It has been awhile since my words have graced the blog
scene, over four and half months to be exact.
Please excuse my hiatus.
Obviously, life does go on without my blog thoughts crowding the
Internet, but in a way I have missed it and I am back to remind myself of what
wonders life holds. Just as my journal
has often come to a halt, I fell victim to boredom with my blog as well. My excuses have been the same as before: tired, bored, lack of excitement for
life. But I made a goal to write and I
need to accomplish it. And accomplish it I will! Here I am again with high hopes
to keep up my writing. So, welcome back.
I have the flu. Maybe
that is actually why I found the time to write.
I have nothing better to do. Lame
excuse, perhaps, either way, I am here.
I hate the flu. And no, I don’t
believe in flu shots. Be disgusted if
you must, but the last time someone in this family got a flu shot, everyone
came down the flu, including the family that was visiting us. There were lines at every bathroom door…I’ll
leave the rest to your imagination. Flu
shots just don’t seem to go well for this family. So, once a year, almost like clockwork, I
come down with the flu. I endure it for
a few days and then I am as good as new.
This year’s, though, has been a particularly bad case. I started my new job at the middle school on
Friday. Monday morning my throat was
swollen and my head was pounding. I knew
I was sick, but I didn’t want to call in on my second day of work. I went to take a shower and next thing I
knew, I was laying down on the bathroom floor completely disoriented. I had passed out. Ugh. I
had to call in sick. I was so out of it
that I had to have my mother call the middle school. Talk about flash back to the life of
embarrassing adolescence! I am 26 this
coming Sunday and I had to have my mom call in sick for me. Oh life.
Sometimes I feel as if my real life will never begin. I am trapped in this phase of transition from
college life to true adulthood. I know I
am not the only one feeling this. Am I
waiting for something? Or am I truly
pushing forward seeking the fullest of life?
That I cannot tell you.
Before I take a turn for the worst into dramatic, deep, and
thoughtful, I will stop myself and write about my summer. And yes, it was an amazing summer. The wonderful blessing about being
significantly underemployed and living with my parents is the amount of
flexibility I have. I have been able to
travel, travel, travel and visit old friends and family and experience new places
and eat delicious food. Because really,
eating delicious food is incredibly important to my life.
So this is how my summer went:
MAY
I love the month of May.
Growing up, May meant the end of school and the beginning of
adventure. The childhood magic I felt in
the month of May has stayed with me since.
Even though I am no longer in school, May still holds a hopeful “Long,
Hot, Summer” and fills me with excitement for the months ahead. This May fulfilled its promise of a wonderful
summer and I am sad it is almost to an end.
Mid-May I drove down to Philadelphia with my mom and explored the city as well as Amish country. It was beautiful! While down there I also went to an old friend’s wedding. I
love weddings! I went to a lot this
summer. I feel like this summer was the
summer of weddings. But of course, ever
since I entered my 20’s, every summer has felt that way. This wedding, though, was a
great way to start off my summer. Before I went to see her, I
looked at old messages from years ago that we had written describing boy
problems and frustrations with dating.
Then I saw her at the wedding so blissfully happy with life and her new husband. She told me that night that even though
she had a lot of disappointments in dating, she wouldn’t change a thing. She found her man, and it was worth the
wait. Goodness, her optimism and
happiness certainly blessed me with a new perspective on dating. Wise words right there. Thanks, Courtney!
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| Courtney and her Husband |
JUNE
June was crazy busy.
My dad, little sister, and I decided to go to Idaho and Utah for ten
days. There were weddings to go to and
friends and relatives to see, plus I needed a serious break from my golf course
job. Believe me, I was incredibly
grateful to have a job, but standing behind a desk all day selling golf balls
for five months straight warrants a break.
So off I went on a grand adventure out west.
My little sister, Allie has never experienced Idaho and
Utah. She went there once as a baby, and I doubt she remembers much. She had her eyes opened while in
Utah. We are an LDS family, my dad
graduated from BYU, and I was born in Provo, Utah. Typical of an LDS family. But as soon as my dad headed off to graduate
school when I was five, we haven’t been back since. While in Utah we went to Temple Square and
Allie learned all about the LDS church history.
But it still didn’t connect that Mormons settled Utah. While at Lagoon (the local theme park,
wahoo!) there was a display about the
LDS church settling Utah Valley. Allie
ran over to my dad and I and said, “Look!
There are Mormons here! They’re
talking about our church!” My dad and I
couldn’t help but laugh! Allie never
knew that Utah is FULL of Mormons. It
absolutely amazed her when we told her that Utah is pretty much half
Mormon. She never knew. Haha!
I suppose that makes sense since she’s only ever lived in Hawaii and
Germany.
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| On a ride at Lagoon with my Dad and Allie |
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| Allie experiencing her first Icee ever! |
I met up with so many wonderful friends in Utah and
Idaho. My friend circle in New York is
rather small, so it was such a joy to be around people I love. I had the chance to do several photography
sessions as well. Lots of
love going around and I was so happy to be apart of it.
