I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go....so much to be thankful for!!!

For the first time in nearly three years I have the holiday completely off. I mean COMPLETELY off!!!! Amazing as it may sound I work in an industry which runs 24 hours a day 7 days a week 365 days a year. We must be there to take care of the guest. It's not a problem. I don't mind really. I simply love what I do. Period. End of Setnence. I love what I do!!!

I've been thinking lately about how much I've been blessed. Others may look at losing everything as a trial, but honestly...it has been a blessing, one after another. Looking back I can see that.

Because we have been given much we got used to having much. Losing it all, brought us back to reality. In truth, we argued about the store, the stress from the store dwelt with us 24/7 and I didn't like it. Yes, I was able to go to church every Sunday and Serve my callings easily. However, not everything in life should be easy...I never learn unless things get hard once in awhile.

When we were deciding where to move I told Hubby I wanted to live in a place with mountains, cold weather and snow.....We moved to San Antonio, Texas. Sooooo not any of those things. When we prayed over and over about different locations we were told no every single time. When we prayed about San Antonio we felt peace.....and so this is why we moved here. When we moved in I was able to pick up a new job quickly and the money started coming in. yes, our belts were tight but the bills were paid and there was food on our table.

A year after we moved into our apartment we moved again into our house....a rental we obtained from a friend both Hubby and I grew up with. He wanted soemone to live in the house he owns and pay rent and take care of the house. It has been a wodnerful move. All of our kids now go to high school together just as we did over to decades ago. So fun. Our two oldest are actually being inducted into the National Honor Society next Tuesday together. So much fun.

Hubby has earned a promotion and had his pick of schools to work for as Assistant Head Custodian. What a blessing it has been as he truly cares for the people he works with including a woman who comes over a couple times a month to help her learn english. It's awesome. I now work at the front desk at the Residence Inn next to the Alamo. It is awesome to take the bus downtown and walk along the city streets and walk past the Alamo every day. I've also gone back to school. I am working towards earning my Associate's degree before my oldest graduates from high school in 2013. So far so good. I am right on schedule. We shall see how it all goes though.

So, as I sit here with my feet up after days of cooking and planning. I am thankful for so much. I'm thankful for the headaches I get when studying late into the night and for the ability to power nap on the buses while going into work. I am thankful for the incredible people I work with and the faith they show in me. I am thankful for my sense of humor which has gotten me this far. I am thankful for Hubby and the foot massages he provides happily after I stand for 8 1/2 hours straight. I am thankful for air conditioning because with the humidity down here and the heat at 107 this summer it brought relief. I'm thankful for my children whose faith and testimonies have grown while going through all of this. I'm thankful for Hubby and our friend Bobby's rendition of "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" into the drumsticks today. I am thankful we can dance and sing "Don't Worry, Be Happy" with friends and family. For this and so much more I am grateful.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

Embrace Each Day

This week I've been reminded over and over the graces of God. An older gentleman I work with is enduring the harshness of chemotherapy to beat the return of this cancer spreading through his body. As it is with these treatments his strength can only hold out for so long and when it gives out we, as his work family, need to support him and be there for him. In this case it is covering his shifts when we is to weak to make it through. In my case it was giving up days off. As with always there are twists you never expect.

As you work overnight, when you are used to sleeping, it takes time for your body toadjust and jumping back and forth from day to night it can be almost unbearable. Sunday morning as I was driving home I nearly fell asleep several times as I sped down the highway. Too scary for me. The next night i decided to tke the bus...no fear in that commute home. My manager told me that she would make sure I would get Monday off so I could sleep and recover....and then called several hours later. The coworker who was supposed to work the late night shift had to call off. his mother had a stroke....and I needed to step in. Again....I made my way into work, much to the surprise of Hubby when he came home to find me gone. He called laughingly requesting reservations....uh not funny.

However, another friend from the reservation center spent a few hours talking to me as I processed the paperwork. He told me he had cancer and being morbidly obese he was struggling. He is due for surgery soon. He sat while we spoke of the love of our Savior. Though he isn't of my faith we've held many deep talks and had a friendship that has become so amazingly important to me. When he came to visit he brought something he said reminded him of me. It is a new cutsie little lunch bag with a fabulouso black and white pattern embroidered with the phrase "Embrace Each Day" in Raspberry pink. It is so cute. He told me that is the one thing he remembers about me with all of his doctor visits and treatments. He has chosen to embrace each day of his life and we both made a pact to continue to embrace the highs and lows of our lives and pull ourselves closer to the Lord.

