floor on Saturdays and you can as of now and enjoy a pedicure or manicure for a good price! Just google MAXIMUM TEC SCHOOL in Logan, call and make an appointment under me!

Lets see what else has been happening? Oh Ian and I are responsible for the Halloween Carnival for MASA Housing at USU. It's one of the biggest carnivals here at USU and we have been so busy trying to get it all in order. After this event is over I hope that we will be done for a while with those stresses. Well that is really all to report so far with school! Hopefully I can promise to be more on top of this blog and write more experiences.

We are a part of history

Today I want to take a moment and share my feelings regarding in event that happened 10 years ago today. This event of course to all who remember is one that has ever changed history, life as we knew it, the human race, and every life. Ten years ago our country was attacked by terrorists. They flew two planes into the world trade towers, one plan in the pentagon, and crashed one in Pennsylvania (it never made it to its destination). Through out this week many on facebook have posted where they were when this day happened. I would like to answer this question now.

I remember heading out the door to catch the bus for school. I was a sophomore at Cyprus High School. I remember that as I left the door I heard the words, plane crash, many dead. I shook my head as I left the house thinking...another one? Why was I thinking this you may ask? Well I remember several days or weeks prior that there had been a few other plane crashes and so I just thought wow another one...what is happening lately? As I got to school kids were talking all about the plan crash and the "two towers" being hit. To be honest I had no idea what people were talking about...I never knew what the two towers were. My first class was math and the teacher did his best to keep us focus, but it was very difficult. The whole day every class was watching tv and no one did any work. I remember as I sat in math class that one of the towers collapsed. But I was too naive to realize what happened...all I remember thinking was why on earth are we tearing down this building? Never did I comprehend that it had collapsed due to the damage and that many more lives had been killed right then in front of us. This truly was a tragic day for the country and the world. I also during this time worked in a tomato field for a farmer. The field was in an area where every 10 minutes you could see and hear a plan descending to land at our international airport. This day as I was in the field after school it was a very erie feeling...the sky was completely silent. No sound, just us in the fields.

It has now been 10 years since this tragic event, but lives are moving forward, but of course many still feel the effects of this day. I even came home from my mission on September 11, 2008 and had even feared of flying on this day. I would like to give my condolences to those who lost loved ones this day and my thanks to those heroes who died rescuing many and those heroes who still today fight for our freedom and those who have also died doing so. God bless America. I also want to send my testimony and comfort to all. I know that this event happened for a reason. I know that our Heavenly Father lives and is with us always in the good and bad. I know that he was with us on this tragic day. I know that the plan of salvation is real! I know that we will all see our loved ones again and that eternal families is real and possible as we keep and follow the commandments of God. I know that Jesus Christ is the center of this plan. He died so that we all may live and I know that his atonement can heal all hearts!

Being Proud of Who You Are

The past couple of weeks have gone by pretty fast. We have been so busy with trainings and school starting for Ian. I have also been busy with work as I start to train my replacement. All I could really think about this week is...AM I REALLY DOING THIS? But before I get to that I just want to mention that we had a great family weekend. I love seeing Quinton, Michael and Ellie. They are just like my own kids and I love seeing them. I love spending time with Lindsey and doing fun things with her! Ian got to enjoy some man time with Dad, Seth and Ryan.

