Lucky? No. Just Awesome.

When I was 16 my dad made a bet with me and my brothers that if we graduated high school with a 4.0 GPA he would buy as a brand new car. Well.....

Meet Sophie :)

(Okay... so this isn't really her, but this picture is a lot more epic than one taken from the driveway. Plus she looks just like this)

So did I graduate high school with a 4.0 GPA? Actually, no. That's why I didn't expect a car when I graduated 2 years ago (can you believe it has been almost 2 years??). I did however, graduate with a 3.9 and high honors. I was still pretty proud of myself considering I had more than a year of college under my belt: 33 credits. I was totally fine driving my little junker, Karalia, around and riding public transit. However, a few weeks ago she started to get sick. We all knew it was coming, but losing a car is always difficult. 

(I have so many fond memories with my baby - mostly of me caressing the dashboard and encouraging her to start or to get up large hills. I don't know why I get attached to things like cars, but I'm certainly going to miss her. We donated her to Kidney Kars. I was standing in the driveway when they drove off with her and it actually made my heart sink a little. Maybe pathetic, but hey)

My parents began talking about ways to afford another car and in my mind I was thinking another junker to share with Jeremy, maybe resorting back to UTA, and certainly not for awhile. So the day I pulled into the driveway to meet this beautiful thing, I was shocked. And when my dad handed me the keys and told me she was all mine I was even more shocked!

I began thinking that if my parents were really going to buy me a car they better be considering it Christmas and my birthday for the next two years or more! (I always hated those girls in high school who's parents bought them things like cars and they still seemed ungrateful. Exhibit A: my friend Angie). Now I was afraid I was one of them!) I decided to bring it up with my mom to make sure we were on the same page. Turns out she kinda guilt-ed my dad into rewarding me for winning the bet. She knew that had I taken 'easy A' classes I very well could have graduated with a 4.0, but I had decided to take college classes and still managed to pull out a 3.9. Therefore, I guess my dad justified buying me a used car 2 years late, rather than a brand new car right when I graduated. Well I'm certainly not complaining - I couldn't feel more grateful! It amazes me how much my parents take care of me, even when I think I'm becoming independent. Life could be so much more difficult, riding public transit is definitely a challenge, and yet my parents want me to have the best life possible and seem to do anything to give it to me. I only hope that I can be as incredible of a parent as they are. They sacrifice so much for me and I am eternally grateful. 

Now how do you thank your parents for buying you a car...?

Turducken Day

Why do we celebrate Thanksgiving? What is the reason for getting together with family and close friends to eat a big meal together - a meal in which we eat to much, take a break, and then eat more? It seems as though many people have forgotten that Thanksgiving has nothing to do with eating, and everything to do with gratitude.

"We have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, by the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own… It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people…"

- President Abraham Lincoln

I fear that with this track of destruction that the world has been running, we are slowly forgetting the real meaning of things. Christmas has become completely commercialized. Thanksgiving is all about the food. And life has become a struggle of fast pace and immediate satisfaction. 

Sometimes I feel I'm getting swept up in school, work, and the social life associated with college life - and I know I'm not the only one. That's why I decided to make a gratitude tree for our apartment. I challenged each of us, as roommates, to make a leaf and write one thing that we were grateful for each day. And today I can say that I'm grateful for the inspiration to make the gratitude tree. It gave me the opportunity to look back at each day, find one thing that stood out to me, and thank my Heavenly Father for his love and blessings. It's incredible how much the Lord gives us that goes unnoticed. 

Isn't it interesting that often we don't realize how grateful we are for something until it's not there? A working car becomes second nature to us - until we get a flat tire or it doesn't start. Our health is just part of our every day - until we get sick. Mom is just mom - until I realize how much I need and want her when she's not there, how much she really loves me when she stays up late to help me after I've had a meltdown, how much joy she brings into the family just by being her. Dad is just dad - until I notice that he greets me with a "hey beautiful" when I come home from school, he talks and laughs with me about the troubles I'm going through, he spends his hard earned money to make sure I'm okay and have the things I need to get through life. Jeremy is just a little brother - until I remember how much I love the great big hug he give me when I come home or am not feeling well, that he's willing to take me shopping to make me fashionable, that he stays up late to talk and giggle with me about the funny things in life. BJ is just an older brother - until I realized how willing he is to help me with a big project, how often he buys me little gifts just to let me know he cares. 

