Happy Anniversary!

This week is a special week. It marks a year since I left Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the most significant point in my life--not to mention the obvious thing: I met my husband and became best friends with him there. But Jerusalem is significant for other reasons too, and those reasons I do not have the words for. I won't begin to talk about how wonderful Jerusalem is, because I have done that plenty enough on this blog I think. But I will say this, anyone who is thinking of going to Jerusalem--GO--and bring me with you please.

Here is a tribute to the greatest 30 years in the history of the world:

Top picture: Where it began for Him--Bethlehem

Bottom Picture: Where it began for us--the Garden Tomb

Merry Christmas Everyone!

What Child is This?

I want you all to hear a song, and if I were at home, I would post it with this for you to hear; but since I am not, I will have to do it later. The song is "What Child is This?". But I want you to listen to one version of it by April Moriarty and Todd McCabe. You see, this song is Special to me. Let me tell you why:


April Moriarty is one of the most influential people in my life. She was my violin teacher, but she was so much more than a violin teacher. She taught me LIFE! She taught me how to make beauty out of the hard parts of life. She pushed me. She was tough on me, but yet she was so tender to me. She showed me how to take something you love, and bless other people with it. She taught me how to multi-task. She taught me that there are no room for excuses, you CAN do everything you set your mind to. But most importantly of all, she taught me through example the Love of our Savior, and his purpose for coming to this Earth.


Back to the song. I think this song is so beautiful because of the thought that April put into it. Imagine being in the place of Mary. Imagine the feelings Mary had as she sat holding her first baby, knowing that she would have to give him up to fulfill his purpose, but for that one silent night, he was her baby. Imagine holding Jesus Christ as a baby. And listen to this song. I think it captures the sacredness of the feelings Mary went through.

Welcome Holidays!

Last Thanksgiving I was in THE GALILEE! And yes, the Turkies were all brought out to us with FIREWORKS in them! It was AWESOME. But besides that, the food really didn't taste like a normal Thanksgiving dinner. This year, I got to have Thanksgiving 3 TIMES! Yes, Mitch and I are so lucky! And we are so lucky that this was our second Thanksgiving spent together. Thanks to a wonderful "fakesgiving" spent with my bosom friend, Madeline, and dinner with both of our families, Mitch and I put on a couple of pounds. But I think I lost it again! Besides eating a whole lot, I had another adventure during the break:

My first BLACK FRIDAY! My sister-in-law, Keera, and I went to Black Friday in Vernal. It didn't last long, partly because there are only two places you can actually go to in Vernal (Kmart and Walmart) and partly because we wanted to hurry home for my father-in-law's famous breakfast of biscuits and gravy...yum..... But still, it was fun to try out black friday. May I reccommend what Keera and I did--we went at 7 am instead of 5 am, and it made it so much more enjoyable (I think)!

Anyway, now I am in school again for three more weeks and then it is more fun holidays! Let us just hope I don't go crazy before then. I am counting down the days..........

Best Friends

Last night we went to another wedding,

the first one since our own,

we danced together, 

just like we did for the first time married.

I remember that day, 

I never thought I could love a person so much.

And yet here I am,

three months married,

and I love him more each day.

He sings to me while I put on my makeup,

He rubs my back so I can fall asleep.

He makes me breakfast when I'm running late,

and warms the car up for me.

He does so much more, 

more than I could ever ask, 

and that is why this Thanksgiving,

I am grateful for my Husband. 

Life is perfect with you in it

Mitch.

Dear Grandpa,

We haven't talked in a while. In fact, I don't think I've ever gotten to talk to you really. And yet, I feel this real sense of closeness to you. I think that you and I are a lot a like. I use your violin, but you already know that. You came to all my concerts and performances. You sat through all those hours I practiced, not even whincing when I played out-of-tune.

Now I am at college, and I am finding out a lot more about the legacy you left behind. You see, academics is very important to me, I really like studying and learning more, and I suppose I get that from you. I'm not crazy about writing long papers, I don't have a creative sense of style, but yet I learn and remember things really quick. Math clicks in my head, and that is why I do so well in Economics. I wonder if I would have picked math over Econ if I knew more about you before. But I'm glad I picked Econ, because it is my passion. And even more importantly, if I didn't major in Econ, I wouldn't have found this information about you. You see, my econometrics professor, James McDonald, once took math classes from YOU. I am going to work as his TA next semester, and you know what he told me? He told me that you would be proud of me. I hope you are proud of me Grandpa. I think that if you were in my place, you would have picked economics too--what can I say? It's just so fun!

I learned that you have a large math scholarship named after you at Utah State. What a great way to leave behind a tangible legacy of your passion. So even though I haven't talked to you much, in a way I know you so well, because I know myself. I hope to be more like you in the future. I don't think I'll end up as a math professor--you see, I have some of grandma in me too, I want to have kids--but I do want to leave some sort of legacy behind. Any ideas? I love you Grandpa.

Heather

PEACE

This morning as Mitch and I drove to school, we listened to NPR.

The subject of discussion was peace talks between Israel and Arab Nations.