It was my turn today to miss nursery and spend time in Relief Society. It was great and just the thing that I needed. Our lesson today was about finding joy in motherhood and womanhood. The teacher was excellent and she talked about how when we think of a LDS woman this is what we think or claim to see (makes homemade bread daily, perfect clean house, submissive, etc.) We had alot of great comments from the sisters about being who we are and not being what we think we should be or have to be in order to become a great woman. I was really touched today though by the 1st counselor in our relief society. She is an ER doctor and as she stood up to share her testimony of the lesson I felt like what she was saying was very comforting and inspiring for me. She talked about how in this lesson most of our comments streamed the theme "Being proud of who we are!" She talked about her first marriage and not getting pregnant and feeling lost because she felt she wasn't being who she needed to be. I felt so connected to her because of the things she was saying. She talked about how she went back to school, single and at the age of 30 to become a doctor. She also talked about how she did not become a mother till she was the age of 43 years old. As she stood there and bore her testimony about the road and journeys that she had been on to where she is now...she learned that we need to be proud of who we are and not what we feel we have to be to feel accomplished in our lives. This was a little warm fuzzy reminder to me from the spirit. I had many of those today. I heard many promptings as others bore their testimonies about going back to school and getting an education. The Lord knew I needed to hear those things today. They were little reminders of confidence that what I am about to do is the right path and the right thing to be doing. It also helped me to remember that I need to be proud of who I am and be proud of the path that I am on and not doubt the journey that the Lord is giving me right now.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly - All In One Week

Wow is the only word to describe this week. It certainly has been a busy week for both Ian and I. We had training all this week for our Resident Assistants jobs. The good about this training was I was able to get a way from work so that was nice!!! Training was intense and very time consuming. We learned alot this week about our roles as leaders and representatives of USU. There definitely is a lot on our plate. We did learn alot though of what we can do to improve to make a difference in the lives of many. The one scary part of training that was difficult to handle was learning about the reality of what to do if there was an active shooter on campus. This was a big eye opener for me because it brought a feeling of what would I do if I found out that there was a shooter on campus and Ian was at school. This experience also helped me realize that I need to know what to do if I am in the middle of this situation as well. The other scary part of training was talking about responding to emergencies with our residents as their leader. Basically if there was an emergency or a tragedy Ian and I of course are in charge and trust me when I say that this is a heavy feeling to have on your shoulders. I had many thoughts and feelings of inadequate feelings during these sessions. None the less we did enjoy our time with other friends who are RA's with us. We have definitely been stretched this week. I also have been struggling today with many feelings. Last night we had a difficult situation with one of our residents and the situation has been playing back in my mind. I of course can not mention the situation in detail, but all day I have been just looking for answers for myself. I have been trying to look at the situation from a gospel perspective and I tell you having Christ like attributes are difficult sometimes in these situations. It has been difficult for me to let go of anger and judgement which in turn it has made it difficult for me to hold on to love and charity. If any of you are managers or RA's over apartments you know what I am talking about. There are times when you just want to hit people with a "stupid" stick. I can already tell that the experiences that we are going to face as RA's are going to be almost like hell's fire. The good part about it though is I hope to learn from it and grow from it.

MANY BLESSINGS AND LESSONS LEARNED

Wow, so many things to write about this week! As you can tell by the title of this subject that there are many blessings and lessons to tell you all about this week! Let's start with the blessings!

We received wonderful news earlier this week that our sister in law Alex (married to Ian's brother Paul) was on her way to the hospital because her water broke. After a long day of waiting she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl! They named her Chloe Bridget James (the name Bridget is special because that is Ian's grandmothers named and Chloe was born on her birthday). Chloe is healthy and Alex is doing great! We were able to skype them a few days ago and my heart was filled with so much love! This is Paul's and Alex's 2nd child and 2nd girl! We are so happy for them and are grateful to have another wonderful addition added to our family. This now makes 3 nieces and 2 nephews for Ian and I. We also got word this past week of many other pregnancies among friends and family members and possible future planning of pregnancies. All I can think of is tis the season, I guess. It seems that everyone is getting pregnant. I can probably count 20 alone that I know of that have either had or going to have a baby. I am happy for all who are experiencing this joy in their lives. Even though I am extremely happy for all, I do admit that it creates a hole of hurt and pain in my own heart. The reason is because of the difficulty we will have of having our own children. I found out last year that there were some complications in my body and in order for us to even start having kids then I would need some fertility to help the process. This of course is not a bad thing, but it does created a certain complication especially when insurances do not pay for fertility. We, being poor college students, of course do not have the money for such a process so the hope of having children sooner rather than later is a very small hope. I pray constantly for understanding and patience for the Lord's timing, but I am sure for those who know of what I am speaking of this is a very difficult thing.

