Celestial Peace

The Temple is an amazing place.

I went to the Temple twice last week, and I needed it both times.

Most recently, I went to the Provo Temple to support my lovely, talented, amazing friend Megan as she received her endowment, and I am so glad that I could be a part of her special day!

While there, I also received some spiritual guidance, and while the answer I received was not what I was hoping for, I feel so much better for having it, and it makes the whole situation so much easier to deal with.  I love getting Celestial Peace about things.

It's here! It's here!

I am kinda, sorta, almost better!

At least that's what I'm telling myself.

I actually feel a whole lot better...the only problem is, I still sound like I'm dying.  Wracking cough and sniffles still make me sound like I should be in quarantine, but I feel fine!  Yes, I'm still taking drugs to fix the aforementioned issues, but I promise, I am not dying. Yet.

I'm not sure what I did...

...but it must have been bad.

Why else would I be nauseous for an entire week, and THEN get a ridiculously nasty cold?

Whatever it was, I sincerely apologize!  Really!  I do!

Here are a few things I am looking forward to when this disease is gone:

1. No longer sounding like Joan Rivers
2. Breathing  (yeah...that one should probably be first)
3. Sleeping soundly through the night sounds fun
4. Not feeling guilty about sitting close to people
5. Not coughing, sniffling or sneezing through movies, conversations or just in general
6. Not having to tell people "If I shake your hand, or touch you in any way, you MAY want to sanitize yourself"
7. Not having to use Vacation Time as Sick Time....because this is really no vacation
8. Being able to enjoy food again...because it's a challenge right now
9. Laughing without having it quickly turn into coughing
10. Not being as whiny.  Because let's face it...I get whiny when I'm sick

Here's hoping that all the Tylenol Cold, Sudafed, Ibuprofen and Airborne I have been consuming kills this thing off!

Ecstatic, Pleased as Punch, Simply Tickled!

clar·i·ty

   [klar-i-tee]  Show IPA

–noun

1.

clearness or lucidity as to perception or understanding;freedom from indistinctness or ambiguity.

I've been praying about a few things for the past while, and I never seemed to get an answer.  Not "I'm not getting the answer I want, so I'm going to continue to pester the Lord about it until I get the answer I think is best", that's not really my style, I simply wasn't getting any answer whatsoever!  Not a "No", not a "Yes", not a "Let me think about it and I'll get back to you", nothing.

Then, I had a moment of clarity.  I was trying to put everything in the Lord's hands.  I wasn't going about this the right way, and I needed to fix that.

So I sat, and decided what I was going to do (all on my own, I know, how very grown up of me), and then, and only then, did I feel the Spirit tell me that my decision was correct.

I've had experiences like this before, so you would think I would have remembered that the Lord isn't going to hand me an answer without a little more effort than what I had been putting in.

But I am so happy right now, I could just burst!

Home again, home again, jiggity jig

I am sitting on my couch.
In my living room.
In Salt Lake.

Not to be confused with...

Sitting on my camping chair.
In the sweltering heat.
In Moab.

That's right, I am BACK!

When we got to Moab, my madre and I set up our campsite, and then headed out into town to see the sights, and once we were done with that (which took approximately 40 minutes or so), we went back to our digs and spent the rest of the evening reading.  Well, I should mention that a HUGE, ridiculous storm rose up in the late afternoon, wind blowing, rain pouring, the whole kit-and-caboodle.  The mom set up her camping chair in the tent and read in there, while I secluded myself in the back of The Justy to dive into my tome (I might add that one of my new favorite places is the back of The Justy).

The next day we went into Arches National Park and drove around, then proceeded to hike up to Delicate Arch, which is quite a sight.  There were people from all over the world in Arches, I heard German, French, Japanese, Danish, Italian, Hillbilly, you name it, it was there.  Kinda cool.  Another storm came up just as we finished our hike, and in an effort not to be struck by lightening, we headed back to camp until it passed.  Frankly, I can't remember what we did for the rest of that day, I blame it on the Goldfish Brain.

The day after that, we went river rafting on the Colorado, and then later in the afternoon we went horseback riding.  I hadn't been riding in more than 10 years, and it was something that my tohkes remembered immediately.  My horse, Dooley, kept trying to eat the plants that were along the trail, and one of the guides pointed out that Dooley was just taking advantage of me, story of my life.

Saturday consisted of hiking in Devils Garden.  Scrambling up and down slickrock fins and trying to avoid falling to a grisly death were on the menu, and it tasted pretty good, not gonna lie.  Later, we went back into town, where I spent some time (and money) in a used bookstore (are you REALLY surprised?).

Today, or rather, yesterday, we drove up to see some dinosaur tracks (yes, I'm still a nerd) and other various rock formations theretofore not seen by our party, and then we went to Dead Horse Point to take in the view (no dead ponies were seen) before we headed back home.

I was hot, sweaty glistening, dirty, tired and yet completely satisfied.


But I am also really glad to be home.