We all need to try a little harder to realize, notice, and remember all that the Lord has giving us - all the love He has for each of us. Maybe then life will be a little easier. Maybe then we will be grateful for the little joys in life. 

Take a Moment...

Picture Update!

Here's a quick update on my life through pictures!!

My newest 3D art project - Welding. Ba ha ha! Do I look like someone that knows how to weld? This is me and Heidi in our welding garb doing everything we can to avoid that teacher so she doesn't know we're both secretly taking our welding projects home to have our dads help us. My dad is incredible. He spent two Saturdays teaching me how to weld and helping me finish this project. I love him!

 My beautiful roomies :) We had a sleepover in our family room - moved all the furniture out and lined our mattresses across the floor. Sooo fun!

I love these girls!

My wonderful brother Jeremy helping me with a ridiculous art project. He's such a sweetie :)

The Before.

The project was meant to teach us about 'subtraction'. We made a plaster mold and then had to carve an egg out of it. The professor didn't say we couldn't use power tools, so naturally I went home and borrowed my dad's sander while everyone else chiseled away at their plaster like Michelangelo.

The After.

Which one is the real egg?? I think I did pretty good, but apparently my professor thought otherwise. I only got a B :(

Our family had the opportunity to go to Lake Powell with some wonderful people. This is Nikki. What a cute girl. We had a lot of fun together and I'm glad she was there!

 

A group picture of all the people at Lake Powell. My whole family, The Shiner family and some of their friends. Fun fun people.

Cliff jumping! Yep, I jumped from there :)

The party boat! Spent the whole week there :)

Emery's beautiful wedding! (Emery was on color guard with me all through high school and we were roommates at BYU and on the color guard there together. She is an incredible girl and will always have a special place in my heart. One of my best friends. Love her!) She got married October 20th, 2010 and I had the lovely privilege to be her Maid of Honor along with her friend Tajia. 

Married Men

(I don't really have time to blog right now, or ever for that matter. I should probably take a nap. But I'm blogging anyways. Gotta remember what happens in college when I grow up right? haha)

Tanner has been out for just over 2 months now and I figure it's time I start getting to know people, making friends and going on dates. I don't plan on just sitting around 'waiting' for two years - there's too much fun, too many experiences to be had (I will be here when he gets back though - no question about that. He's much too incredible to let slip through my fingers). Anyways... so a couple weeks ago I came to the realization that I hadn't been asked on any dates since I started school - actually I hadn't even exchanged dialog with any boys for that matter. I figured it was up to me to get things rolling. Boys. Sigh. I decided to start small, just take inventory of the boys I saw and then decide what to do. haha that sounds terrible... Here's how it went.

I looked around, saw a fairly good looking guy get onto the shuttle and I tried to make eye contact, then maybe I could sneak in a cute smile...(haha why did I try to give hints? Boys and hints do not work.) Turns out he was married, caught a glimpse of his ring. Moving on. This exact same things happened 5 more times. All married. Are all the cute guys at Weber married?? I guess I shouldn't be too upset, I'll be putting other girls through this exact same things in 2 years when they're looking at Tanner but he's married to me! Woot!

The most recent married man I met almost made me laugh out loud. I was walking on campus when I passed this boy, Jeff, whom I recognized from one of my classes. I gave a friendly smile and kept walking when he stopped and said he recognized me but wasn't sure how. I explained that we had class together on Tuesdays and Thursdays (haha I felt like one of those nerds that sits in the back of the class and knows everyone but nobody knows them... I didn't think I was that quite...) anyways, the conversation continued and he was really nice and seemed to be enjoying the conversation, as was I. I glanced down, no ring. Check. However the next thing I knew he was talking about his wife and how they're expecting their first child. I almost laughed but luckily it just came out as a big smile and I congratulated him. We talked for a minute more and then I headed to class. 0 for 6.

haha I think I'll just give up and hope there are some brave enough boys out there to ask me on a date. Am I attracted to married men?? hahaha. Oh you gotta love it!

Are you kidding me??