LESSON LEARNED FROM THIS: Earlier this week I received a call from the bishopric to meet with them. Of course I figured this was about a calling since we have just moved into the ward just a few weeks ago. As I headed to the bishopric office I admit to feeling a little uneasy about whatever calling I would get. I started thinking of callings that I wouldn't want and wondering if this calling would work with my busy schedule already. However as I was on my way I also said a prayer in my heart telling Heavenly Father to bring peace to my spirit. I asked him to confirm to me that whatever calling it was that I was meant to be there. I of course told Heavenly Father that no matter the calling of course I would accept it. I knew that I needed to accept it not only because it was the right thing to do, but also because he has given Ian and I so many blessings and the best way to show my thanks for these things is to serve him and others. So as I sat talking with a member of our Bishopric, he extended the calling to be a primary worker...really? I was a little taken by surprise because I have never been in primary before. He continued and stated that he was not 100% sure where in primary, but most likely in the nursery. As I was taking this all in I felt a wave of the spirit come over me telling me that this was going to prepare me for motherhood. Come again? This is going to prepare me for motherhood. I felt the spirit so strong and I knew that this new experience was going to help me prepare to handle the experience of children and trying to teach them the gospel which of course is going to help me in motherhood. As I came home and told Ian about my experience we both agreed this was true, but also laughed a little about it and said maybe we were still not mature enough yet to have kids. In this whole experience though I am learning and seeing that the Lord has a bigger picture for me of course and even though I may not fully see it and even though I may get impatient not knowing the full picture, he is preparing my life, preparing me for children and helping me on my course.

Another Blessing: Yesterday I went and finally got all my paperwork signed and ready for financial aid for my schooling! WOW!!! I really can't believe that I am doing this. I am truly excited for this change. I am excited for the future. I can't wait to see where all this is going to take me. I am grateful for this blessing that Heavenly Father is given me. The timing of it all has been perfect. I can see that now. With our jobs, the path we took to become RA's which has financially allowed us this opportunity for me to go to school. What a wonderful blessing!!!

LESSON LEARNED: Heavenly Father is in control!

Let's Try This Again

Friends and family!!! Well, let's see if we can try this again! I have been inspired lately by some friends to start up on my blog again. In trying this out I am hoping to get rid of facebook so that I can stop being such an addict on that site:)

Let me give you an update on what we are currently up to here in good old Logan! Ian is half way done with school and we are hoping to press forward and have him join his program at USU this fall semester. We are also just moved 25 yards across the field to a new apartment as we start our Resident Assistants jobs for family housing. We have enjoyed many of the activities that we are hosting for our residents. Life certainly is busy for us, but it is shaping out just great for a new start.

Speaking on new starts, I will be experiencing one very soon. Let me tell you how...it started this past June. I was working at my job doing my normal duties when all of a sudden...out of no where...I felt a strong impression telling me that I needed to go back to school NOW! I felt that I was told that I needed to do this and finish my education as soon as possible. This was so strange for me because I had no intentions of going back to school for a while or at least till Ian was finished. I came home that day talking to Ian about my impressions and the feelings that I had had all day. Ian was very supportive and excited and has encouraged me to do this immediately. He even looked up the website for my schooling before I even thought about doing it. Also after the support and encouragements of great friends I looked into schooling, did a tour and got started on my applications. Through this process though I have questioned myself on my decision wondering if this was right. As I have sought direction from my Heavenly Father, I know that he has placed little bread crumbs or his divine signatures before me. I have complete faith that if I follow the promptings that I have been given then everything will be left in his hands. And it has! I got accepted and will be starting on Sept 20th at the Maximum Tec School in their Master Esthetic program. I am very excited for this new step and look forward to the new adventures and blessings that it will bring to our family. I also am excited about this blog and my determination to keep it up. I hope that many of you can follow us on this blog and enjoy our journey with us!