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".