Today is September 27th - the day Tanner flies out of the MTC and heads to Canada. I had been looking forward to today since the day he left because I knew I would get to talk to him on the phone. I've tried not to think about it too much - I hate the idea of "waiting" for something better. I think we should just live in the moment and be grateful for each day. I'd say I've done a pretty good job considering. My roommate Kaitlin also has a missionary out whose mission president won't let him talk to Kaitlin at all when he calls home for Christmas and Mother's day (he doesn't even want her at Jordan's home with his family when he calls. Lame.) With knowing this, I knew this phone call today could be the last time I get to have an actual conversation with Tanner for the next 22 months. I don't know how Tanner's mission president will be, but I've been preparing for the worst. However, I was ecstatic about today.

When Tanner's flight plans came in last week they stated that he had to arrive at the airport at 4am and their plane was departing at 7. Therefore we planned for him to call me first thing in the morning - giving us a good hour or so to talk. I woke up at 5:30 (no alarm - I was just to excited) and laid in bed watching the minutes pass by, checking my phone every couple of minutes to make sure it was on, the volume was up, and that I hadn't missed anything. Around 6:15 I was getting pretty nervous... 6:30 still nothing... 6:41 my phone finally rings.

Here's how the conversation went:
"Tanner??" "Hey Kyra! How are you doing?" "I'm good! How are you?" "I'm good, hey... so our flight plans got messed up, someone at the church office building forgot to buy the tickets, so I've spent the last hour trying to figure out. Our plane boards in 20 minutes though so I can't talk, I just called to tell you I love you" "Oh... well that's okay (trying to sound like it was okay). I love you too Tanner" "Alright, well I'll try to call you later. Bye". And I sat there stunned. For real? That's it?? I climbed out of bed and left for class feeling like dirt.

When I got home at 10ish Kaitlin was awake and asked me how it went this morning, and of course I broke down crying. I love Kaitlin, she is sooo supportive. She talked with me for a bit, then left and I climbed in the shower. When I got out I was putting some stuff in my backpack when my phone rang. The caller ID said Illinois. What? Originally Tanner's layover was suppose to be in Detroit, Michigan from 12 to 2...? Sure enough it was him! Apparently all 12 missionaries were able to get on a completely different flight that had a one hour layover in Illinois and then headed to Canada. I was ecstatic to have him call again!! It was sooo incredible to hear his voice! He left me some recordings of him before he left but it's just not the same. Half way through our conversation the call was disconnected but luckily he called back apologizing for the bad pay phone.We talked for about 15 minutes total when the call was dropped again. I figured he would just call right back so I didn't worry too much, however my phone never rang again. I left for class feeling completely empty. Like I had been left hanging, waiting for something that didn't come. (Kaitlin told me that that first call is super hard because it leaves you bummed the rest of the day, and Tanner had even heard that and offered to just write me an extra letter but I was willing to take the chance).

Ya, I'm definitely bummed today. I've spent the last hour and a half sitting on the couch watching the videos he left me with tear filled eyes...(the videos definitely helped though). I'm such a baby sometimes. It was worth it to talk to him though. To hear his voice again was absolutely wonderful. To have a little bit of a conversation was fantastic. I just wish I could have left him with some encouraging words... at least an, I love you. *sigh* I guess I just have to be grateful for the little bit I did get. And Tanner did mention that he put a package in the mail for me last week so I should be getting that in about a half hour :) That will make everything better on my side :) I hope he knows how much I love and pray for him....

The Lord's Hand

Quotes from letters to Tanner
"I had an incredible experience last Sunday. The first of the week went very well. I was happier than I've been since you left and I even enjoyed work. Thinking about you just made me happy. Then starting Wednesday everything got harder. The next few days were long, I missed you terribly. Sunday was hard and I was holding back tears during sacrament. I pulled out my scriptures and realized that I hadn't been reading the last few days of the week. My itouch had died and I didn't want to get out of bed to get my actual scriptures, so I would just go to bed without reading or saying my prayers. Anyways, I couldn't remember where I was, so I guessed that I was in Alma 36. I starting reading and in verse 3 it says "...I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions and shall be lifted up at the last day." All of the sudden it just hit me. The Lord really has been strengthening me. I didn't know that He had been giving me so much strength to endure these last few weeks. Now I know how much I really do need the Lord in my life..."

I had another amazing experience of witnessing the Lord's hand in my life but it's written down in a letter to Tanner, not through dearelder.com so I can't just copy-paste it in here. I'll just have to wait till he gets home to read it again.