The more I lived among both people,

the more I understood how complex the situation is;

the more I understood how wronged both people have been;

the more I understood how hard it would be to find peace;

the more I loved both people.

Maybe Hillary should live among both people for a season

I am convinced that the only thing that will truly and permanently change

the heart of both people towards peace is

the hand of the Lord.

That is why I say, "Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem.

World on Stop for a Day

What would I do if the world paused for a day?

First thing that pops into my mind (no surprise to anyone who knows me well):

I would got to all the restuarants I can think of and EAT EAT EAT! I would eat Cafe Rio, Ruth's Chris, Outback, Olive Garden, Zupas, Five Guys.....I would eat so much I am getting so excited just thinkg about it.

What would other people do?

Assuming that everyone elsein the world is frozen, I asked my friend what he would do:

Kiss a really cute girl (typical)

Ride nice cars at the dealership

Try and help people--for example, if they were falling, he would put them back on their feet. If someone looked hungry he would put food in their hands.

It is interesting that many of our first impulses are to do things that only gratify ourselves. Take me for example, the first thing I thought of was to eat. But how much cooler would I be if I used that time to help other people instead of just eat. (an occasional break to eat would be okay)

Again those who know me know that I am pretty competitive in school. My first impulse is to not help those around me cause it increases my chance of getting a good grade. But I have really been working on training myself to change my first impulse. Marriage has especially trained me to do good at that. My first impulse is starting to change from "me" to "you." And I have found that helping those around me in school makes me more happy than just thinking of myself!

New Decisions

I am taking ASL next semester! I can't wait. I think it will help me get a good start in learning sign language. I think my whole family wants to learn it so we can all talk to Brynn. Natalie (my sister-in-law) tells me that the hardest part about being deaf is the feeling of isolation. My whole family loves Brynn so much, we need to know how to show her that with more than just a hug or kiss.

I sent out a resume to a market research company in Salt Lake. It is the first time I have applied for a job (thanks to dad who already had an awesome job for us to do growing up). Who knows if it is really the job for me, I still need to find out more about the group, but it is a good start, and I am really interested in what they do! Especially because they apply economics so much! Thanks to my MCOM 320 class, I actually had a resume to send.

Mitch is going to apply for law school. That is the route he wants to do before trying to enter the foreign service. We are hoping he gets in to BYU's law school so that we can have more time in Utah.

I finally made a decision for my research topic in my econometrics class! I am going to determine the impact of beauty on wages.

And, I'm going to end here and go work on my project!

Brynn

I have a neice, so sweet and so small.

She can't hear the world yet,

but one day she will.

What would it be like,

to not hear the world?

No vulgar and vain sounds,

no crudeness or lightness.

I bet that she does hear

the most precious of all,

the sweet little whisper

of the Lord, "I love you."

I want to be more like Brynn

and stop listening to the world,

instead I want to listen,

to the sweet simple whispers.

Succoth

A starnge little hut sits on a large stretch of green grass in between the Joseph Smith Building and the Spence W. Kimball Tower at BYU. It is draped in white sheets and has branches for the roof covering. If I had walked past this just over a year ago, I would have asked "What is this? And what is it for?" But now I know. I know because I saw several, at least a hundred, similiar huts to this one, not here in the U.S., but in Jerusalem! What are these little huts? They are called Succoths in Israel, but a more familiar term here may be a tabernalce. The Feast of Tabernacles has started. In Jerusalem right now, every Jewish family would have a succoth at their home. Every restaurant in West Jerusalem would have one outside of the restaurant, and even the Governmental buildigs have them! They are everywhere! I stood in one at a gelato shop and at my ice cream inside it once. I am grateful that BYU shows our link to Jerusalem, and honors the Feast of Tabernacles!

Happy Succoth everyone!

Vernal

Guess where Mitch and I are going this weekend? Yup--Vernal!!! We are going out for conference! I am really excited because we haven't seen his parents since the wedding. And guess what else is awesome? Vernal now has a Cafe Rio! Yahoo!!! Too bad it will be the most busy place in town during the Men's Preisthood session. We will have to there for lunch or something. So, as you can tell by the picture, I am not real good with a shot gun. . . .YET! I will be good! I did pretty good for my first time, but the gun is so stinking heavy I could hardly lift it (hence my bad posture) haha. Too bad I don't think we will be doing any shooting this time out there because the weather will be so cold.

Friends . . .

Some pictures are worth 1000 words. I think this one is worth a 1000 laughs. Perhaps this picture wouldn't be as funny to someone who didn't know my dear friend Ali. But to me, it is worth a 1000 laughs. Maybe it is so funny to me because it was taken on my wedding day--the one day I truly was the happiest girl ever. Maybe it is so funny to me because I know that Ali had been up since 5 a.m. helping me get ready for my wedding, and still at 9 p.m. she was able to party like it was her own wedding!

Friends are so important. They bring you joy, laughter, support, care, memories, love, and all sorts of happy things. When I was assigned to start blogging again, I began looking at my friends blogs for ideas. Now I am hooked on reading their blogs! I can't believe the talent my friends have for writing, creativity, and style! I wish I had all that talent, but then again, why do I need it when I already have them!?