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| Emily and baby girl Kailyn, Me, and Mariah |
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| My friend Enea, pretending to be taller than me. |
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| Camping and Canoeing in Idaho |
JULY
I had to go back to work.
So, I endured another month of the golf course and picked up more work
at the Arts and Crafts Center. I started
teaching sewing classes on top of my photography classes. Let me tell you a little secret….I am not
much of a sewer. In fact, I despised it
most of my life. My mother is a
BRILLIANT quilter and seamstress. She
does wonders with a needle and thread.
She tried for years to get me interested in sewing. She finally was able to convince me to start
a quilt this year. That’s when it all
started. I have been working on a quilt
for months using my basic sewing skills.
When I took the job working part time at the Arts and Crafts center they
asked me if I sew. “Uh. Yes. I mean, well, I know basic sewing. I mean, yeah,
I’m good.” That was my answer, “basic”
being the keyword. When I found out I
had the job, I ran home and told my mom that she needed to teach me how to sew!
I have sewed skirts and pajama pants in the past, but I wasn’t ever any
good. I got that job in April, and
luckily I had a whole month to prepare for my first sewing class. It went well.
And then we hit a dry spell (THANKFULLY) and I had time to practice sewing. In July we went full steam ahead
with sewing projects and we haven’t slowed down since. Really, it has been a wonderful experience
for me. I am learning and growing every
day and I love it! Just don’t tell
anyone at Arts and Crafts.
On top of work I had the chance to get away for a weekend to
Maine with my family and see where my mom lived as a little girl. It smelled like fish and beans. But it was gorgoues! I also had my first real lobstah. Allie had to close her eyes while I pried
apart the little beast. She kept
yelling, “You are so cruel!” And cruel it was!
But delicious, too. Yum.
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| My dad and I eating delicious lobster. |
And with another stroke of luck (or divine intervention,
whichever way you’d like to look at it) I was able to go to Palmyra for a few
days and see one of my old mission companions, Christina. She lives in Canada just north of the border of
New York. When I found out she was
going to be in Palmyra I knew I couldn’t miss the chance to see her. So, I drove through the New York boonies
(boonies do exist in New York) and met up
with her in Palmyra. It was a wonderful
visit as we explored the area together. Too many wonderful emotions to share here,
but let me just say, it was quite the experience. I know there are people we are meant to meet
in this life who will change us for the better.
And she is one of them.
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| Christina and I in Palmyra |
AUGUST
I quit the golf course and left for Arizona, Utah, and Idaho. Yes, I went back out west. I had no plans to go out west again for the
rest of the year, but then my best friend got engaged. And what’s a girl to do?! Miss her best friend’s wedding? Noooooo. I wasn’t going to miss it for the world! So, I went to Arizona for ten days and
enjoyed all of the last minute wedding plans and parties and amazing food. The wedding was absolutely beautiful. I cried.
A lot. When I am overwhelmed with
happiness, I can’t hold back the tears!
I think I did a pretty good job of concealing them from public view,
though. I was also her wedding
photographer and I did her hair (the hair part made me more nervous than the
photography part!) and it all turned out wonderfully. She is so happy. And I am so happy for her.
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| Clarice and Spencer on their Wedding Day |
My brother drove down from Idaho to attend the wedding as
well and to pick me up and take me back to Idaho. On his way through the Utah desert, his car
broke down. Oh my gosh. Never, ever, ever do I want that to happen to
me! He handled it like a man though. He was able to get his car towed to a
mechanic and rent another car to come down and get me. The only car available though was a brand new
hot red beetle! Oh we were a sight
zooming around the west with the little red-hot beetle. More strangers talked to me than ever
because of that car! It was an
adventure, that’s for sure. We zipped
through Utah and spent a week in Idaho zooming around the countryside and up
and down mountains. By the end, I grew
attached to that little beauty and it will forever remain in my heart. No joke.
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| Parker with our Beetle in Arizona |
While out west, I was once again able to push forward with
photography. When I wasn’t zipping around in a beetle, I filled my time with
family and engagement portrait sessions.
What a joy it is for me to photograph.
I love it more than anything and to have so many people trusting me with
their pictures makes me feel so blessed.
Thanks to all of you who have given me those wonderful opportunities!
NOW
I am back in New York.
I am still taking life one day at a time, but so far, it seems to be
working out for me. Looking back on this
wonderful summer that I have had I am so grateful for the people I have met,
the friends I have made, and the old friendships that I have been able to
rekindle. I worry a lot about my future
and panic over big decisions I have had to make. I don’t know where I am headed and I don’t
know what’s next for me, but a friend just reminded me that life is more about
the people you meet. Like I mentioned
earlier, there are people I know we are meant to meet. And I have seen in my own life that many of the
big decisions I have made were based just on that. Often I do not know why I need to take a particular
job or move to a particular place or even go to a particular school. But in every circumstance it has turned out that
there was someone there I was supposed to meet.
I truly believe that.
Now, I am off to work on photography since I have fallen
behind due to this ridiculous illness.
Wish me luck! And I will be back
again soon….though I am sure the next blog post will not be as long. (Relief, right?!)