Whatever obstacles we face we need to embrace the love around us....embrace the strength of the Lord....and embrace our own selves, the good and the bad....but just embrace ourselves.

Bestie....

Almost a decade ago...I had a tough time. Hubby was travelling 3 weeks out of the month and I was attempting to manage life with my 3 itty bitty ones who were all in diapers. I was drifitng away in a sea of depression and searching for a life preserver....someone or something to hold onto.

I reached out on the internet to find a friend....Someone I could connect to and write... a penpal of sorts. I ended up meeting a woman whom I may never meet but I carry in my heart. it seems strange to say my best friend in the world lives an ocean away deep in the heart of Scotland....and we have never met.

She and I both belong to the same faith. We talk about church, scriptures, conference talks. We talk about our lives, our ups, our downs. We talk of our challenges and our triumphs. Many times we have wondered just how come we could be such good friends and be so far apart. I mused perhaps we were inseperable in the pre-existance and in this life we were to learn to stand on our own two feet...but Heavenly Father couldn't bear to keep us completely apart and helped us find our way to each other over the internet. It could be true...it may not.

Next month it will be 12 years since we began writing and we are still hoping at some point we will meet face to face and I can finally hug the friend I've held constantly in my heart over the years. Until then....I will continue the tapping away at my keys and keeping in contact with my friend, my sister.

10 Years Later....

To most who really know me, nothing affects me for the most part. I put on a strong front even when I am aching inside. 10 years ago when the first plane struck I was stunned and struck to the very core. It was the hardest thing for me to take my two kids to school and drop them off as if it were any other day. Afterwards, I cried while holding my youngest in my arms. Hubby wasn't home. He was travelling for work and sat up in Seattle in a hotel near the Space Needle. He called early...he was coming home. When the second plane hit my heart nearly stopped. I watched the drama unfold and things falling from the tower, only later to find out they were people jumping to avoid the fire on their floor. I cried more and felt very lonely. Hubby instantly wanted to join the military, but at that time they told him he was too old. He was heartbroken.

Years later Hubby and I found ourselves travelling in Italy. Yo be honest I hadn't paid attention to the date when I initially booked the trip, but we were in Tuscany on September 11th jsut a few years ago. The day after we took a train into Venice for a couple days. As we arrived at the train station we emerged to find this beautiful statue and several tea light candles sitting at the base in honor of Americans and to show support. I was so touched by the tribute that I cried. This time because I felt the love and support of the world for us. Several locals figuring out we were Americans approached and gave us hugs as we all cried.

Ten years later I am not still not able to watch the tributes. The pain remains too fresh in my heart. I know what happened and I haven't given in to the fear those terrorists tried to instill. Instead I cling to my country and the love we as strangers have for one another. We may not have one thing in common, but as Americans we stand together, hand in hand with friends around the world against the evils which lurk. Together we stand in honor of those who lost their life in a useless attack.

Not in My Job Description....

At least it wasn't in my job description until yesterday. Life has been...well....let's just say it hasn't been dull. Yesterday was my first solo flight taking the helm of the front desk. As it always seems to happen....the most unusual circumstances...something to throw my wolrd into a psycho dizzy whirl....as usual. I came into work and my Supervisor pulled me aside and explained one of our guests was having a very tough time. His life took a tailspin turn discovering his wife was leaving himm and his mother passed away all at once. He turned to alcohol and we watched sadly as he stumbled through the lobbby on the way back to his room. Soon, his coworkers came more amd more aware as his new habit had taken a toll on his ability to do his job. His manager was notified and we found ourselves hosting a full fledged intervention right there at work. All went well when the managers were there, but as they returned home and dwindled he returned from going out for dinner and obviously more than a few drinks. When he tried to place a few more small bottles of wine on the counter my security guard, Art and I confronted him. I refused to sell him any more alcohol. He burst out into tears. He held my hand. We consoled him. We prayed with him. We boosted him up. We gave him the one thing he needed.....love. So, my job description now, includes Intervention Specialist....and according to my GM...a good soul.