Tradition

Two highlights from another week of school, work, and married life:

1) Mitch and I watched Fiddler on the Roof (which explains the title of this entry). It is a great musical--especially now that I have truly lived and experienced a lot of Jewish culture (the picture with the two hats are from two orthodox Jews). Naturally I cried a lot during the movie . . . I attribute that ability to both of my parents. The only problem abuot watching Fiddler on the Roof is that everyday I have at least one of the songs from that musical stuck in my head. Right now I picture Tevyeh (spelling?) pushing his milk cart as he yells "Tradition!" and then the song starts playing in my head. When will it ever stop? Who knows....

2) I found the busiest time of day on campus! If you stand in front of the JFSB at 10:53 a.m. you have a good chance of getting plowed into. It happened to me on Wednesday. I was trying to make my way to class at this exact time. I could not believe how crowded it was (I much prefer spring and summer terms--no crowds, just lovely weather)! So as I am making my way to class, this girl plows right into me. She looked up and apologized and quickly scurried past me. I couldn't believe it. Somehow she figured she could still stare at the ground as she walked through the masses and dodge people. Well, sure enough, about 6 seconds after she rammed me she plowed into someone else. I can't blame her though. cause no one could get through the crowds without hitting at least 7 people. It was pretty exciting. I thought it would be appropriate to post the snap of my feet in honor of all the walking I do around campus now. Yay for feet!

Sept. 11th

Walking to campus at 7:45 a.m. is great--great because you can actually find a parking spot.  The weather at 7:45 a.m. however is still a bit chilly, and consequently I wore a jacket to school today.  However, at approximately 12:53 p.m, campus is a little too hot for walking around.  I walked past the Smoot building at this time, and as I was taking off my jacket to prevent any noticeable signs of sweat,  I realized that the Air Force ROTC had it way worse than I did.  In honor of Sept. 11th, the men were doing some formal show.  Two of the men had to stand in front of the Flag, sun blaring down on their navy suits, for an HOUR! I felt so bad for them in that heat that I kept my jacket on.  Boy, that did not look fun at all for them.  But they did it.  And it got me thinking.  I was in 7th grade when Sept. 11th occurred.  I don't have any heroic connections of family member's dying in it.  I don't know anyone that died that day, but I do know that a lot of people are thinking of loved ones who did die that day. 

 My tribute to them is to honor my little sister.  She is a loved one of mine that passed away, not on Sept. 11th, but I hope that now is an appropriate time to talk about her.  Anne Nicole died as a 3 week old baby from trisomy 18.  (I am still not exactly sure what that is, I just know that she was born with a lot of complications.)  I was three at the time, so I only have a few memories of her alive.  She would be 17 if she were here today.  My younger sister Karren, who is only 15, has grown so tall and beautiful, that I can't imagine the babe that Anne would be right now.  I do know that I got married on her birthday this year--Aug. 22nd.  We certainly had a big celebration on her day, but I never got the chance to tell her happy birthday this year because I was too busy enjoying being married for the first time! So, even though I hate being late for events, I still believe in the quote "better late than never." Sorry it is late Anne, but Happy Birthday!! I love you!

A New Chapter

The last few weeks spent in Jerusalem were so valuable that I never took the time to blog during it. As an economist I would say, the opportunity cost of blogging during those last few weeks was just too high—I needed to be out in the city. So naturally, when I got home my mom told me she wanted to make a book of my Jerusalem blog so that I could have a hard copy of it. I told her that was a great idea but to wait because I wanted to make one final entry about Jerusalem to close up the blog.





Time passed and I still hadn’t finished the blog. When I get home from Jerusalem I started dating a boy that I liked at the center. My parents knew about him already and I did a lot of things with him in Jerusalem. I refrained from mentioning him in the blog however because I wanted to make sure that I, as well as everyone else, knew that I was in Jerusalem for a personal experience. I was not there to meet anybody and fall in love, but just to grow personally. I did grow personally. But I also fell in love--an unexpected positive externality of going to Jerusalem. As time passed and I hadn’t written in the blog yet, I came up with a new idea to excuse my procrastination. I would wait till Mitch (they boy I fell in love with) and I were engaged so that I could end the blog with a “happily ever after.”
To no great surprise, once we were engaged I was too preoccupied with my soon-to-be-husband and a wedding to plan that I had no time for blogging! So again, the blog went unnoticed, nearly forgotten.
Tomorrow marks the year anniversary of the day I left for Jerusalem. Little did I know that day that I would have the greatest personal development of my life during that school semester. Little did I know that I would come to know the Savior more closely than I had in 19 years. Little did I know that the scriptures would finally open up to me in real life. Nothing did I know that I would meet the one person that would accompany me to exaltation—my husband. So here I am, a year later, not in Jerusalem, but happily married. What was it that finally got me to write on the blog? Anyone who knows Heather would not doubt it—an assignment from my writing professor, Bro. Shayne Clarke. Yes--for all those Anne of Green Gables fans--Clarke with an "e".